Despite drawing away to Nottingham Forest, one former Manchester City defender noticed something from the Manchester United side that wasn’t there earlier in the season.
Rúben Amorim named an unchanged starting XI as Manchester United travelled to Nottingham Forest for Saturday’s Premier League clash.
Both sides created early chances, but Forest gained the upper hand during the opening half-hour. Despite their pressure, it was Casemiro who struck first for United, heading home from a corner that many home fans felt shouldn’t have been awarded.
Forest pushed hard for an equaliser before the break but couldn’t find a way through. After half-time, Sean Dyche’s side came out strong and were rewarded within minutes when Morgan Gibbs-White nodded past Senne Lammens to level the score at 1-1.
Just 39 seconds later, Nicolò Savona fired in from close range to put Forest ahead, leaving United on the back foot. The match opened up from there, and Amad produced a brilliant first-time volley ten minutes from time to make it 2-2.
Amad nearly completed the comeback moments later, but Murillo’s superb goal-line clearance ensured both teams shared the points on an entertaining afternoon at the City Ground.
Change in mentality noticed
After going into the second half in front, it would be easy to understand that United would be utterly deflated by the fact that they then found themselves 2-1 down within five minutes of the second half of the game.
In fact, Forest’s quickfire double seemingly lit a fire under the United squad, as they looked the most likely side to score the next goal, and they ultimately did with Amad scoring a fantastic volley with less than ten minutes to play.
This mentality was noticed by former Manchester City defender, Nedum Onuoha, who, on commentary for BBC Radio 5 Live just before the full-time whistle blew, noticed the shift in mentality within the United players.
“What we’re seeing from Manchester United is the sense of confidence from them. They weren’t flustered when they went 2-1 down, and they will believe they can win this game now, which is something we wouldn’t have seen a few weeks ago.”
Noticeable progress made under Amorim
Having now been at the helm at Manchester United for a full year, it would be easy to categorise his tenure on the whole as a disaster, with his side’s 15th-place league finish and disappointing Europa League final loss last season.
Amorim, however, was very outspoken about how he would have preferred to have joined the club at the end of a season, rather than at the start of November as it panned out.
Read More: Player Ratings: Nottingham Forest 2-2 Manchester United (Premier League)
That, however, may have been a blessing in disguise for Manchester United, as Amorim, who has been heavily backed by INEOS since he took over, had time to make mistakes for three quarters of a season, and plan for this season in regards of signings and tactical tweaks.
After the points were shared at the City Ground, United now sit joint third in the Premier League, and are unbeaten in four. After so much turmoil at the club, Amorim’s men look to have finally started to find some form and momentum ahead of a busy end to the year.
Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is streamed live every Thursday at 12:30 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.