Man Utd suffered a disappointing loss to Spurs in the quarter final of the Carabao Cup in what was (for the neutral) quite the entertaining game.

But despite this defeat, the United boss was encouraged by what he saw from his side even though the individual errors ended up costing his team.

The 39-year-old said that his team is improving close to the opponent's penalty box as in some of the recent matches, United haven't had much of a threat going forward. But against Spurs, Amorim "felt it" that his players were better in the final third.

He adds that "our team is faster, are pressing more, the physicality is improving, the understanding of the game, and you can see it by the controlling of the game and you see it more."

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Mason Mount picked up another injury in the win over City. That is obviously concerning and frustrating as he has been sidelined on several occasions in just over a season at Old Trafford. The MUFC boss was asked how he can get to the bottom of all these injuries to which he replied that this is not his department. He will try to help Mount in trying to teach him how to play his style.

However, with the amount of games and the quick turnaround times, Amorim says that "we don't have time to train like we should do." Amorim also confirmed that the number 7 will be out for "several weeks."

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On Rashford, the Portuguese says that he will be available for Sunday's visit of Bournemouth (14:00 GMT kick off) and once again, confirmed that it wasn't a disciplinary issue when it came to leaving him out for the defeat to Spurs.

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If he had more time, one thing Amorim would like to do is train more. "That's simple." He cites how he's having to rotate players because of the demanding schedule and that whenever you have to work with someone different next to you, "it's really hard to work on that connection."

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Final Thoughts

Our play was decent against Spurs. It was good for a half of football at Arsenal and we were good all game against City and deserved to win that derby. The style is becoming clearer each game but one of it's major downfalls is in attack as we struggle going forward.

At The Emirates, we only had 5 shots at goal while at City, it was an improved 10 but just 3 on target. That is not going to get you wins on most occasions.

Against Spurs though, that total number of shots went up to 20! However, only 5 were on target but at least the amount of chances increased and it's these small steps of progress that is good to see. This was perhaps the next step in 'Amorim ball' as after United started to dictate the play at our rivals, it was then about turning that possession into goal scoring opportunities which is what we failed to do in most of those matches.

Spurs was a step in the right direction for many reasons although we did end up losing disappointingly.

Ange's side's expected goals for the match was 0.67 while United's was sitting at 2.38 😐.

Funny how football works.

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Mount probably needs to go. He is unreliable. I don't think there's much more that needs to be said of a player who I believe has the quality as we see how good he is when he plays for United but what's the point when he's always injured?

What makes it even worse is that I think he suits Amorim ball pretty well.

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I think all of this Rashford stuff has to stop. I know that it won't as that is how the media works because it is a big story that brings a lot of attention but I think that Amorim is now fed up of it. Every press conference, there is something about Rashford and he isn't even playing.

The manager also gives the same answer as to why he isn't selected yet they ask the same question. We need to move on from this topic.

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Saying that he'd like more time to train makes sense because even in a short space of time, we've seen exactly what he's trying to do. United look to have an identity that which they didn't have under Erik ten Hag in all his time at the club. Even with a rotated lineup, United still implemented a lot of what Amorim wanted but just not to the level of quality required.

This probably has to do with what he's saying in that because he's having to rotate from game-to-game, the players can't develop a rhythm and connection with each other because it's always someone different they're playing with.

To develop these connections and relationships, you need to play with each other a lot or at least train with each other as often as possible. At this moment, Amorim isn't getting that opportunity as there is very little time to train and he is constantly required to rotate the team given the amount of games.

A double whammy for the manager.

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Background Image: Ruben Amorim in his first training session as Man Utd manager | Image credit: Getty Images via Goal