‘Sometimes you can attack better with less strikers’: Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim on curious decision to sub Joshua Zirkzee off vs Wolves

Manchester United's Joshua Zirkzee celebrates after he scored the opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Wolverhampton Wanderers in Manchester, England, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim defended his decision to sub off striker Joshua Zirkzee and goal scorer when Manchester United were drawing 1-1 with bottom-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers in a Premier League match on Tuesday. With United desperately needing a goal, fans and experts alike were left baffled when Amorim decided to sub Zirkzee off and introduce midfielder Jack Fletcher.

“We were struggling with their midfielders, and sometimes you can attack better with less strikers. We ‌played with three strikers and sometimes that’s not the best thing to attack well. This game is over, you can not change ‌the result of this one, but you can move on and go to the next one,” Amorim said to Sky Sports.

“Looking at the 90 minutes, we had our ‌chances but the fluidity offensively ‍wasn’t there. ⁠There is a ​lack of connections at the moment. They tried, we didn’t play well. When you don’t play well with the ball, ⁠you struggle without it. We need to recover and go ⁠to the next one,” he added.

United suffered a frustrating end to 2025 as they were held to a 1-1 home draw by Wolves as the Premier League’s bottom side collected their third point of the season. Ending a run of 11 straight defeats in the league, Wolves did not look like a side facing almost inevitable relegation as they managed to derail ‍a ⁠United team seeking to break back into the top four.

Dutch forward Zirkzee made the most of a rare start by giving United the lead in the 27th minute, fashioning a sliver of space on the edge of the box before scoring with a shot that deflected off Ladislav Krejci. Benjamin ​Sesko almost made it two in the 39th minute ‌but he headed his effort from a corner off the post, summing up a frustrating night for the 22-year-old Slovenian.

Wolves never backed down and ​Krejci equalised just before the break, Zirkzee giving him a helping hand by sending a defensive header across the box for the Czech to nod back in at the far post.

The tempo remained high in the second half, with Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa scrambling to prevent a header from teammate Yerson Mosquera from going into the net, while his United counterpart Senne Lammens pulled off a superb double save to deny Krejci ‌and Mosquera.

Patrick Dorgu thought he had snatched a 90th-minute winner for United but the goal was chalked off for offside following a VAR review, leaving United ‌sixth in the standings with 30 points. Wolves are bottom with three points from 19 games.