Carlos Fernandes gave the perfect reply to what Manchester United need to do under Ruben Amorim

A Manchester United fan was staying in the same hotel as the team in Plzen, 300 metres away from the stadium. On the morning of the game, they entered the Marriott Courtyard lift at the same time as Ruben Amorim's assistant, Carlos Fernandes.

"We have to stop those crosses coming in," the fan quipped.

"We need to stop everything!" replied Fernandes.

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A contact in Portugal assured me that Amorim is prone to jokes during press conferences and his assistant evidently shares a similar sense of humour. Unfortunately, Fernandes did not stop Amorim from selecting United's back-up goalkeeper at Tottenham.

Son Heung-min's winning goal, direct from a corner, cannot be pinned on Fernandes, now tasked with overseeing United's defensive and attacking set-piece drills. It was rather cruel of Tottenham to replay the goal on the quartet of giant screens yet Altay Bayindir required a dose of reality after he had the gall to claim he was fouled.

United practice set-piece defending during pre-match warm ups. None of the crosses floated in by Christian Eriksen doubled for attempts at goal but that may have to be added to the drills.

In Amorim's rotation policy of trial and error, Bayindir was very much the latter. He has already played three times as many games as last season - under three different managers - and it would be a mistake to give him a fourth outing.

Amorim did not entertain a desperate query about a possible foul by Lucas Bergvall. For a manager who answers at length, he gave the question such short shrift his answer was uncharacteristically curt.

Erik ten Hag would have latched onto the excuse. Ten Hag became increasingly delusional and dependent on what he perceived to be refereeing errors, to the extent that he "denied" the 3-0 thumping by Tottenham in September as Bruno Fernandes' red card was overturned on appeal.

"I already said in Portugal - of course my career is really small - but I never speak about referees," Amorim clarified. "I will not start now. I will try to maintain that for a long time."

United have a more authoritative orator in the manager's chair. It was nine weeks ago that Ten Hag excused Matthijs de Ligt's enforced absence for touchline treatment as it was "dry blood" on his crown. It was a bloodbath for Ten Hag nine days later.

Results-wise, Amorim has had a mixed start with four wins, three defeats and a draw. It is one down and two to go on the trophy front and United face an ominous FA Cup tie at Arsenal next month. Already, the season could hinge on the eminently winnable Europa League.

Look beyond the losses and the 13th-place status in the Premier League and United are undeniably improving. They looked alive whenever Fraser Forster had a dead-ball kick at Tottenham and two of their three goals were through pressing..

Ten Hag's side never mastered the controlling style he was supposed to implement yet already United are a more proactive and progressive side on the ball under Amorim. Tallying 48% possession at the Etihad would have been unheard of in their past visits with Pep Guardiola in the home dugout and United had 54% at Tottenham.

It was not possession for possession's sake, either. United had fine chances before and after City scored on Sunday and at Spurs they had nearly twice as many touches in the opponent's penalty box.

Alas, Tottenham were sharper in the box. The absence of a proven frontman and specialist wingers is inhibiting United in attack. A new No.9 and two pure wingers are required if they are to maximise Amorim's innovative formation.

United have adapted to the back three respectably. Louis van Gaal abandoned it after three league games in 2014. United were winless and had mustered two goals against Swansea City, Sunderland and Burnley. There was also the humiliation of a 4-0 evisceration by League One MK Dons in the League Cup.

There have been 17 goals in eight games under Amorim. There were eight in Ten Hag's last eight games and United failed to register in three.

"I think we are improving near the opponent's box," Amorim opined on Thursday night. "We had some games where we're near the box without threat. You could see different things today.

"You can see that we can shoot. We're near the goal and you can feel it. I think it's a good thing in our team. I feel that our team is faster and pressing more, the physicality is improving. The understanding of the game and you can see it by the control of the game."

Amorim is learning quickly on the job. When Antony was mentioned during his embargoed press conference, Amorim reminded everyone he had managed against him when Sporting played Ajax in the 2022 Champions League group stage.

"If you remember the Antony at Ajax, he lacks a little bit of confidence to go one-v-one," Amorim noted. If he could see that from the opponent's dugout, how could Ten Hag not have during two years coaching him before United parted with €100million?

They definitely need to stop that kind of spending.

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