Bruno Fernandes reveals what Ruben Amorim told Manchester United squad before Arsenal win

Ruben Amorim provided an important message to Bruno Fernandes and the Manchester United squad ahead of their win against Arsenal in the FA Cup.

Manchester United showcased brilliant determination, grit and togetherness to win against all odds at Arsenal despite going down to 10 men in the game.

The victory on penalties would have been great for the United squad’s confidence and they are set to face Leicester City in the next round of the FA Cup.

However, before Ruben Amorim’s side had to fight their way through the game with one less player, it is easy forget that they were doing very well when it was an even match.

United had taken the lead early in the second half through a brilliant goal from Bruno Fernandes after a vintage counter-attack which we haven’t seen enough in recent months.

The Reds also limited Arsenal in the final third, with Mikel Arteta’s side barely creating any clear-cut chances before the sending off.

Amorim’s message to United squad before Arsenal clash

Fernandes was the man who provided the clinical finish for United’s goal at the Emirates Stadium and it was a brilliant finish.

He matched the pace of Alejandro Garnacho and the Argentine played a great pass across to his captain. It is something we need to see more of at United.

Goalscoring has been difficult for the Reds in recent months and Fernandes has explained that Amorim has been demanding better quality in the final third in training.

“The manager has been telling us a lot that we have to score more goals,” Bruno told Sky Sports. “And that’s true because we are a team that has the capability of scoring goals.

“I know we have a lot of young players in front but we have qualities and we have to score goals because Rasmus [Hojlund] is capable of scoring goals.

“Josh [Zirkzee] is capable, Amad is capable. Garnacho, Rashy [Rashford], Antony, me and even the midfielders that sometimes play a bit deeper like Kobbie [Mainoo] or Manu [Ugarte] or Casa [Casemiro] or Christian [Eriksen], they’re all players with goals in them.”

What Carlos Fernandes said before Arsenal clash

The United captain also revealed a conversation he had with Amorim’s assistant Carlos Fernandes, who had a crucial role in the penalty shootout win, before the game on Sunday which directly influenced the goal he scored.

‘Like yesterday, Carlos came to talk with me – the assistant of the manager before the game – telling me that we need more desire to run into the box, to make the run, to get in there,” continued Fernandes.

“When we are on the counter, we need to run. And the goal comes a little bit from that. Garnacho recovers the ball, then Diogo [Dalot] jumps, then Garna gets the ball from Gabriel.

“And in my mind was just like, ‘just run as quick as you can to get into the box because you know Garna is quick and is going to get there before you. So you need to run as fast as you can because you need to score.’

“And that desire to defend our goal has to be the same desire to score goals. And this is something that the manager wants us to improve.”

Amorim should give Zirkzee chance to impress

Højlund has been given a real chance to impress in recent weeks under Amorim, starting eight of the last 10 games for the club.

The Dane has not really been able to impress much in terms of goalscoring and has left a lot to be desired in terms of his hold-up play and linkup.

Amorim provided him the chance to play himself into form but it hasn’t really happened yet and so it seems like Zirkzee deserves the same opportunity.

The Dutch summer signing has been criticised for his form in a United shirt but he hasn’t really been afforded the playing time needed to find good form.

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Zirkzee has not started in consecutive matches for United since mid-September, with the majority of his games being off the bench under Amorim.

After the major setback against Newcastle at the end of 2024, the 23-year-old has had two positive cameos against Liverpool and Arsenal. He deserves that chance to try and play himself into form with some consistent game-time in the coming weeks.

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