Continuing our recap of Saturday’s Gameweek 15 action, we run the rule over Manchester United 2-3 Nottingham Forest.
- READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 15 round-up: Saturday’s goals, assists, bonus points + stats
- READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 15 round-up: Sunday’s goals, assists, bonus points + stats
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- READ MORE: FPL notes: Lewis ban, more City fitness issues + Munoz threat
WHY BRUNO FERNANDES WAS TAKEN OFF…
Bruno Fernandes (£8.5m) ticked most boxes on Saturday: a rotation-dodging start, a goal and a run-out in one of the ’10’ roles rather than in central midfield, albeit one where he did drop back too often for owners’ liking.
All that was missing was a 90-minute appearance but for the second home game in a row under Ruben Amorim, that didn’t happen.
Fernandes was hooked after 74 minutes, despite United trailing.
There’s no injury scare, though, just more minute management from a manager who looks like he will chop and change as much as the serial-winning head coach down the road.
“I understand that Bruno is a danger near the box, he’d scored one goal, but he was tired with transition. I could let Bruno Fernandes [stay on], but I felt with Mason Mount, he is also good with set-pieces and can score because he’s very technical, and we needed fresh legs. If you saw the game: transitions, so if you lose the ball and suffer another goal, it was over. So I used all the substitutions.
“With a lot of games, I felt Bruno was a little bit tired. I had Mason Mount and tried to put him and Josh nearer Rasmus to try something in the end.” – Ruben Amorim
Fernandes swept in United’s second goal from an Amad Diallo (£5.1m) cut-back on the hour. That was Amad’s fifth assist in as many matches, the wing-back role not exactly harming his output.
Fernandes had earlier hit the bar with a free-kick and his movement started the move that led to Rasmus Hojlund‘s (£6.9m) strike. That pre-assist was an example of the Portuguese playmaker dropping deeper to kick-start attacks.
To stop this happening as much, Amorim needs fewer sideways passes from his centre-halves and central midfielders – and he knows it.
“They are trying to reach the perfect solution and need time to train. We are in the beginning, just two weeks, and the focus is don’t lose the ball with sloppy passes and they are trying to do that.
“I know that they have to have more confidence, not just to take the ball, but to put the ball between the lines. We did it for the first goal like that. They are trying to do everything perfect to find the right solution but then, sometimes against low blocks, you have to take the risk and we are on this path.” – Rubem Amorim on his centre-halves’ passing
…AND WHY RASHFORD + ZIRKZEE DIDN’T START
Amorim is proving to be a hard manager to second-guess, selection-wise. He’s made five or more changes in all of his matches in charge, doing so again on Saturday.
The in-game minute management continued, too, and not just of Bruno. In all four of his league matches at the helm, Amorim has taken at least one centre-half off. Most of those changes have come before the hour mark.
Removing Leny Yoro (£4.3m) early on Saturday was understandable, on his first post-injury start. But even defenders without fitness issues, such as Noussair Mazraoui (£4.7m), are at the mercy of Amorim’s rotation. Hooked before he could bank a clean sheet in Gameweek 13, he was only a second-half substitute on Saturday.
Diogo Dalot (£5.2m) and Matthijs de Ligt (£5.2m) are the only defenders to start all four league matches under Amorim. Dalot is the only one not to have been taken off – and you wonder how long it’ll be before he gets a breather.
Two alterations we thought the United boss would make didn’t materialise. Hojlund and Alejandro Garnacho (£6.3m) again started over Joshua Zirkzee (£6.6m) and Marcus Rashford (£7.0m), despite the quick turnaround.
“Every game is a new history, so you have to focus on the opponent and what you see in training and games. Every detail counts.
“You want to use different players with different characteristics. When we see an opponent, we imagine what kind of game. That is the reason. Rasmus [Hojlund] also scored two goals [against Bodo/Glimt] and then went to the bench [against Everton]. We try to find the best team to win matches.” – Rubem Amorim on why Marcus Rashford and Joshua Zirkzee didn’t start
WORK IN PROGRESS
Amorim is now fully aware of the size of the task at hand. Drilling new ideas into a mediocre bunch of players is never easy, let alone without a pre-season and at a point of the campaign when training time is minimal thanks to the volume of games.
“I had this and worse at Sporting in the beginning. The feeling for me is the same [as back then]. For the world, it’s completely different. Sporting are known in Portugal, but Manchester United has a lot of attention. But for me, it’s the same feeling.
“I had this experience at Sporting. If you are a little bit experienced in football, this happened at a lot of clubs. We have to continue to do the same things and improve the team because this will turn around. We need time and to continue to work in the same way every day.” – Ruben Amorim
If there is some hope to cling onto, the concessions of goals two and three were freakish. First, Andre Onana (£5.2m) completely misjudged Morgan Gibbs-White’s (£6.3m) middle-of-the-goal shot. Then, Lisandro Martinez (£4.4m) somehow managed to let Chris Wood‘s (£6.5m) looping header creep past him at the back post.
United haven’t actually given away too many open-play chances in the last three Gameweeks. Both of Arsenal’s goals on Wednesday, and Forest’s opener here, were from set plays.
NUNO GLAD TO HAVE WOOD
So, Wood scores again – even if this one was fortunate. He’s got through a tricky-ish run in the last five Gameweeks (Newcastle, Arsenal, both Manchester clubs) with two goals, despite averaging just one shot in the box per match.
Given that only three forwards have bettered those two goals in Gameweeks 11-15, Wood’s owners will settle for that.
The upcoming run looks pretty decent, too. Even the supposedly trickier tests are against a post-Europe Aston Villa and a beleaguered Tottenham Hotspur.
“We are very happy to have Chris with us. He is an example for the young lads to follow, because it is never too late to achieve good things in football. He is a good example to everybody and we are very happy to have him.” – Nuno Espirito Santo
MILENKOVIC FINALLY SCORES, MORENO NOT INJURED
The towering Nikola Milenković (£4.5m) finally delivered on his set-piece threat on Saturday.
Joint-fifth among FPL defenders for shots this season, he has had at least one attempt in each of his last seven matches.
Above: Forest’s leading shots-in-the-box takers in the last five Gameweeks
Milenkovic has been part of a settled, solid backline for the last 12 Gameweeks. The only change within that time has been a hokey-cokey involving Neco Williams (£4.3m) and Alex Moreno (£4.4m) in the last three.
Moreno was absent altogether on Saturday, with Nuno Espirito Santo saying it was part fatigue and part looking ahead to Gameweek 16. Moreno, a loanee from Villa, is ineligible then.
“He is not injured. He is totally fine. I will share with you the idea. He played a very hard game against City and went to his limits.
“We saw he was not in the right moment, so either you bring him and if something happens to your left-back you have to put him in but he is not totally ready. He cannot play against Villa, his parent club, so let’s prepare Harry Toffolo in case something happens. I think it makes sense.” – Nuno Espirito Santo on Alex Moreno
