Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim feels there were positive signs of improvement against Manchester City, despite the Reds not earning the desired three points.

We drew 0-0 with our crosstown rivals on Sunday afternoon at Old Trafford, in a stalemate that saw the sides walk away with a point apiece in the Premier League meeting.

Both teams had chances in the game but, from the early stages, it was a clash that always felt destined to end level. Nevertheless, the Reds boss believes progress among the squad is evident. 

Keep scrolling to read some of what Amorim said to the official broadcasters following the final whistle…

IMPROVEMENTS ON DISPLAY

“You can see it, [same] as me, the team is more comfortable. The positions, we can make better connections, we are pushing the opponents sometimes to the last third. We are defending and blocking the talented players like Manchester City have. I think we blocked most of the chances; they didn’t create much. They had the ball, but without danger, so we are improving.”

WORK IN PROGRESS

“Every player can improve. And they are here because they show something in other clubs. So, they have the quality, we have to spend more time with them. We are still a team, sometimes, that is more dangerous in transitions and we have to spend more time near the final third to get more opportunities.”

REVIEWING THE GAME

“I think we did well. We play a different game compared to Nottingham [Forest] last week. I know the excitement of the game is not the same when you are not fighting for different things. Changes a little bit the environment of the derby. But I think we are improving how we defend, we are more compact, we gave them less space than the last games. So, we are improving. We create some chances and then I think we have, always the same problem, is the lack of goals.”

SOLVING PROBLEMS

“Look at the positive things. We had some games and I was here and trying to remember one opportunity; it wasn’t there. Now, in the last games, we have the opportunities. Now we have to improve the last chance and the last shot.”

CRUCIAL BRUNO

“That [worth to United] is clear, but you can look at the other teams, they have players that are essential. If you look at Liverpool, it’s [Mohamed] Salah, the difference that he makes. Bruno [Fernandes] is our player in that department. So, he’s doing quite well. Again, everybody has to improve and Bruno has to step up a little bit more next year because he has a really big role.”

LOOKING TO LYON

“It’s really important. Again, it’s not the most important thing for Manchester United because we have a lot of things to do, but you can see it, in this season, the Europa League is really important. We can reach the Champions League next season, we can win something, so we are going to do everything to try to go to the next stage.”

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Ruben Amorim says Casemiro is an example of the fact that if a player improves in what he wants them to, they will play.

The Brazilian was at his enforcing best for the Reds in Sunday’s Manchester derby, winning tackles all over the pitch and showing why our manager continues to select him, after initially struggling to nail down a starting place under the Portuguese.

“The important thing with Casemiro is that he won everything with Real Madrid,” began our boss in his post-match press conference.

“He wasn’t playing because I understood that in that moment he wasn’t the best option for how we want to play and he continued to work.

“I look at my players in the same way. If you improve what we ask of them, they have the opportunity. If they play well, they continue to play.

“That was the situation for Casemiro. The credit is all the player. He is our player and will continue to be our player.”

Ruben also discussed the improvement of his side and the task of changing the mentality of the Reds from a transitional side to a more possession-oriented team, among other topics.

See what the boss said in his post-match press conference below…

Was that like the Nottingham Forest game in that you played really well in patches but still didn’t really look like scoring a goal?

“Again, we create some chances. The game was completely different from Nottingham, of course. Against a different opponent but we had there same lack of goals. Sometimes we did it well and Ederson was there. It is really important to score goals to win football matches.”

You didn’t want to come in, midway through a season. Are we now seeing the benefits of you working with the players for longer and you think they will be better next season because of that?

“At the moment it is really hard, every day. But you imagine that next season is going to be so much different. That is why I am always saying that I am in a rush, because we are suffering a lot. Everyone here is suffering a lot with all these changes and we have two show something in the next year, so right away. If not, I feel that all that is happening in this moment, we are not taking advantage. I think that is an important thing. In the good days you think like that. It is important to come as soon as possible to work with the players and improve the players, to start the next season with a better idea what we want. Today was that day that we played well, of course you can feel it in the game that it is not there at the top, top level, the intensity but you have to understand the context of both teams in this moment.”

The last two home games against Arsenal and Man City, it has felt like the team has improved in the game. Does that show that you can compete with these teams?

“Every game has its story. We need to sometimes give time to the team to understand the team and then to face the game. You remember when I first came in, sometimes we concede a goal in the first 10 minutes and that can change the momentum and the game and the strategy that we have to forget the strategy because we are 1-0 down. I think these players proved not just this season but in the seasons before, when they are like this and really focused, they can win any game.”

Gary Neville was critical after the game, saying there wasn’t enough passion. Can you understand that derby games should have more passion and more blood and thunder than what it showed?

“I understand everything. I understand that Gary Neville is critical about everything and I understand that we are in the moment that we are doing the worst season in history. Manchester City won everything in the past and this season are struggling. We are not in the best moments to give the best spectacle to every fan. We are not fighting for the big things. Of course, it is different. You have to look at the context of the game and I understand the critical aspect of the players that played in this game in a different way, because they were fighting all the time for the different titles. It is a different context.”

I know you have said before you don’t want to play as a transitional team or in a low block and the players are comfortable playing in that way right now. Pep came in before and said that for nine years, United have always been a transitional team. Does that show how difficult it will be to turn it round because we are talking about a decade of playing like that?

“That I can say that we want to be competitive in a short space of time but to do that and be really dominant against any opponent is going to take a lot of time. We have to use different weapons of playing a different style when we face different opponents. In that way of playing, City is maybe the best team in the world and they are doing it for a while. The important thing is if you compare this game to that against Arsenal, we had some moments when we did the same a little bit to City. And against Arsenal we didn’t do: clearly it was transitions. Today it was a little bit different. We are improving but to play in this way, that they played for many years, is going to take a long time.”

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Harry Maguire should be available for Manchester United’s crucial Europa League quarter-final first leg at Lyon on Thursday.

The experienced centre-back was withdrawn in the 58th minute of the 0-0 draw with Manchester City, with Victor Lindelof taking his place at the heart of the back three.

Although Amorim had admitted before kick-off that Maguire’s minutes were being managed and he may not play the full game, the 32-year-old did move a little uneasily when making his way to the touchline.

It sparked fears among some fans that the defender could be a doubt for the game in France, particularly as Matthijs de Ligt was forced out of the derby with an issue he picked up during the 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest.

In an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live, Amorim said: “Harry Maguire just had 60 minutes allowed from the medical department to play, so he’s fit and ready to go. So we need to be careful on this.”

The boss reiterated this stance in other post-match chats, clarifying: “No, it’s not an injury, it’s just [that] we had a time that we could use Harry without any danger. We cannot lose any more players, we have to try to divide the moments between the players. We have a really important game on Thursday.”

And, with MUTV, he said: “Just managing [him]. After 60 minutes, 55 minutes is a risk and we cannot risk any player in this moment.”

De Ligt will hopefully be in contention to return soon but Ruben did tell MUTV before kick-off: “Matta, he has an injury. Let’s see how long it is going to take.”

The head coach was also asked after the game about Mason Mount, who came off the bench again on Sunday, and Kobbie Mainoo and if they could feature against Lyon.

“We’ll see,” explained Amorim. “Mason Mount is ready to do whatever we want. Of course, we have to look at the minutes. Kobbie Mainoo is training with us, we want to be careful, again, with our players, but maybe he’s going to be in our squad.”

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The 196th Manchester derby ended in stalemate as neither United or City could find a winning goal at Old Trafford.

After a game in which clear-cut chances were few and far between and the action focused more on scuffles and missed opportunities, there were still many positives to take from a United point of view.

The fight and passion that Ruben Amorim has demanded from his side was on full display, with the likes of Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte in particular getting stuck in at the Theatre of Dreams with well-timed tackles and crucial interceptions.

We ran our customary Man of the Match poll after the draw and, perhaps unsurprisingly, it was a creative force who stood out among the crowd.

Bruno was his all-action self against City, covering what seemed like every blade of grass as he looked to find an opening for the Reds.

Every fluid United passage of play had our skipper at the heart and, on another day, Fernandes could have had a goal or an assist.

He wasn’t afraid to put in hard tackles either (after all, it was a derby), and also managed to time other sliding challenges to regain possession for his team.

Fernandes gained a whopping 63 per cent of the vote after the full-time whistle.

Speaking of regaining possession, the partnership of Casemiro and Ugarte was one that City struggled to penetrate throughout, with Casemiro also showing an impressive range of passing to get his team-mates in good areas.

Prior to Sunday’s match the Uruguayan had covered the joint-second highest distance without the ball per 90 of any players in Europe’s top-five leagues and after another energetic display at Old Trafford – and even though he was substituted after 71 minutes for Mason Mount – we don’t imagine those stats have changed too much.

Casemiro gained the second-highest share in our Man of the Match voting, with nine per cent.

Noussair Mazraoui was another Red who gained attention against City for his defensive display, not giving Omar Marmoush a sniff throughout the game and similarly denying both Jeremy Doku when the winger threatened after coming off the bench.

Mazraoui’s last-ditch tackle on Phil Foden soon after half-time, denying the forward an almost-certain goal, was one of the game’s most important interventions.

Nous got three per cent of our Man of the Match vote, while Andre Onana earned seven per cent for some important saves in the second half.

Left-sided duo Alejandro Garnacho and Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu both got five per cent each, after threatening throughout too.

On many occasions, Garnacho and Dorgu created openings for their team-mates and Alejandro could feel like he should have scored in the first half.

But it is our captain, again, who wins our Man of the Match award for the Manchester derby. Well done, Bruno!

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