'Manchester United's Improved Control Under Ruben Amorim Praised by Bournemouth Manager Andoni Iraola'

Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola has praised the influence of Ruben Amorim at Manchester United leading up to the Cherries' upcoming match at Old Trafford on Sunday. Iraola's team currently sits in sixth place in the table, seven positions above United but only three points ahead of them. Following the departure of Erik ten Hag as United's manager, Amorim took over and started his tenure with a draw against Ipswich. Since then, United have secured four victories and suffered three defeats, including a recent win against Manchester City in the derby followed by a loss in the League Cup to Tottenham.

"I think they are different," said Iraola, whose side won the equivalent game 3-0 last season.

"I think they play in a different way, different system, different approach to the games," he also told a pre-match press conference on Friday.

"I think they keep the games more in their control. They've raised the possession they have on the ball and they have really good patterns.

"If we allow them to dictate the game and to be the team taking the decisions on the ball, it's going to be very difficult because I think they are playing very well.

"They are conceding very few chances, very few goals, they have very good defensive stats. 

"They already had this with ten Hag this season because they've signed also new defenders, good defenders, and they've improved from past seasons defensively overall and I think they are continuing now."

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United, however, fell 3-0 behind against Spurs before losing 4-3.

"I think probably they deserved more," said Iraola. "A lot of goals but I think they had very good moments."

United, however, have looked vulnerable at set-pieces.

"It's true that they've conceded a good amount of goals from set-plays but I think they have very good defenders and a lot of the goals are very good execution from the opposition," said Iraola.

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"I hope we can, as we do every week, prepare well also for set-plays, try to be successful. We are not the tallest of teams. More the opposite, we are quite a short team, but I think we are having some success in our offensive set-plays."

Bournemouth's three-game winning run was ended by a draw with West Ham last time out.

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"We have to go step by step," said Iraola. "We still need more points. Twenty-five is a good amount but, if you see the standings, every team is quite together so we have to continue trying to add points."

(This story has not been edited by staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)