The Man Utd talking points after they lost 1-0 to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
Bruno Fernandes equals appearance record
A damning piece of history was made at the City Ground on Tuesday night as Bruno Fernandes equalled the total amount of appearances Luke Shaw has made for Manchester United. Fernandes joined in January 2020, Shaw joined in June 2014.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if Fernandes went on the eclipse the 278 club appearances Shaw has made since he moved to Old Trafford, a stat that highlights the durability of the United captain as much as it does that the left-back lacks it. Patrick Dorgu was signed in January, Harry Amass was on the bench against Forest and teenager Diego Leon will join the club in the summer.
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Add into the mix the fact that Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui can both provide cover in that role, and it is hard to argue Shaw should remain at the club beyond the summer, unless he is used as an auxiliary centre-back instead. He should get an opportunity at the very least, but the decision might have already been made.
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A league of their own
Manchester United have not won consecutive matches in the Premier League all season. It might very well stay that way after they followed up their victory over Leicester with a 1-0 loss against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night. With a home match against Man City and a trip to face Newcastle United next up, time is quickly running out for United to show the consistency they have lacked all season.
The underlying caveat is that it might not matter at all as long as they manage to overcome Lyon later this month and keep their Europa League dream alive, with their lowest Premier League finish now a formality with just eight league matches left. If Ruben Amorim wants encouragement, it should come from the fact that Forest were only promoted to the top-flight three years ago and are now on the verge of the Champions League. Whether he gets the same time himself remains to be seen.
Remember me?
Anthony Elanga was an obvious headline before kick-off, Manchester United will wish he wasn’t such an obvious one by the end of it. The 22-year-old will be the subject of much revisionism after his stunning solo effort on Tuesday night, but there were few complaints when they sold him two years ago.
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He has been able to rediscover his confidence playing in a counter-attacking side where he is one of the key men, a completely different proposition to the support role he had for a United side that wanted to keep the ball a bit more. If he had remained at Old Trafford, it is unlikely he would have developed into the same player he is now.
What is alarming is not that United let Elanga go, but that they spent £155 million on Jadon Sancho and Antony to solve those wide issues, and have effectively written all three of them off.
Joshua Zirkzee line up mistake
It only took two minutes for Ruben Amorim to realise he might have made a mistake with his Manchester United line up against Nottingham Forest. In one of four changes to the starting line up, Rasmus Hojlund was rested and Joshua Zirkzee was selected instead. It was a gamble always unlikely to pay off.
Zirkzee is clearly not a striker and it was as if United were playing without one entirely for a large part of their City Ground clash. The quirk is that they played rather well; they just lacked cutting edge and any meaningful threat in the final third.
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After barely 120 seconds of the clash, Amorim gesticulated towards Zirkzee from the touchline, and urged the Dutchman to push further forward and lead the line. That simply isn’t in his nature, and it was little surprise when he turned to his bench at half-time to bring on Rasmus Hojlund. With a crucial Europa League quarter-final tie against Lyon next week, it is not a mistake he can afford to make again.
Desperate times call for desperate Maguire
With time running out and Manchester United staring at another defeat, Ruben Amorim had to get desperate as he looked for a way back into the match. Rasmus Hojlund had already been introduced, Joshua Zirkzee had been replaced and Chido Obi was not selected after his Youth Cup involvement the previous night.
It left Amorim with no option other than to throw Harry Maguire on as an extra striker, as United bombarded the Forest box and looked for a dramatic equaliser. A chance fell his way that he improbably managed to head wide of goal, a reminder of the makeshift attempt to salvage a draw.
Hojlund is himself not the finished product, but United are over reliant on him and can’t afford to miss out on another striker this summer. This will not be news to anyone at the club.