Manchester United’s new solution for slow starts at Old Trafford? Swap ends

Manchester United have tried to improve their fortunes at Old Trafford by making the teams swap ends at kick-off in their last three home games.

Traditionally, United warm up before home games at the Stretford End, where their most vociferous fans are based, and prefer to shoot towards that end in the second half so they finish games strongly.

But for the last three home games — against Ipswich Town, Fulham and Arsenal — captain Bruno Fernandes has won the pre-match coin toss and asked for the teams to swap ends, so United attack the Stretford End in the first half.

The chief instigator of the change is head coach Ruben Amorim, who has been alarmed at his side’s record at Old Trafford, especially in first halves, and is looking at ways of shifting momentum and starting games quicker.

Prior to the visit of Ipswich, United had scored only one opening-half goal at home in seven games — a Fernandes penalty against Brighton. They also struggled away, that Fernandes spot kick being the sole first-half goal in 17 successive matches overall.

If the Premier League table was decided purely on how games stand at half-time, United would be in the bottom three, along with Leicester City and Southampton, underlining how slow their starts have been.

So Amorim, in conjunction with his players, has tried to affect matters at Old Trafford at least, where United at one stage went on a run of five defeats in seven games this season.

United changing ends to start matches is seen by those in the team as a good way of disrupting the opposition as well as changing their own luck. Real Sociedad visit Old Trafford in a potentially season-defining Europa League last-16 tie on Thursday, with the scoreline poised at 1-1 from the first leg.

After the toss against Arsenal, with the teams switching ends, Fernandes and Matthis de Ligt could be seen laughing with each other. Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya did not seem ready to move and was late to join his team’s huddle.

The tactical switch does seem to have provoked a response, with United turning around an early deficit against Ipswich to score twice before the break through a Sam Morsy own goal and De Ligt’s tap-in.

For the visit by Fulham in the FA Cup, the tactic did not work, with Fernandes equalising in the second half, but the Portuguese struck from a free kick just before the interval against Arsenal on Sunday.

“We score near the half-time, that helped us a lot in the end,” Amorim said. “In the second half, we had more space and more energy also because of the result and our fans, to score another goal.”

United were also turned around for the trip to Everton, four days before the Ipswich game, but that was due to James Tarkowski wishing to avoid the glare from the sun. United produced a performance where Amorim said his players “didn’t exist” in the first half.

Tarkowski did the same thing at Old Trafford in December for Amorim’s third match in charge, and United scored two first-half goals in front of the Stretford End through Marcus Rashford and Joshua Zirkzee to spark a 4-0 win.

Fernandes also won both tosses for the Fulham shoot-out, electing to go first and have the kicks taken in front of the Stretford End, although United lost 4-3.

Fernandes famously elected to go second for the shootout in the 2021 Europa League final against Villarreal, with United falling 11-10.

Analysis: Does switching ends really make a difference?

Making the teams switch ends is a minor detail which sounds like it could be classed as a marginal gain, but Sir Dave Brailsford did not influence it. Rather Amorim and his coaches, together with the players, decided to make the tweak to see if it yielded results.

Amorim touched on the subject of rituals in an interview with TNT Sports last week. He was asked whether he had any pre-match superstitions. “I just give one bottle to my assistant (Carlos Fernandes),” he replied, laughing. “But I think I will change that because this is the time when you are not winning too much, you change things. The rest I change all the time.”

There has been a modest upturn in performance levels to start games — with three first-half goals in three matches, compared to one in the previous seven — so it appears there is every chance Fernandes repeats the move should he win the toss against Real Sociedad.

The fans sucking the ball into the goal in front of the Stretford End was mythologised under Sir Alex Ferguson, but there was substance, too. Many dramatic goals were scored at that end late on, such as in the treble-winning season when Dwight Yorke and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer staged a comeback over Liverpool or Andy Cole put United in front against Tottenham Hotspur. Michael Owen’s stoppage-time finish to fell Manchester City also took place at that end.

But Amorim has showed he currently places a higher value on starting games better.

(Top photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images)

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