Manchester United fell 1-0 to Arsenal in their season opener on Sunday, but manager Ruben Amorim struck an optimistic tone, insisting his revamped squad is capable of competing with any Premier League side as they look to move on from last year’s disappointing 15th-place finish. Riccardo Calafiori’s early header from a corner sealed the win for Arsenal, with goalkeeper Altay Bayindir’s hesitant challenge the only major lapse in an otherwise encouraging display that left United supporters leaving Old Trafford with renewed hope.
“We have players to win any game in the Premier League,” said Amorim, flashing a rare smile after the scowl he wore for most of last season.
“We were more aggressive than last year. We went one against one all the game and we pressed high. We had quality with the ball.” Close-season signings Matheus Cunha from Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo injected pace and creativity into United’s attack, with the ex-Wolves man, who had three shots on target, arguably the best player on the pitch. “We did a lot things right,” Amorim said.
“We were more aggressive and brave. In certain moments I think Bryan and Cunha helped a lot. We stuck to the plan even when the stadium was nervous, we continued to play the way we played and that will help us in the future. “(The fans) want that feeling again. We go to Old Trafford and we are not going to get bored. We need to win more than last season but they want to see something and feel something.”
United also looked more composed defensively than last term, but the error from their Turkish keeper begged the question about that position in Amorim’s team. Arsenal’s William Saliba backed into Bayindir, who feebly batted the ball with one hand into the path of Italian Calafiori for an easy close-range header.
Amorim said United needed to match Arsenal’s physicality on the corner. “If you can watch the goal, I think (players) are allowed to do a lot of things in the corners. We need to do the same,” he said. “But when you touch that way the goalkeeper, he needs to use his hands to catch the ball, not to push players, or he chooses to push players and let the ball past. “But again, (it) is the rules. If he’s allowed, we need to do the same thing.”
Bayindir was selected ahead of usual starter Andre Onana, who has had only three training sessions after recovering from injury. Onana made mistakes himself last season but Amorim shrugged off questions about any changes in that position.
