Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim confirms player who made 'under-12s error' will start against Arsenal

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has confirmed one of his starters for Sunday’s FA Cup third round clash with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. It has been a turbulent season for the Red Devils, who are in the bottom half of the Premier League with more than half of the season already played.

United needed to win the FA Cup last season to qualify for Europe after finishing outside of the top six, and they might need to do the same this time around, with FA Cup and Europa League glory appearing to be their only routes back into European football.

It’s for that reason United are likely to take Sunday’s clash with the Gunners seriously, but they will rotate at the goalkeeper position, Amorim has confirmed, with Altay Bayindir set to start over Andre Onana. Amorim confirmed: “I don't rotate because I want to rotate. I'm trying to find the best solutions to win the game. I put the guys in who are more fresh to cope with the demands of the game. The goalkeeper position is different, so it's a good question. Altay will play."

Bayindir has struggled when deputising for Onana, at times, and like Onana, he recently conceded directly from a corner, something that did not impress Match of the Day pundit Danny Murphy, who said: “Manchester United’s form is the exact opposite. I am not concerned about Amorim getting the sack but it really does not help when your goalkeeper keeps on conceding goals direct from a corner – that is under-12s stuff.

“I remember it happening when I was watching my son play when he was about 15 and he got done off a corner. I told him you would never see it happen to a professional goalkeeper, but it has happened twice in two weeks to Manchester United – first to Altay Bayindir and then Andre Onana. You could not make it up.”

Amorim on rotations

Amorim has also spoken about the other positions United may need to rotate in, although he suggests his experiments are coming to an end after arriving at the club and getting a look at plenty of players.

"I think we rotated more in that part when we were trying to find out what kind of players we have,” he said. “Players have returned from injury and now we are rotating less. Now we have had time to train a little bit more, I expect my team to understand a little bit better, the game. I don't rotate because I want to rotate; I am not different from other coaches."