Worry for Man Utd after Amad’s Old Firm flop
Robin Bairner
- 3 Feb 2022 08:00 CST
- 5 min read
Amad Diallo’s loan spell at Rangers from Manchester United has had an eventful start.
It took the 19-year-old only five minutes to strike for his new club on debut against Ross County, though the match ended in a 3-3 draw. Furthermore, the youngster was criticised afterwards for posting a highlight reel of his undoubtedly impressive display on Twitter.
His first real test, though, came on Wednesday when he and his Rangers colleagues visited bitter rivals Celtic in a Scottish Premiership match.
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Indeed, it was the biggest examination that Amad has had in his young career to date. Previously, he had only experienced the relatively sedate atmosphere of the Europa League or playing inconsequential Premier League matches for Man Utd. Meanwhile, he had less than an hour of first-team experience with Atalanta.
At Celtic, though, he experienced the white-hot atmosphere of one of the biggest derbies in world football. And it was an entirely hostile crowd, with no tickets having been put on sale to Rangers supporters for the event.
It turned out to be a nightmare evening for both Rangers and Amad. The defending champions were 3-0 down by half-time, at which point Gers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst elected to replace the young attacker.
The occasion proved to be too great for Amad. Although he was not aided by his team-mates, he looked entirely caught off guard by the pace of the match as well as taken aback by the sense of atmosphere.
Having looked mature and composed for the most part with Man Utd, here he looked like a boy who was out of his depth.
"You see the way we gave the goals away, it’s sharpness. I can't say otherwise. Not going with your man, not being ready for the battles and it was unbelievable," Van Bronckhorst said of his whole squad.
"We were too naive and we deserved to be down 3-0 with the way we played."
Amad to learn from chastening experience
In many ways, it was a performance that justified the Old Trafford side’s decision to farm him out on loan. This is the type of game in which Amad has the opportunity to test his mentality. It was an examination that he failed on this occasion.
Of course, it is easy for any young player to find themselves caught in the headlights in such an intimidating atmosphere, but Red Devils will certainly have taken note.
More important for Amad and Man Utd now is how the teenager bounces back from what was arguably the first major setback of his career.
