‘I have to get it right, fast,’ says Man U coach Amorim

Ruben Amorim insisted he will not be given much time to turn things around as Manchester United manager, as his team slumped to another defeat at Nottingham Forest on Tuesday.

Former United forward Anthony Elanga’s fine early goal earned Forest a comfortable win at the City Ground, with the visitors slipping to their 13th defeat of the season in the Premier League.

Tuesday’s loss takes United to within one of their record of 14 Premier League defeats in the 2023-24 season, leaving them languishing down in 13th in the table as Amorim struggles to instigate any real change.

“In Manchester United, you don’t have the time,” Amorim said. “I will not have the time. We have to get it right fast.

“In here, the pressure is too big sometimes. We start the game suffering a goal and put Nottingham in the place they want to be — defending with lots of men — then they have really fast players to make transitions.

“Even with that, we controlled the game quite well, especially in the second half. We pushed forward but again, in the final third, we were not good enough.”

Alejandro Garnacho was especially wasteful in attack for United, finishing the match having had six of United’s 24 shots at goal, without really testing Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels.

Amorim has defended the young Argentinian in the past, and again insisted Garnacho’s overall efforts are of the standard required.

“He is 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.

“The most important thing is that when he needs to run back, he is running back. Of course we want a player that has one against one. Sometimes he is trying too much.

“He wants to help the team to do his best, sometimes he doesn’t make the best choice, but you cannot point to any player today.” 

Also on Tuesday night, Arsenal beat Fulham 2-1 thanks to another goal from stand-in striker Mikel Merino and as Bukayo Saka struck a few minutes into his return from three months out with injury.

Arsenal went ahead eight minutes before half time when a cute ball from Jurrien Timber put Ethan Nwaneri round the back of the Fulham defence. He found Merino, whose shot deflected beyond the reach of goalkeeper Bernd Leno into the corner.

Saka’s return brought the biggest roar from the Arsenal supporters and the 23-year-old nodded in a flicked-on cross in the 73rd not long after coming on.

Rodrigo Muniz grabbed a late consolation goal for Fulham.

Reuters