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EPL Premier League Reaction Manchester United drew 4-4 with Bournemouth on Monday night Peter Powell/AFP via Getty Images How do you properly assess, evaluate, and explain Manchester United’s 4-4 draw with Bournemouth without descending into well-worn football verbiage (“Football, bloody hell! ”) or frequent repetitions of the word ‘chaotic’? Ruben Amorim’s men entered Old Trafford on Monday on the precipice of change. The upcoming Africa Cup of Nations (which begins on December 21) will see him lose two of his best attackers in Bryan Mbeumo and Amad. Earlier in the day, The Athletic reported the head coach had spent a significant amount of recent training ground sessions preparing his team to play in a 4-3-3. Advertisement And if United are to undergo a metamorphosis, this 4-4 draw suggests there might first have to be a difficult puberty prone to the occasional mood swing. It was such a frenzied game that it felt wrong to attempt to choose a singular narrative to focus on from this draw. Picking out one storyline would do a disservice to another. So here is every effort The Athletic made trying to make a match piece from Manchester United 4-4 Bournemouth, before the relentlessly shifting scoreline forced yet another change in our approach… In September, Amorim informed assembled media that “not even the Pope” could dissuade him from his preferred 3-4-2-1 system. We are still to confirm whether a conversation was had between Leo XIV and the United head coach, but Monday’s opening moments saw more than one football fan try to parse United’s tactical shape. Had Amorim sent his men out in a 4-3-3 with Leny Yoro and Diogo Dalot operating at full-back? Were United’s early build-up patterns with a back three an indication that nothing had changed? Or was Matheus Cunha’s movement just behind Mbeumo a sign that United were experimenting with a 3-5-2? The truth is — bizarrely — all of the above. A look at United’s average position map from the first half illustrates where Amorim’s men were typically standing when in possession.   But United moved in such a fluid manner throughout the opening half hour that it makes description difficult.   “It was the same system they always play, but they adapt depending on who you put to mark them, ” said Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola in his post-match press conference. “It is a very flexible system. Depending on the outside player — if you mark them with the full-back, they will go lower (suggesting you can turn Amorim’s back three into a five). If you mark them with a winger, they will go higher. The positions in the middle — with Casemiro and Bruno (Fernandes)… Even us with Tav (Marcus Tavernier), Tyler (Adams), we were changing two against two. ” Advertisement It was a resounding compliment for one of the league’s more tactically verbose managers. Amorim’s tactical approach has always sought a chameleon-like quality, changing shape depending on what is required. What was interesting about this adaptation on Monday came from how United moved to a back four, and why it was so effective for most of the first half. Amad’s positioning — higher and more central than his more regular outings at wing-back — caused Bournemouth problems for 30 minutes. His opening goal was not the cleanest of headers, but he was a constant threat throughout. Similarly, United’s back line appeared to shift over to create a back four when defending, to stymie their movement down the flanks. It actually bore some resemblance to Crystal Palace’s approach when out of possession, starting games in a 3-4-3 before dropping into a 4-4-2 mid-block to defend.   Amorim’s tweaks were the focus of this piece, before Iraola made changes of his own, and a certain player sprang a surprise. Around the 20-minute mark, Iraola swapped his wingers, bringing Alex Jimenez onto the left to help defend Amad, while Semenyo moved across to the right. A limited-time release clause worth £65million ($87m) will make Semenyo one of the most talked-about players of the January transfer window. Across a series of pre-match press conferences, Amorim described the Ghana international as a “special player”. A goal in the 40th minute demonstrated his talent. Poor defending from Mason Mount and Luke Shaw led to the forward picking up the ball in space, before he ran into the final third and punished United with gusto. Casemiro’s header from a Fernandes corner in first-half stoppage time cut this segment short, but The Athletic will write more on Semenyo and United in the near future. The 25-year-old has many of the characteristics that appear to be on Amorim’s preferred shopping list. Advertisement Forty seconds into the second half, and Bournemouth had equalised; a smart through ball from Tavernier to Evanilson, leaving United’s young defenders flat-footed and reeling. Minutes later, more defensive woe for United. Miscommunication between Ayden Heaven and surrounding team-mates saw him back off Tavernier at a crucial moment as he carried the ball towards the box. Casemiro attempted to bail out the centre-back with a tactical foul to allow United time to reset, but Tavernier scored with the resultant free kick to give the away side a 3-2 lead in the 52nd minute. All big questions The Athletic began to answer, until the dawning realisation that a 3-2 scoreline put one of football’s longest-running streaks in jeopardy. United have never lost a Premier League home game in which they were leading at half-time. In fact, they have not lost any of the last 393 games at Old Trafford in which they were leading at half-time (W359 D34). It’s an extraordinary run that stretches back to a 2-1 loss against Ipswich Town in May 1984. For context, Amorim was born in January 1985. As the clocks ticked towards full time, another great pillar of United history looked to be crumbling. And then Amorim made an important change. The 61st minute saw Kobbie Mainoo substituted on for Casemiro to a roar from the Old Trafford crowd and almost a standing ovation. The academy graduate has been a point of contention for much of this season, as discussion over his playing time has become a proxy for discussion over the importance of United’s academy to Amorim. Against Bournemouth, the 20-year-old was deployed as a holding midfielder, sitting behind Fernandes and tasked with connecting play as United went in search of an equaliser. “He can play in that position, ” said Amorim on Friday. “But it’s hard sometimes. If you look at our team with Cunha, Bryan, sometimes Bruno — that you guys say is a No 10. Sometimes Kobbie, Manu (Ugarte), you have to think I’m the guy for blocking transitions, all these things. ” Advertisement “He needs to spend more time there but he can be in the future that position. ” Mainoo performed well in the deeper midfield role in which he first emerged under Erik ten Hag. Casemiro’s suspension on Sunday may allow him to play more than the 29 minutes he got at Old Trafford.   There is a particularly captivating sight in sports, where an experienced player steadily works through every part of their learned craft as they search for a win. Whether by hook or by crook, it is thrilling to watch a player make it very clear to themselves, their team-mates and their fans, “I’m not losing today. ” Fernandes’ 77th-minute free kick made for one of those sights. The United captain fired a free kick into the top right-hand corner of Djordje Petrovic’s goal to restore parity to the game. The 31-year-old can be divisive, but there is no one more important to United’s attacking schemes. A look at his actions across the game reveals a typical Fernandes performance. An unorthodox attacking catalyst who attempts to cover every blade of grass while firing a myriad of through balls into the final third. Will United ever be capable of controlled, considered football so long as a player as unconventional as Fernandes remains at their core? Possibly not. Would United be a better team without him? Absolutely not. There have been far too many matches where he has dragged his underperforming team to better days. Just 129 seconds separated Fernandes’ equaliser and Cunha’s go-ahead goal to make it 4-3. It was the captain’s refusal to lose that provided a platform for recovery. Eli Junior Kroupi’s 84th-minute strike let the air out of United’s joyous balloon. The equaliser is the fifth time United have gone ahead in a 2025-26 Premier League game before failing to win the game. Amorim believes the issue comes from his players needing to improve their understanding of the game in certain moments, recognising when they are playing the opponent, but also the time remaining on the match clock. Advertisement Perhaps United would have closed this game out successfully had one of Harry Maguire or Matthijs de Ligt been fit, offering some more streetwise defending close to their own penalty area. In the end United were grateful for two late saves from Lammens to keep the scoreline at 4-4. To quote a successful computer programmer, “a good game should be a series of interesting decisions”. Monday’s match provided plenty of entertainment for fans of both sides and neutrals, thanks to a series of adjustments by Amorim and Iraola. Their teams now sit sixth and 13th in the Premier League table, yet only five points separate them. As several players prepare to depart for AFCON, Amorim is faced with a choice. Can he find a way to enhance the promising parts of this thrilling draw, while lessening its drawbacks? He will be without Mbeumo and Amad for Sunday’s game with title-chasing Aston Villa, with no Casemiro to fight for second balls. Adjustments will be needed, and his players will have to meet this challenge. Monday’s draw offered hope of a better tomorrow for United but can Amorim’s reduced squad keep things ticking along during those AFCON absences? Carl Anka is a journalist covering Manchester United for The Athletic. Follow Carl on Twitter @Ankaman616