Rasmus Hojlund admits new boss Ruben Amorim’s tactics are ‘a lot to take in’ after Man United slipped to a second successive defeat at home to Nottingham Forest
Rasmus Hojlund has explained that the Manchester United squad are still adapting to Ruben Amorim’s new tactics as the side put in another disappointing display in a defeat at home to Nottingham Forest.
The Portuguese boss replaced the beleagured Erik ten Hag in October after a loss to West Ham proved one too many, leaving the Red Devils languishing in 14th place.
After seeing out a three-game notice period at his previous side Sporting Lisbon, Amorim arrived in Manchester last month and quickly got to work implementing his favoured 3-4-3 system.
United were fortunate to hang on for a 1-1 draw at Ipswich in the new manager’s opening match before wins over Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League and Everton in the Premier League gave fans cause for optimism.
But a 2-0 defeat to Arsenal in midweek was followed up by a miserable performance against Forest on Saturday which resulted in a 3-2 defeat, leaving United in 13th.
Hojlund scored the Red Devils’ opener at Old Trafford but has admitted that the players are still struggling to get used to Amorim’s ideas.
Rasmus Hojlund has said Man United stars are struggling to adapt to Ruben Amorim’s tactics
The striker scored on Saturday night but United slipped to a defeat against Nottingham Forest
Ruben Amorim’s side were handed a second successive defeat after a loss at Old Trafford
He told Sky Sports: ‘Annoying goals of course, we need to do better, specifically on corners, we’ve conceded too much now but I’m sure we’ll improve.
‘I think it’s more about us being in a new position, new ideas, new set-piece coach, but we need to understand his ideas.
‘It’s a lot to take in but we need to deal with it, we are Manchester United and we need to do better. There’s a lot of games left but it’s not an ideal situation, but we need to try and stay positive.’
Nottingham Forest pulled off a deserved 3-2 win making it their first triumph here since December 1994.
United fell behind inside two minutes, conceding from another corner, before Rasmus Hojlund dragged them back on level terms.
But the game got out of hand in the early stages of the second half and in the blink of an eye as the rain came down United were 3-1 down after a major error from Andre Onana gifted Morgan Gibbs-White a goal before Chris Wood added a third.
Captain Bruno Fernandes produced an exquisite finish to sweep a shot home after Amad Diallo found him with a perfect pull back but it was not enough to turn the tide.
It means United remain slumped in 13th in the Premier League with Amorim having earned just one win from his first four games in England’s top flight.
It was all a far cry from last Sunday when United thrashed Everton 4-0 at Old Trafford
Despite bringing on a swathe of attacking players United couldn’t find the much-needed qualiser
Morgan Gibbs-White struck in the second half as Nottingham Forest sunk the Red Devils
‘We already knew [it would be tough],’ the United head coach admitted. ‘It will be a long journey but we want to win because this is a massive club.
‘You feel it, when you lose one game it’s really hard for everybody. I can understand that. I can feel it in the stadium after the first goal.
‘We understand the context but we have to keep in the same way, doing the same things.
‘The same words I have here with Everton, I have today. Focus on the performance. We need to improve in a lot of aspects of the game and continue to do the same things tomorrow in training.’
