Manchester United’s Premier League campaign continued to flounder as they huffed and puffed but were unable to break through a stubborn Nottingham Forest defence.
The 0-1 loss keeps Man Utd in 13th place in the table and it is all but confirmed that they will finish this season as their worst-ever in the Premier League.
However, this was far from a surrender seen from this team against the likes of Bournemouth or Newcastle, as they bossed territory and possession.
Ruben Amorim said after the game that he saw something from his team which bodes well for the future.
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Ruben Amorim on Man Utd progress
Amorim has been nothing but brutally honest during his time at Old Trafford so far and because he’s been honest about the bad times, it’s easy to take him at face value when he’s positive.
“Positively frustrated” was his mood after the loss to Forest as United created enough to at least win one point, if not three.
The attackers let him down and Harry Maguire being sent as an emergency striker said it all about the team’s attacking woes.
Lack of cutting-edge hurting Man Utd has been the theme throughout the season but in Amorim’s opinion, the team is at least doing the part leading up to it correctly now.
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Speaking to the press after the game, Amorim said: “I see it in the game [that Man Utd are improving]. I don’t lie to myself, everyone can say whatever they want to say, but we need to win games. We go to the next game.”
Building blocks clear at Man Utd
The result will dominate the headlines and rightly so, because United are in the midst of a historically bad league campaign.
However, it is easy to see how far the team has come in the last four months when it comes to being confident on the ball, having patterns of play, and general robustness.
A one-trick transitional team is capably going to an away ground and bossing possession, creating chances by keeping the ball instead of trying to smash down a locked door.
The passes have a certain crispness to them and the players are getting increasingly familiar with where they need to be at all times.
Finishing is where there’s no substitute for quality and unfortunately, United just don’t have much of it.
The building blocks are in place and the team could take off with a clinical striker.