“Watch him flop”, “Amorim is sick” - Manchester United fans unhappy with defender being part of line-up to face Bournemouth

Manchester United are looking to defeat Bournemouth in the Premier League
Manchester United are looking to defeat Bournemouth in the Premier League

Manchester United fans have been left unhappy after teenage defender Ayden Heaven was included in the starting XI for their game against Bournemouth. The Red Devils are looking to claim another win in the league, having overcome Wolves in their last game.

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Ruben Amorim has made just one change to his XI for the visit of the Cherries, having seen his side defeat bottom side Wolves last week. French centre-back Leny Yoro comes into the XI for Noussair Mazraoui, joining Heaven and Luke Shaw in the back three for the Red Devils.

Former Arsenal man Heaven is set to make his fifth league appearance of the season, more than he managed in the entirety of the 2024-25 season. The 19-year-old is playing for a third successive game, with both Harry Maguire and Matthijs De Ligt sidelined at the moment.

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Manchester United fans are unconvinced by the young centre-back, and are skeptical of his inclusion in the XI to face Bournemouth. A section of the fans have taken to X to complain about the defender's inclusion in the line-up.

A fan complained about the inclusion of youngsters Yoro and Heaven in the XI.

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Another fan asked that Heaven be left out of the XI.

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A fan predicted that the England youth international would flop in the game.

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Another fan appeared to be exasperated by the decision to play the young defender.

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Ayden Heaven has been trusted with a role in the middle of the back three ahead of Lisandro Martinez, who has been named on the bench. The Argentina international is being eased in slowly at Manchester United following his recovery from a year-long ACL injury.

Manchester United working on plan to combat AFCON absences: Reports

Manchester United are reportedly working on a plan to live with the absences of key players during AFCON this month. The Red Devils are set to miss the trio of Noussair Mazraoui, Amad Diallo, and Bryan Mbeumo for parts of the next month.

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According to Laurie Whitwell, Ruben Amorim has extensively trialled a change of systems from his standard 3-4-2-1 to a 4-3-3 out of necessity. This is as a result of Mazraoui, Diallo, and Mbeumo being key players in the regular system, and the squad lacks direct profiles to replace them.

Deployed mostly as a right-sided centre-back, Mazraoui was named in the Morocco squad for the AFCON, and will likely start at right-back for his country in the tournament. Diallo and Mbeumo were invited by reigning champions Ivory Coast and Cameroon, respectively, and will leave after the Bournemouth game.

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Edited by Sulayman Salahudeen
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