Manchester United win over Leicester shows Ruben Amorim which player he must build team around

When Ruben Amorim finally gets a chance to watch Manchester United’s win over Leicester City, he’ll be struck by one undeniable takeaway: Getting the best out of Bruno Fernandes is imperative.

That’s long been the case for Manchester United managers and it’s no coincidence that a downturn in the midfielder’s form at the start of the season saw the pressure mount on Erik ten Hag. No goals in 14 games and two red card certainly didn't help his case. It’s notable that the United skipper has scored four in the four since Ten Hag’s dismissal.

But the Red Devils signed off the brief Ruud van Nistelrooy era as manager with a convincing 3-0 win over a struggling Leicester side. United were far from their best at Old Trafford, but they didn’t need much to get past the Foxes and ensure Van Nistelrooy ended his interim spell without suffering a defeat.

It’s unlikely Amorim had time to tune into the game, which kicked off just five hours before his final match in charge of Sporting Lisbon, away to Braga. But he’ll have plenty of time over the coming two weeks to catch up.

He’ll no doubt want to watch all four of Van Nistelrooy’s game in the hot seat, a run of matches which had differing levels of attacking output. But when it’s good, Fernanes tends to be central.

That was the case at Old Trafford on a grey Sunday afternoon, 10 degrees cooler than the mild Libson climes. It was far from a vintage display from United and the sort of game the team would most likely have won under Ten Hag’s watch.

But when the ball rolled back to Fernandes at the edge of the penalty area after 17 minutes, he curled in a sublime opener. It’s the sort of moment Old Trafford has witnessed plenty of times before. The assist has been less common, with Amad backheeling the ball into the Portuguese’s path. The winger might be the big winner of the Van Nistelrooy era.

It was a rare chance in an underwhelming first 45 at Old Trafford, although Andre Onana had to twice be on hand to keep out a Wilfred Ndidi header and a curled effort from Harry Winks.

There were recurrences of the sort of issues which have plagued United in recent years. Ndidi found too much time and space for his header, twice Abdul Fatawu slalomed his way through the United midfield, while the pressing was half-hearted. Again, Fernandes and Amad were most effective in this particular area.

It mattered little against a meek Leicester side who are bound to be in the relegation shake up come May, even if three points on Sunday would have seen them overtake United in the table. But when Victor Kristiansen inadvertently turned into his own goal not long before the break that outcome looked unlikely.

Again Fernandes was pivotal, as his dart into the box was picked out by Noussair Mazraoui. Initially it appeared the 30-year-old had grabbed his brace, but replays showed it clearly came off the Leicester defender.

Amad could have made it 3-0 in injury-time but fired his shot at Mads Hermansen in the away goal as United ended the half with fewer shots on target than the opposition. United still can’t impose their will on the opposition, another issue for Amorim to address.

So too is the form of two misfiring attackers, and if Sunday underlined how important Fernandes and Amad could be, it only raised further concerns about the form of Ramsus Hojlund and Marcus Rashford.

The latter was hauled off after 57 minutes following another disinterested display where he offered little threat and looked off the pace. No goals in eight is of real concern. As is Hojlund’s record that now stretches to two goals in 12.

Leicester’s centre-backs Jannik Vestegaard and Wout Faes will face few easier afternoons this season than they did up against the timid, lightweight forward United deemed worthy of £72m less than 18 months ago. He was replaced with 15 minutes remaining and for the second game in a week cut a dejected figure as he made his way off the field.

There was plenty of time to study body language - not much was happening on the pitch. Jordan Ayew forced Onana into a low save at his near post and Alexandro Garnacho cut inside and curled wide. He tried the same feat with more success five minutes later, as the spritely Argentinian arced a sumptuous shot into the far corner to wrap up a convincing 3-0 win.

Unsurprisingly, Fernandes was at the heart of it, picking the ball up and driving through the porous Leicester centre and the picking out Garnacho in an advanced position.

The home fans certainly appreciated his effort, as they did with Casemiro who was applauded off the pitch, while the duo were perhaps outshone by the excellent Manuel Ugarte. Maybe there is a functioning United midfield after all.

Amad had one final effort in a game that ended with Van Nistelrooy’s name ringing around the stadium. After the full-time whistle, the former striker walked up to the Stretford End and clapped the fans behind the goal in which he so often netted during his distinguished career.

It felt like goodbye; the coming days will provide an answer on that front, but this team are in a better place than two weeks ago when Ten Hag was sacked, even if Amorim still has plenty of problems to address.