It was a left-field idea, in more ways the one. Take perhaps the best defensive midfielder at the World Cup, sign him for a club with a seeming need for another combative presence in the middle of the pitch and give him a first start. At left-back.
There was a logic to the illogicality, injuries the reason why Sofyan Amrabat, the man who hunted down Kylian Mbappe in the World Cup semi-final, has debuted in a Manchester United shirt as a deputy for Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia, not Casemiro. His attitude also helps explain it. “I told the manager I play where you need me and the team need me,” the Moroccan said. “If you need a goalkeeper I play where I can help.”
Andre Onana ensured his shot-stopping skills were not required but United’s 3-0 win over Crystal Palace was notable for an hour of Amrabat, for a glimpse of the player United pursued all summer but could only belatedly afford on loan at the end of it, both playing out of position and yet in it.
“Today it was left-back but I had a bit of a free role and I played a lot in midfield, it was nice and good,” said Amrabat. Officially, it was left-back for the first half, midfield until he was replaced on the hour. In reality, the roles blurred in a manner that is more familiar at the Etihad Stadium than Old Trafford.
Erik ten Hag may have understudied Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich but he has rarely copied a tactic from the other manager in Manchester; that of the inverted full-back, the defender who moves into midfield. In part, it is because he has few natural candidates for the role. Amrabat, as the midfielder pressganged into a role as a full-back, spent much of his time in the more familiar terrain of the centre circle. It is where he is expected to settle more permanently, keeping Casemiro company, giving the defence a dual shield.
“I think you see I like to touch the ball and have the ball. Of course, I am not a left-back who plays from the [touch] line and wait for the ball there. I think I try to give the team an extra option,” Amrabat said. “I am a midfielder and prefer midfield but play where the team needs me.” In a way, he was simply revisiting his past. “It was with the manager seven years ago at Utrecht, I was 19, 20 years old and he asked me to play there and I did it, so he knew I could play there,” Amrabat revealed.
Reunited with Ten Hag, new to United, he was as involved as anyone during his hour on the pitch: with 92 touches, completing 77 passes from 81 attempted, he gave them control. He nevertheless altered the angle of their game: in a sport where many a manager, Ten Hag included, likes left-footed left-sided centre-backs, Amrabat proved a very right-footed left-back. It equipped him to invert, but certainly not to overlap. With Alejandro Garnacho in sparkling form on the left wing, however, he had less need to gravitate to the touchline.
But there were signs of a footballing intellect, moments when Mason Mount dropped in to cover for him in an indication new recruits are on the same wavelength.
Ten Hag he feels a loan deal from Fiorentina has brought United a player of stature and versatility. “I know he’s capable of that,” he said. “He’s a player who gives the team what they need and makes a contribution. He has quality as well as energy and the dynamic he brings. Sofyan is a player - and that is one of the reasons we signed him - where the team needs him, he will play and he can play in more positions.”
Whether Amrabat can play left-back against high-class wingers or better opponents remains to be seen. He was up against the rookie Jes Rak-Sakyi, who was replaced after an anonymous first half; a winger more accustomed to League One football mustered a mere 12 touches for Palace and Amrabat will face stiffer examinations of his defence credentials. Indeed, a few minutes at Burnley did prove harder than half a match against Palace.
Amrabat nevertheless cruised through it before admitting he is not fully fit yet. He arrived sidelined, perhaps fitting in perfectly at an injury-hit club. With Shaw and Malacia unlikely to feature before November, Sergio Reguilon may be required for the games that necessitate a specialist left-back.
But there may have been a vision of Ten Hag’s United: Amrabat alongside Casemiro, in a team with Mount. They may come to occupy other roles – the Moroccan officially as a midfielder, the Englishman perhaps filling the vacancy on the right wing – but Ten Hag tends to display plenty of confidence in some of his flagship signings. And if Amrabat seemed to be brought in as a central figure, his manager may deem him the right man on the left for now.
