Manchester United’s finest performances under Ruben Amorim have come in the three marquee away games- Arsenal, Liverpool, and Man City, but the manager isn’t convinced.
Considering Liverpool was a draw and Man City are in a slump even greater than United’s, it can be argued that the best result came against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
However, Ruben Amorim has now accepted that the way United played against Arsenal is not something they can do in the future, the result being a sidenote.
The Man Utd manager has always stressed on the performance instead of results and one thing in the Arsenal game was particularly unsustainable for him.
Against Arsenal, United flipped the narrative bugging them in the lead-up to the game by thwarting their threat from set-pieces and scored on a transition.
Arsenal saw plenty of the ball and even missed some guilt-edged chances, but it never looked like United were completely under the cosh, waiting to concede.
Diogo Dalot’s sending-off made it more difficult and United were forced to retreat and put forward a rearguard action to take it to penalties.
Amorim, who always wants his side to take the initiative instead of ceding it, accepted before the Southampton game that that way of playing is unsustainable because of that reason, they ceded the initiative too much.
He said: “Against Arsenal, we waited for the opportunity. In the future,e we can’t play like that and I know that. Fans will expect more tomorrow. We have to deliver.”
He added that that is the way they had to play in that game as they build up their patterns of play which should hopefully translate to more commanding performances.
Amorim said: “We need time to build a different way of playing. Now we are focused on different things and then in the future, we are going to focus on that. But this game, the fans will expect more from us and we have to deliver.”
Most importantly, the circumstances of the game forced them because the games at Man City and Liverpool were evidence that United now goes toe-to-toe with these teams instead of playing like underdogs.
Amorim is keeping Man Utd squad on their toes
Amorim has mastered the art of using the media to send messages to his players, needling them for a reaction on a matchday.
Whether that is asking for leaders to step up in the dressing room, or bringing them down to earth after a positive result, he has balanced it perfectly so far.
This statement after United’s biggest win of the season in trying circumstances is more of the same, with Amorim asking his players to be braver on the ball instead of cocooning themselves in the underdog blanket now that it got them a positive result.
That bodes well for the future because being one-dimensional in their style of play is exactly what scripted the doom of managers before him.
Amorim is determined to avoid that fate, even if that means admitting United can’t repeat the performance of their best win under him!
