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By CHRIS WHEELER Published: 17: 52 AEDT, 2 April 2025 | Updated: 18: 22 AEDT, 2 April 2025 13 View comments Ruben Amorim appeared before Manchester United’s visit to Nottingham Forest looking refreshed and reinvigorated by a two-week rest during the international break. One day later and he wore that familiar, worn expression of a man who realises just how far he has to go in this job. The optimism of back-to-back wins over Real Sociedad and Leicester City before the break had drained away during a 13th Premier League defeat of the season at the City Ground on Tuesday night. The green shoots of recovery that had emerged during the early spring had been trampled under the galloping feet of Anthony Elanga as he hurtled downfield to score the only goal of the game against his old club, and a spectacular one at that. The fact that United had been the stronger of the two teams seemed to matter little to Amorim as he digested the latest setback. Perhaps the most telling moment of his after-match analysis came when he was asked if Elanga’s solo effort had highlighted the folly of United letting their former young player of the year leave the club in the summer of 2023. ‘We are talking about a lot of players that come from Manchester United and they are doing right, but they had the chance here, ’ he replied. ‘In here, the pressure is too big sometimes. In Manchester United, you don't have the time. I will not have the time. We have to get it right fast. Ruben Amorim rejected claims that Manchester United should not have sold Anthony Elanga after his winner for Nottingham Forest The former United youngster expertly curled his strike into the corner of the net after only five minutes The optimism of back-to-back wins over Real Sociedad and Leicester City before the break had drained away during a 13th Premier League defeat of the season ‘Sometimes you don't have time and you should have time for these kids to develop. But for that you need a strong base to support all these kids. If you don't have that strong base, we are not going to help our kids. ‘So they had their chances and sometimes football is like that, the pressure of playing from Manchester United is really big. ’ Amorim was talking about Elanga but he might as well have been referring to his own players, and not just the kids either. Too often we have heard about the weight of the shirt at United being greater than other clubs, and that certainly seems to be the case with many of these United players. Jesse Lingard put it into words when he spoke to Mail Sport about his boyhood club last month, saying: ‘The expectation of being at a big club like Man United, nobody really knows it. That pressure of putting on the shirt. It's about whether you can deal with that or not. ’ Amorim played £110million-worth of strikers in Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund against Forest, but it wasn’t until he threw on Harry Maguire as an emergency centre-forward towards the end that United carried a genuine threat through the middle. Alejandro Garnacho could have played all night and not got a shot on target. Hojlund came on for Manuel Ugarte, a £50m buy from Paris Saint-Germain and a Uruguay international who was taken off at half-time. New £27m signing Patrick Dorgu had his toughest game yet, not least when he failed to guard against Elanga’s lightning breakaway from a United corner at the other end of the pitch in the fifth minute. Noussair Mazraoui was like a rabbit caught in the headlights as the Sweden winger approached at breakneck pace. What happens to these players when they sign for United? And what happens to them when they leave? Elanga is by no means the only one to prosper away from Old Trafford. Antony has come alive on loan at Real Betis and Marcus Rashford is a new man at Aston Villa, swiftly regaining his England place. Scott Mc Tominay is a key player in Napoli’s title bid in Italy. Even Anthony Martial has managed to regain his fitness and a bit of form with AEK in Greece. It’s as if they discover a freedom and love for the game that is lost within the stifling confines of Old Trafford and the suffocating scrutiny that goes with being a Manchester United player. Joshua Zirkzee (pictured) and Rasmus Hojlund again failed to impress as United carried little threat in attack Brazilian winger Antony is the latest player to rediscover their form after moving away from Old Trafford Elanga has thrived under the management of Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo It wasn’t wrong to offload Elanga and Amorim is probably right when he says the Swede is just one of the many young players who wilt on the vine at United. A record of four goals and four assists in 55 appearances for the club was hardly a compelling argument to keep him on when the stable of wingers in his final season included Cristiano Ronaldo, Antony, Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Garnacho and Facundo Pellistri. Under the circumstances, persuading Forest to pay £15m plus £5m in add-ons wasn’t a bad bit of business. Winning the young player of the award at a club with United’s proud history should be a source of immense pride, but it is no guarantee of success. The current incumbent, Ethan Wheatley, is on loan at Walsall. The issue is not with the players United move out, but the ones they bring in. All the metrics and scouting reports in the world can’t predict quite how someone will react when they pull on that red shirt. Many have tried and far too few have been worthy in recent years. No wonder Amorim looked so downcast on Tuesday night. Reality had bitten again, and Manchester City are next.

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