Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has revealed that he took off Bruno Fernandes in the defeat to Nottingham Forest because the skipper was too tired.
United have now lost back-to-back games under their new boss.
Nikola Milenkovic, Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood all found the back of the net to secure Forest’s first win at Old Trafford since 1994.
Rasmus Hojlund and Bruno Fernandes grabbed United’s goals.
In the second half, while United were in search of an equaliser, Amorim surprisingly decided to take off Fernandes and replace him with Mason Mount.
Fernandes was one of the few United stars who were threatening Forest, hence why his withdrawal raised a few eyebrows.
His replacement, Mount, didn’t offer much when he came on, making the substitution even more puzzling.
After the final whistle, Amorim spoke to Sky Sports [via BBC] and revealed what motivated that particular personnel change.
“Bruno [Fernandes] was too tired and I wanted [Mason] Mount to play that position of second midfielder who opens a bit on the left.”
“Josh [Zirkzee] plays with Rasmus [Hojllund] to have combinations, [Leny] Yoro goes off because we can’t give him too many minutes.”
“We put Harry Maguire on because of set-pieces, to control more who was winning all the first balls, the only way to attack Nottingham was transitions, to try and win first and second balls.”
“When Harry was on the pitch he won all the first balls.”
On a tough start to life at United, Amorim responded, “It’s not a surprise because we come in the middle of a lot of games.”
“It’s really disappointing for the fans, after so many times with disappointment, but we are here to do a job and will continue doing the same things to improve the team.”
Up next for United is a Thursday Europa League clash against Czech outfit Viktoria Plzeň.
Featured image Clive Brunskill via Getty Images
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Derick Kinoti
Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
