Ruben Amorim was right about Manchester United kids at Brentford - and Chido Obi proved why

Ruben Amorim had called it. "Not the best moment" to play the kids, he said recently. Manchester United's young guns might now also understand why their manager was cautious about chucking them in at the deep end this season.

If this is a case of sink or swim, then the third youngest team in Premier League history were gasping for air at the Gtech Community Stadium. This won't be an afternoon that will wreck promising careers, but it could certainly be a setback.

Tyler Fredricson had a promising start but was replaced by Victor Lindelof as he began to struggle. Chido Obi might have signed up to Rasmus Hojlund's strikers' union on his return to the away dressing rooms after this chastening effort.

It's worth revisiting Amorim's comments from a couple of weeks ago about the danger of throwing the kids in during a domestic campaign that has become an embarrassment to the club.

"It's not the best moment or the best season to put some kids to play because again they need a strong base to really show what they can do, but in this moment we need to do it," Amorim said.

You can't really argue with that, but you can also see why United's head coach was reluctant to do what he had to do at Brentford. The result was a 16th defeat of the season and another rough afternoon.

Before kick-off, there had been excitement at the United line-up. At 17 years and 155 days, Obi became the youngest player to start a Premier League game for United. He was the junior member of a very junior team. With an average age of 22 years and 270 days, this was the third youngest team to start a Premier League game for any club.

It didn't feel like that was the case when the team dropped, but youngsters such as 20-year-olds Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho have so much first-team experience that it can be easy to forget their tender years. Six members of the starting XI were 20 or younger, with Harry Amass, Fredricson, and Patrick Dorgu rounding off that number.

The focus was on Obi, however, as it always is when a prolific goalscorer at academy levels begins to try and make the ascent to first-team football. The former Arsenal youngster has already seen just how taxing that rise can be.

He has 14 goals in 15 games this season at youth level, but his cameos for the first team have shown how raw he is. He had chances against Fulham in the FA Cup but has toiled without reward otherwise.

Amorim's comments about this not being the right time to play youngsters had a caveat: The head coach didn't think he had any other option. Europa League progression and the catastrophic state of their Premier League season have rendered these games exercises of survival.

As soon as Joshua Zirkzee's season came to a premature end last month, it was clear Obi was going to be needed. In his first start and his longest run out yet, he got an understanding of why Amorim was concerned about exposing too many youngsters. You only need to look at Hojlund's body language to see what a thankless task playing No.9 for this team can be.

Obi did scrap hard against Nathan Collins, but academy level doesn't prepare you for physical battles with 6ft 4in centre-backs with years of strength training behind them. On a couple of occasions Altay Bayindir sent long balls up for Obi to try and challenge for against Collins.

That is exactly the kind of pass that Andre Onana often sends Hojlund's way, and gets a volley of abuse back in return. Obi isn't going to complain just yet but he can't have appreciated it either. He battled away manfully but got little change out of the Republic of Ireland international.

When Luke Shaw then sent a free-kick spinning down the left channel, the kind of aimless ball forward that tells a striker 'chase that', it was met with an exasperated wave of the arms from Ruben Amorim. Obi was never in contention to win the race for the ball.

It summed up his first half that he had just eight touches, half as many as the next lowest for United, which was Garnacho with 16.

One of the problems for United's striker is that you can go through long spells of not being involved in the game, so when the chance does come, you're not ready for it. Obi had half an opportunity when Christian Eriksen's cross picked him out, but he failed to connect with his header. Even had he done so, it was a difficult chance.

He deserves credit for sticking at it, however. His best opportunity came in the final minute, when perseverance saw him carve out half-a-yard of space in the box, before his shot from an angle was blocked.

He won't be judged on this outing. You only have to watch Hojlund play to know how difficult it is for a striker here. Of the 39 shots United had against Bournemouth and Athletic Club last week, their striker had one.

Now Obi understands his plight. At most clubs, it is the goalkeepers who stick together. At this one, it's their strikers who should have each other's backs.