United suffered another defeat to Arsenal which is now four in a row, the first time Arsenal have managed that feat. That is also another loss at The Emirates which means we will have to wait another season to try and get a win there with our last coming back in 17/18. The record of losing away to the big 6 continues as wwell.
However, while all of that does sound very negative as it is true, we did see some progression from United under Amorim.
His starting lineup raised a few eyebrows when looking at who was selected and who was not but as the first half went the way it did, no one could have too many complaints.
It really was also a game of two halves though as in the first, it was the away side who dictated proceedings. Amorim's reds were on the ball a lot more than Arsenal and were controlling the game. Although MUFC didn't have much penetration or threat going forward, the fact that we were well organized and calm in possession is a step forward.
We also maaged to keep Arsenal quiet in the first half as they didn't pose much of a threat either.
The manager spoke about this in his presser about how he wants his players to be braver but also control moments in the game. That is exactly what they did.
His only real disappointment will be not creating anything in attack as David Raya remained untroubled for large portions of the game.
The first 45 had hardly anything entertaining of note as other than a Thomas Partey header from a corner and a late Dalot chance at the other end for United, there was nothing created.
Knowing that Arsenal weren't going to be as passive and lacking in ideas in attack in the second period, it was on Amorim's players to try and keep that control and composure they had in the first half.
That wasn't the case as the home team started to up the ante and United's old habits returned. We struggled to regain that composure and Arsenal soon took control.
This didn't result in Arteta's side creating chance after chance but they did begin to make a few openings. Declan Rice had an effort that was blocked early after the restart.
But as with the good teams, they have many ways to score and while Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard (Arsenal's two danger men) were kept quiet, their other weapon was corners.
Arsenal have been the best at these for a long time and United dearly obliged with these set pieces as we handed the Gunners a total of 13 corners. These are almost like penalties to them.
Conceding such a large amount to a team like Arsenal is asking for it and in the 54th minute, Jurrien Timber manages to flick one on at the near post and put the home side in the lead.
United then lost all composure and Amorim decided enough was enough and made three changes. He had already brought on Amad for Malacia at the restart but added Rashford and Zirkzee for Mount and Garnacho to help try to bring his team back into the game.
We also saw Yoro make his official debut for the club as he replaced Maguire. Amorim citing these changes as something he had to do as certain players like Maguire, Malacia, Mount and Yoro all have "time limits" resulting in them not being able to play the full game.
Unfortunately though, other than Yoro, the other substitutions didn't make much of a difference as United got worse.
But after some good play down the right by one of the substitutes, Amad, MUFC get a free-kick and after a cross from Bruno, De Ligt forced a great save from Raya to keep the Gunners in the lead.
This proved crucial as not long after, William Saliba somewhat fortuitously makes it 2-0, from a corner.
That proved to be the sealer as Amorim got truly desperate and even brought on Antony for Hojlund. That change could've been proved right had the Brazilian done better with a shot from a well-worked free kick from United.
But so ended the game and the honeymoon period for Amorim as he suffered his first defeat as MUFC boss.
There would've been a good deal of encouragement for him but also a lot of areas of concern.
This was just match four for him so he is learning as much about United as United are about him. This was another learning curve on the journey with the 39-year-old.
Ratings
Onana - 6.5
De Ligt - 7 MOTM
Maguire - 6.5
Mazraoui - 6
Dalot - 5.5
Bruno - 6
Ugarte - 6
Malacia - 6.5
Garnacho - 5
Mount - 6
Hojlund - 5.5
Amad - 5.5
Yoro - 7
Rashford - 4
Zirkzee - 5
Antony - 5
Ruben Amorim - 6
Final Thoughts
I'm not actually too angry or frustrated with this result. Disappointed yes but nothing more. Arsenal are a better side than us and we've just gotten a new manager so we couldn't expect anything special from United.
I know that I went for a United win but that was based on the fact that I thought we would have more going forward and not give away so many corners. I think had we had done that, maybe there was a chance that we could've gotten something from this game.
But that didn't happen and we did lose.
However, that doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad thing. Perhaps we and Amorim needed to get this sort of game out of the way. Perhaps he needed to get his first loss sooner rather than later and stop us from thinking we're going to win the league if we had won.
This gives the manager another chance to learn about his team as this type of result is more akin to who we compared to something like Everton.
Not the worst from United but not the best either. I still believe there is a long way to go but there was a lot of progression. How we kept the ball and controlled the game for the first 45 isn't something that we've seen in a long time when playing a big 6 club.
That is something to build upon.
But what I will say on Amorim is that I think he rotated too much and his substitutions were wrong. I understand that he needs to rotate players because they could only play for so long but sometimes, circumstances change and you may have to go against your original plan.
Then again, if he does play certain players longer than they can, this could cause them to get injured again and we don't have them for a longer period.
I suppose we'll have to wait and see on everything.
Thankfully, we won't have to wait too long as we have a game on Saturday. This is where it is a positive to have a match so soon.
Background Image: Jurrien Timber and Alejandro Garnacho during Arsenal 2-0 Man Utd | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)