Ruben Amorim explained that Harry Maguire’s late introduction as an attacking substitution against Nottingham Forest was due to the state of the game.

Trailing by a goal with two minutes of normal time to go, Maguire displaced Yoro for the final moments at The City Ground, bringing about a reshuffle in our shape.

While the defender is known for his prowess in the air, it was an unfamiliar attacking role that he occupied after being brought off the bench – although he was well-placed on two occasions, for a handful of openings in stoppage-time in the East Midlands.

Ultimately, we couldn’t find an equaliser on our return to Premier League action, as we fell to a 1-0 defeat to Nuno Espirito Santo’s side, but Amorim asserted that his team needed to get more balls into the box because of the way Forest were defending, and that Maguire’s aerial ability is among the best at his disposal in the United squad.

He spoke more on that substitution, our ability in the final third, and took on questions about Alejandro Garnacho – plus a host of other topics – in his post-match press conference at full-time.

You can now watch, or read, everything our head coach had to say in his media debrief by scrolling below.

Ruben, do you think you deserved more from that, given the amount of possession and chances you had?

“I think that is clear. We create some chances but we could create more with the possession that we had. We reached the final third a lot of times but we need to be better in that final third because that is really important to score goals and we have a lack of goals. We start the game suffering a goal and put Nottingham in the place that they want to be, defending with a lot of men. Then they have really fast players to make transitions, even that, we control quite well, especially in the second half, we push forward, but again, in the final third, we were not good enough.”

It’s a fantastic goal, Ruben, but was it a goal that could have been stopped?

“That is clear, when you have a corner, you have men to block transitions, we have all the pitch. you can make a foul. So yeah, I think if look at the game and you are the coach, you have to do better.”

Harry Maguire up top, an unconventional, perhaps, way to try to score a goal, but he did get one of the best chances. What did you make of that situation, were you at all hesitant to do that?

“In the end of the game, when the opponent is just protecting the box, if you look at the defenders of Nottingham, they are really comfortable. And then with a line of six, not five, a line of six, we can reach the final third but then we have to put the ball inside the box because it’s hard to make the combinations to get inside the box to score goal. Harry Maguire, when he’s attacking in set-pieces, is maybe the best player we have in our team, so inside the box, you are not a defender, you are a striker. So it was that idea to put I one man who is really good in the air to score a goal.”

Just one on Alejandro; he had six shots tonight, quite a few off targets, you shifted at half-time I think to the left-hand side. What did you make of his performance overall?

“He’s making everything, he’s trying, sometimes you have one day that you are doing the right things, but in the final third, you are not that good, that can happen. I was also going to ask about Garnacho as well. I know you need these chances, but do you think he’s perhaps trying to play himself into form, doing too much, because at certain times when team-mates are available, it doesn’t seem the best option he’s choosing That can happen in the game, the most important thing again for me is when he needs to run back, he’s running back. Of course, we want a player who has one against one, sometimes he’s trying too much, he has Dorgu to make a movement, but I think he wants to help the team in doing his best. Sometimes he doesn’t make the best choice, but that you can point to any player today.”

When Harry came on, in fairness to him, he did have two good chances. Is that a concern that a defender comes on, gets two chances, and then there are two strikers who the club have invested more than £100 million in, that didn’t have many chances?

“No, it depends on the characteristics. Again, Nottingham was playing with a line of six and it’s a matter also of size, in the way you have the ability to head a ball. So I don’t see it that way. That can happen with any team with the best strikers in the world. The defenders sometimes are the best ones to attack a ball inside the box. So Harry was really good on that.”

I know this was before your time, but Elanga is obviously a United Academy boy. Does the fact that he looked such a good player tonight show mistakes of the club over the years and how recruitment is just so crucial, that you have to upgrade?

“We are talking about a lot of front players that came from Manchester United and they are doing right, but they had their chance here. In Manchester United, you don’t have the time. I am saying all the time, I will not have the time – we have to get it right fast. So we are talking about players that didn’t play for Manchester United, they were here playing for Manchester United. In here, the pressure is too big sometimes. And sometimes you don’t have time and you should have time for these kids to develop, but for the team, you need a strong base to support all these kids; if you don’t have that strong base, we are not going to help our kids. So they had their chances and sometimes football is like that and the pressure of playing for Manchester United is really big.”

Matchday Review: Forest v United Video

MATCHDAY REVIEW | Watch MUTV’s post-match show following United’s clash with Nottingham Forest…

Mason Mount came back from his injury today coming off the bench, do you see him starting in one of the two ’no.10’ positions behind the strikers because he was looking to get behind the defenders?

“If you look at the history of Mason Mount, he played in this system many times, especially in Chelsea, he played left-hand, right-hand [side]. So I think it’s a very good position for him.”

One of the strengths of Nottingham Forest is they move the ball from back to front really quickly. Is that something that you look them as a kind of template sometimes for your side, because sometimes, you still play the ball backwards rather than going forwards?

“When you play a team that is really good on transition, if you transform the game like this and don’t push the defenders to get near, if you lose the ball we are, if you play with a big pitch, it’s harder to block transitions. Sometimes you have to start the play again, bring the ball and then everybody is close, starting with some speed to the ball. So, sometimes you have to take time to control the game, to dominate the game, and today, I think I’m always when I say our team didn’t create chances, [but] today, we create chances. And I think we had a lack quality in the final third, so if we have the quality, imagine the chances that we would supposed to be [getting]. So the game is like that, if they are good in transitions, you have to push forward first, pushing to a low block to control transitions and we did that quite well today.”

Recommended:

Back to Top

Diogo Dalot provided his thoughts after Manchester United suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Tuesday.

A single goal from former Red Anthony Elanga in the fifth minute proved to be the decider despite a spirited United performance, which Dalot felt was enough for us to garner something from The City Ground.

Speaking to MUTV after the final whistle, the Portugal international said: “I think we did enough to win the game. We had very good moments, created a lot of chances, and I think enough chances to win this game.

“It’s the price sometimes you pay in this type of level, in these types of competitions. Sometimes a little distraction, lack of focus, can be really decisive, and today it was.”

Dalot: One detail cost us today Video

Diogo Dalot felt that United controlled the game at Forest, which was decided in one key moment…

Given the strong performance, our no.20 rightly feels there are some positives to take away from the Reds’ trip to Nottingham.

“Overall, I think we are improving,” he continued. “We are playing better, controlling more games in possession and without possession, so [that is] something positive that we can take for the coming games.

“But in the end, we need to start being more consistent in terms of results and winning more games.”

United must quickly look ahead to Sunday’s clash with Manchester City at Old Trafford and Dalot echoed that same sentiment.

“If we want to be competitive in the future, we have to start behaving like this and we have to perform like this,” he added.

“But these little bits will have to come first if you want to compete for the Premier League and the biggest titles, we have to start creating these habits and they try to be consistent on that, and then I think the results will come by themselves.

“We still have to suffer a little bit, but in terms of getting out of this situation and trying to improve, I think we are on the right track.”

Although Dalot and his team-mates clearly have an eye on the long-term, there is the small matter of our crosstown rivals to come in M16 this weekend.

“I don’t think there’s much to say,” the 26-year-old commented. “It’s a derby.

“We have to win it, play with our fans. I think the atmosphere will be unbelievable.”

Recommended:

Back to Top

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim believes his side did enough at The City Ground to warrant a positive result, following our 1-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday.

Anthony Elanga proved pivotal, with the former Red netting the only goal of the game after just five minutes.

The Reds dominated the ball throughout the majority of the contest but often struggled to convert that into clear-cut chances.

Diogo Dalot hit the frame of the goal in the first half, while Harry Maguire saw his late effort cleared off the line by Murillo.

United must now dust ourselves off for Sunday’s clash with Manchester City at Old Trafford, as Amorim said himself after the full-time whistle.

Scroll down to read what the boss made of our overall display in the East Midlands, as he spoke to various outlets, including TNT Sports and the BBC…

WE DESERVED MORE“I think we controlled the game. We already knew that this team [Forest] can score goals out of nothing. Then when they scored, we changed the game a little bit for what they want. Then we tried sometimes with the good opportunities but I think in the last cross, the last pass, the last assist [it] wasn’t there. When we don’t have that we cannot score goals. But we have some situations and this season is like that. We try it. We have a lot of shots on goal. We push the opponent to the last third. But in the end we had a lack of quality in the final third.”

ELANGA’S OPENER“But I think we get in the game. We were okay in the game, controlling the game and then one transition from our set-pieces [changes the game]. We cannot suffer this kind of goal. We already knew that, Nottingham [Forest] can score from through [balls] and wins from second balls, then we suffer a goal and then it is harder to win against this team.”

Recommended:

• Dalot: One detail cost us today Video

  Dalot: One detail cost us today

  Diogo Dalot felt that United controlled the game at Forest, which was decided in one key moment…

Back to Top

Nottingham Forest 1 United 0

Manchester United’s run of four matches unbeaten came to a halt as we were beaten 1-0 by Nottingham Forest at The City Ground.

Former Red and Academy graduate Anthony Elanga provided the decisive moment of the game, and only within a couple of minutes of the referee’s initial whistle, scoring with a solo effort on the counter-attack to make the crucial difference.

United fought for a way back into the contest, with Diogo Dalot hitting the crossbar in the first half, and a period of late pressure culminating in Harry Maguire’s shot being cleared off the line at the death, but we were ultimately unable to take anything back home from the East Midlands.

FIRST HALF – ELANGA’S SOLO STRIKE

Following a 16-day period without a game, Ruben Amorim was able to bring a number of previously unavailable players back into his squad, including Leny Yoro and Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu to start – returning from injury and suspension, respectively.

Casemiro and Joshua Zirkzee made up four changes to our XI from beating Leicester City before the international break, with Altay Bayindir, Harry Maguire and Mason Mount all welcome returnees to our substitutes bench, too.

A couple of the mainstays of the side recently combined for the game’s first opening, when Matthijs de Ligt’s pressed high to win it back from Taiwo Awoniyi in the centre circle, before Garnacho quickly released the ball to Fernandes, whose drive from the edge of the area was parried wide by Matz Sels in the Forest goal.

The corner did indeed lead to the opening goal, but not as we’d hoped – with a former Red netting at the other end. Anthony Elanga pounced as Fernandes’s set-piece delivery was headed clear, racing away from the edge of his own box to the other, where he arrowed a composed finish beyond Andre Onana and into the bottom corner, with just five minutes on the clock.

That setback, after United looked to have started well, did not dispirit our search for an equaliser, as Garnacho crossed accurately from the right, only for Dorgu – making only his second Premier League start after serving a three-match ban – to be unfortunately nudged off the ball in the centre.

Casemiro then nodded wide of the near post from a Fernandes corner and, approaching the half-hour mark, that routine was almost repeated to devastating effect, as the skipper this time picked out Dalot in a similar spot, with the defender’s header across goal rebounding off the crossbar. Elanga had also made another mazy run into the box at the other end, but this time was stopped in his tracks.

Dorgu also had a headed opportunity but could not connect properly with Dalot’s right-flank delivery, while Morato – one of two Forest substitutes late in the half, replacing the injured Ola Aina – also nodded goalwards in first-half stoppage-time, forcing Onana to save.

Casemiro looked to equalise on the stroke of half-time, following patient build-up down our left as he was teed up by Fernandes just outside the box, but fired wide – meaning we went in at the break pondering solutions for the second half.

SECOND HALF – NO BREAKTHROUGH

Rasmus Hojlund was brought on for the start of the second half with Manuel Ugarte making way, immediately making his presence felt in attack, running in behind to meet Garnacho’s pass and shooting from the angle, with a defender’s touch earning him a corner.

But like in the first half, while United created the first opening following the restart, Forest caused their own problems in attack quickly afterwards. There was no goal to follow the United corner this time, but Andre Onana must have thought he’d stopped one when he heroically palmed clear Ryan Yates’s close-range header, even if he wasn’t to know that it would almost certainly have been ruled out for offside.

We were unable to create as much as we’d have liked in the early stages of the second half, though Hojlund offered encouragement in attack, appearing sharp off the bench, while Garnacho was unfortunate with a quickfire pair of chances midway through the half – latching on to a Fernandes ball and having a shot deflect wide. From the resulting corner, he shot narrowly off target – again, seemingly with the help of a slight touch off Morgan Gibbs-White, but play resumed with a goal-kick.

Fernandes found De Ligt with a free-kick as our pressure began to intensify, the defender heading across goal and Hojlund getting the next touch, but failed to match the run of Zirkzee, and Garnacho fired a frustrated effort over the bar shortly afterwards.

Hojlund held it up well down the left side of the box but sold Garnacho just short in seeking to tee him up, before Dorgu headed an expert Fernandes cross straight at Sels, and another attempt from Mount – moments after making his return from the bench – flashed agonisingly wide of the post from the edge of the box.

A rare opportunity for the hosts – aside from a couple of optimistic penalty shouts – saw Awoniyi turn well in the box to shoot, only to be denied by a crucial block from Noussair Mazraoui. Neco Williams also tried his luck in stoppage-time, but was unable to get a difficult volleyed chance on target.

A dramatic period of six additional minutes were signalled, and at the start of those closing quarters, Harry Maguire – brought on just before and deployed in an attacking role – found himself in the opposition area, but diverted Dorgu’s delivery back across goal and wide.

United applied all the pressure late on, very nearly finding an equaliser at the death, as Mazraoui’s cross hung dangerously at the back post and seemed to have been prodded home when it landed at the feet of Maguire, but a heroic clearance off the line from Murillo confirmed it wasn’t to be our night at The City Ground.

FOREST

Line-up: Sels; Aina (Morato 38), Murillo, Milenkovic, Williams; Anderson (Dominguez 66), Yates; Elanga (Sangare 86), Gibbs-White, Danilo (Moreno 38); Awoniyi (Sosa 86).

Subs not used: Miguel, Toffolo, Dominguez, Jota, Boly.

Goal: Elanga 5.

Booked: Williams 72.

UNITED

Line-up: Onana; De Ligt, Yoro (Maguire 88), Mazraoui; Dalot, Casemiro (Eriksen 59), Ugarte (Hojlund 46), Dorgu; Garnacho, Fernandes; Zirkzee (Mount 78).

Subs not used: Bayindir, Lindelof, Amass, Kone, Collyer.

Booked: Casemiro 50, Eriksen 78.

Recommended:

Back to Top