Manchester United have now suffered their second consecutive defeat under new manager Ruben Amorim after losing 3-2 at home to Nottingham Forest. Amorim has only won one of his four league games as manager and the team remains in 13th place.
Ruben Amorim acknowledged that Manchester United’s lack of quality was what cost them victory against Nottingham Forest and reiterated that there is no quick fix.
United lost 3-2 to Forest and are now 13th in the Premier League table as Amorim’s first defeat at Old Trafford.
Amorim has only once in his coaching career lost two consecutive games in the top division. It didn’t take him long to experience it with Manchester United.
He told Sky Sports: “It was a tough game. We started really badly in the first half. It was difficult to calm the players down and carry on as we should have. We didn’t have a lot of quality, but we had a lot of heart. Conceding two goals after half-time is really tough.
“We need more time to establish ourselves. If you look at the first goal, the players worked well together, we had some good moments after the first goal, we created some chances, but then we just went forward without thinking. It’s a difficult situation, but we need to understand that this is a long journey and that’s our job.”
Following Arsenal’s dominance on Wednesday night, United conceded their third goal in a week from a set-piece, but Nikola Milenkovic’s header put Forest ahead within two minutes. When asked who was to blame for the poor corner construction, Amorim replied:
“And we tried to make it as good as possible. We’ve been working a lot in this area because we saw it at Arsenal, it was really tough.
“In that sense, we suffered at the start of the game. It’s really hard to bring energy to a team, but we did it. The game ended in a draw [1:1].
“The second half was the same. And you feel it with everyone. With the fans, with the players. “It’s really difficult to tell them ‘keep doing your job’. We managed to score another goal but after that it was like we wanted it to be but not of great quality.”
United have now suffered two straight defeats under Amorim, with the change of manager not having had a major impact on their results in the short term.
Amorim added: “It was much worse at the start with Sporting. I know that’s how it feels for me too. It’s completely different for the world. I know Sporting is in Portugal but in Manchester they get a lot of attention but for me it’s totally different.” I’m the same. I feel the same.
“If you have a little bit of experience in football, this happens in many clubs. And you have to keep it up and improve the team, because then the flow will change. So it takes time and you have to keep working the same way every day.”
“Amorim has certainly changed the style of play at United, he has changed the formation. They are trying to be more patient, but this defeat means a real setback. Watching the final minutes of the game, there was a clear uncertainty and lack of confidence.
“At Ipswich we had most of the possession in our own half, where we were able to get close to the opponent’s goal and had 71.6 percent possession. For comparison: under Erik ten Hag, we only had that much of the ball once, in the defeat to Crystal Palace.
“But the lack of creativity was worrying, especially after Fernandes was sacked. United were no doubt hampered by Nuno’s impressive play, whose cautious substitutions gave Harry Maguire time to hold onto the ball but failed to capitalise.
“Amorim will want to turn United into a team that can confidently dominate the ball and will use the example of Matthijs de Ligt’s first goal, when he prompted a substitution through a pass, as evidence that this is effective.”
“But what happened afterwards was a reminder that this team is still too fragile and prone to making inexplicable mistakes that can derail the best-laid plans. It takes time to get this job right and their next Premier League game is the Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium, which will be shown live on Sky Sports.”
