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EPL For all Ruben Amorim was satisfied with his team’s defensive shape against Arsenal, he showed his exasperation at their attacking play seven minutes from the end of the game. Andre Onana had passed a ball between two Arsenal players to find Bruno Fernandes, who advanced into midfield with four team-mates ahead of him. Marcus Rashford dropped deep to collect possession, rather than run in behind, and this seemed to irritate Amorim as he spun back to his bench. Rashford turned and played a pass out to Amad on the wing, but the ball skipped off the turf and that prompted Amorim to chuck his water bottle on the floor, much to the mirth of Arsenal fans. Advertisement Amorim had been his usual brooding, whirring presence on the sideline but this was the moment — as he headed for his first defeat in charge of Manchester United — that provoked a real spike in emotion. Defeat was largely expected on a ground where United had lost on the previous three visits, against a team under Mikel Arteta far further along than them. For much of the 2-0 defeat, United equipped themselves well, stifling Arsenal to such a degree in the first half that the home crowd began to get agitated. But Amorim wants his team to carry an attacking threat, so being outnumbered 35 to six for touches in the opposition box was not on the agenda. The only real chances came from two Fernandes free kicks in the second half, with one requiring a superb save from David Raya to deny Matthijs de Ligt, the other a more straightforward stop against Antony. Amorim said fashioning moves in open play was difficult due to shortened training minutes. “We didn’t have the time, ” Amorim said when asked about his visible frustrations. “We work a lot on building up. You can see the structure, you can see the idea, you can see the bounce when the centre-backs go into the midfielders. But then in the last part or the last third, you can see that we need to improve, be more aggressive, more ideas. But that part is more difficult to improve without a lot of training. ” After scoring three times against Bodo/Glimt and putting four past Everton, this was a match to remind of United’s issues in front goal. There will be fluctuation as long as there are changes to the side. Amorim named six different players from the team that faced Everton, including Harry Maguire for his first start in two months and Tyrell Malacia on his first Premier League start since May 2023. Amad was rested and started on the bench, but came on at half-time for Malacia, with Diogo Dalot switching to left wing-back. After Arsenal scored their opening goal through Jurrien Timber on 54 minutes, Amorim made a triple substitution, sending on Rashford, Joshua Zirkzee and Leny Yoro, who played his first competitive minutes as a United player. It meant De Ligt moving from the right-sided centre-back to the middle. When Antony replaced Rasmus Hojlund on 79 minutes, with the score 2-0, Zirkzee advanced from one of the attacking midfielders to centre-forward. In all, Amorim made five substitutions, which prompted three positional shifts, on top of a line-up that had six changes from the previous game. It requires players to adapt quickly to their role and those of team-mates around them. Advertisement More than trying to see players in various situations, Amorim says fitness is dictating his decisions, and with another 15 games in 57 days, up to February 1, at a rate of one every 3. 8 days, there will be no respite. “It’s not because I like to change all the time, but we have to have all the squad fit, ” Amorim said. “So, for example, Harry Maguire has a time limit, Ty Malacia has a time limit. Mason Mount has a time limit, Leny Yoro has a real time limit. So we have to manage winning games, different methodology, different way of playing more, more metres to press. We have to assess and the guys that have a little bit of risk to some injury, they would not play. ” That rotation, inevitably, leads to some uncertainty during games. Early on, Amorim implored Noussair Mazraoui, who was playing in yet another new position, this time left-sided centre-half due to suspension to Lisandro Martinez and injury to Luke Shaw, to squeeze up onto Martin Odegaard when Arsenal had possession. Mazraoui, looking across to the dugout from a somewhat unusual place on the pitch, seemed unsure it was the best course of action. There were other instances where United were too conservative for Amorim’s liking. Before the break, he flapped his arms when another promising break frittered to nothing. Hojlund found Alejandro Garnacho after Thomas Partey had given the ball away, but the Argentinian checked back and eventually, the ball went to Manuel Ugarte. Amad was right by the byline after joining the action and Amorim screamed at him to support the attack soon after kick-off in the second half. A short time later though, Amad was advanced, with De Ligt losing out in midfield, so Maguire was one-on-one with Gabriel Martinelli. Maguire stayed controlled to block the shot. Amad did more of what Amorim does like, sprinting to leap on Oleksandr Zinchenko and win the ball, just as he had done to Jarrad Branthwaite and James Tarkowski on Sunday. The Ivorian burst towards the box and forced a foul from Zinchenko. The following free kick saw Fernandes find De Ligt, whose great header was tipped wide by the outstretched hand of Raya. Advertisement That was as close as United came to scoring. It was instead Arsenal’s set pieces that decided the game, with Amorim suggesting Bukayo Saka and Martinelli aim to go on the outside of opponents specifically to win corners. Arsenal outnumbered United 13-0 by that score. Amorim said he expected a storm to come, but he might not have anticipated those treacherous conditions being exclusively in Onana’s six-yard box as Declan Rice or Saka swung in the ball. Despite his first defeat, the rest of the Premier League can expect him to keep the carousel of personnel going. (Top photo: Amorim, second from left, prepares to introduce, from left, Yoro, Rashford and Zirkzee. Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images) Get all-access to exclusive stories. Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. Try a week on us. Laurie Whitwell worked for the Daily Mail from 2010, covering midlands football for the last five years, including Leicester’s remarkable Premier League triumph. Whitwell was nominated for sports scoop of the year at the 2019 SJAs for breaking Wayne Rooney’s move to DC United. He will be reporting on Manchester United for The Athletic. Follow Laurie on Twitter @lauriewhitwell