Manchester United managed to snatch a point from the jaws of defeat last weekend.
That they did so at a Tottenham Hotspur side that struggles at home shouldn’t take any gloss off the result. Man Utd, after all, did well to ride out an early Tottenham storm. They then went in at the break ahead following Bryan Mbeumo’s fifth league goal of the season.
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Senne Lammens pulled of a couple of smart stops to deny Cristian Romero and Joao Palhinha after the break. In the end, it took two deflected efforts for Spurs to find a way past the Belgian. Mathys Tel’s effort took a nick off Matthijs de Ligt to end up in the back of the net.
Wilson Odobert’s injury-time effort, meanwhile, glanced off Richarlison and into the back of the net. Man Utd’s response was impressive. They pushed for an equaliser and were rewarded with a late De Ligt goal.
A 2-2 draw in north London means Man Utd went into the international break on a five-game unbeaten run. While the streak isn’t enough for the United Strand to undergo a first haircut in a year, the Red Devils are finally seeing green shoots of a testing first year under Ruben Amorim.
Can Man Utd maintain unbeaten run?
The main question now, though, is whether the five-game unbeaten run, which has yielded 11 points, is sustainable after the international break. And there is reason to be believe that it just might be.
Few could argue that Man Utd deserve to sit any higher than seventh in the table after their poor start. That said, the underlying numbers in their season so far suggests they have started to finally turn a corner. Their 50.6% possession is the ninth-highest in the division. They invite pressure on a defence that was previously weaker than tissue paper in a downpour.
That backline is proving far sturdier with Man Utd ranking fifth for ball recoveries (527) in the Premier League this season. And when they do win the ball back, they break forward quickly, often shifting the ball from left to right. The above average positions show Mbeumo as the highest man forward. This comes despite a bulk of their attacks coming down the left (40%).
Fernandes impact vital to Man Utd’s attack
Much of that is down to Bruno Fernandes operating on the left side of the central midfield pair. The Portuguese star and partner Casemiro have been criticised in the past. And yet, the former’s attacking qualities can’t be called into question. Not only does the Man Utd skipper rank top for chances created (29), only four outfielders have attempted more long balls (91).
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Fernandes will often look for the runs of the right-sided pair. Along with Mbeumo, Amad Diallo is another rapid outlet from the right flank. The former is often the furthest man forward. The latter isn’t far behind. Man Utd so often instigate attacks down the left side before rapidly switching to the right. Eighteen percent of their shots are from the right, the highest in the Premier League. A massive 75% come through the middle. Just 7% is from the left.
It must be heartening for Amorim to see his gameplan finally coming to life. The change in approach when he took charge last year was sudden. Man Utd moved from playing a 4-2-3-1 setup, with players to match the style, to the three-at-the-back. Amorim has previously come in for criticism for stubbornly refusing to change his system.
Three-at-the-back starting to function
Even in the darkest days, the Man Utd boss remained loyal to a 3-4-2-1 formation. It’s taken some time for Amorim to translate his ideas across but they finally look to be getting through. This has been one of the man advantages of a lack of European football, combined with the early Carabao Cup exit.
The failure to secure European action is unheard of for a team of Man Utd’s stature. In addition, the Grimsby Town defeat, made famous by Amorim’s tactics board, was embarrassing for the club. And yet, Man Utd have turned both negatives into a positive. Amorim has had more time on the training pitch to work with the players and iron out the kinks in the system.
As such, Man Utd rank third for shots (158) and shots on target (56) in the Premier League this season. They were seventh (528) and 10th (175) for both metrics last season. Furthermore, they’ve already scored 19 league goals this season having struck just 44 times in 2024-25. And with the welcome of rivals Everton next up, there’s no reason why they can’t make it six games unbeaten with a return to winning ways.
Few a matter of months would have expected Man Utd to be in their current position. They looked a rudderless ship that was struggling to adjust to the manager’s ideas. Amorim was recently one of the favourites to lose his job. Now, with a workable gameplan in place, this Man Utd ship has the wind in its sails, and is finally headed in the right direction.