Ruben Amorim couldn't hide his frustration at some aspect of his team's performance at Arsenal
Ruben Amorim had predicted on Monday that "a storm is coming" Manchester United's way, and when the gale blew through the Emirates in the second half on Wednesday, his team looked unable to cope.
Since his appointment, the 39-year-old has overseen a period of positivity at Old Trafford, but this was always going to be their biggest test yet, and by the end of it, Amorim had a better idea of just how much work there is to do.
The 2-0 defeat to Arsenal exposed a couple of key issues. His side lacked quality in the final third, and when Arsenal turned up the intensity after the break, United wilted in the face of the physical battle. That will be particularly concerning to Amorim.
That physical shortfall is why he is continuing to tinker with his team. Predicting an Amorim XI is rapidly becoming impossible. In four games, he has handed starts to 21 players, and the past three matches have seen six changes in every one of them.
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He is showing players that they will all be involved under his stewardship, making it clear that this is a meritocracy and nobody is far away from the starting XI. Under Erik ten Hag, players could disappear for weeks on end after making a mistake, but now there is no punishment for mistakes and also not necessarily any reward for success. Every goalscorer under Amorim has been dropped for the next game.
Some of the changes are tactical as well as physical. The 39-year-old is showing himself as a horses for courses head coach. He has changed the focal point of his attack in every game, and having focused on inverted wing-backs so far, he played Diogo Dalot and Tyrell Malacia on their natural flanks at the Emirates.
He also switched Noussair Mazraoui from right-sided centre-back to left-sided centre-back, detailing him to help Malacia against Bukaya Saka and also push forward to mark Martin Odegaard. Amorim has been happy to use Bruno Fernandes in a deeper midfield role or as one of his No. 10s and is making constant tweaks to his team during games as well.
He was an animated presence on the touchline at the Emirates and regularly wanted more from his team in possession. He is also quick to make changes and has now used all 20 substitutions available to him in his four games in charge.
Already, he has produced a more controlled and structured United side. For large parts of the first half, they looked settled and able to compete, and United matches no longer resemble basketball contests.
But there is still a quality deficit to the very best teams, and as Amorim predicted on Monday, life is about to get harder for his side. That storm has arrived, and in the next five weeks, they have trips to Manchester City, Tottenham, Liverpool, and Arsenal again in the FA Cup. It will be a real examination of where this team is.
They will need to be better than this. A Matthijs de Ligt header and Antony shot was the only threat posed to David Raya's goal all night and none of the attacking players looked effective against what is an excellent defence, but one shorn of its best player in Gabriel.
There were positive signs in the first half in the way United defended, limiting Arsenal's threat to the odd set-piece and offering them no encouragement from open play, but the game changed at the break, and it was a battering in the second half.
You can guarantee more changes when United return to Old Trafford at the weekend. Amorim is no closer to knowing his best XI. The next month will tell him an awful lot about his squad, and the unpredictability is likely to continue.