Amorim close to knowing preferred Manchester United starting XI

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim says he is close to knowing what his preferred starting XI is at the club.

The Red Devils have had a mixed start under the former Sporting boss, losing against Arsenal and drawing to Ipswich but beating Everton and Bodo/Glimt.

Amorim has rotated his squad heavily during the games, leaving questions over the personnel he prefers to start.

But the Portuguese tactician now says he has an idea.

Speaking in his press conference, he said: “You have an idea, but we have the problem of players returning without training, then we need to manage the load.

“You have to understand what kind of players you have.

“For example Bruno Fernandes, he was a little bit tired in the end against Arsenal but you know that he is going to recover very well.

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“If you think about Manuel Ugarte, I’ve known him for so long and I know he needs a little bit more time.

“We are in that process of knowing the players and we are managing that. We are getting closer to an idea, yes.”

Amorim went on to admit that Manchester United will not get results straight away, but he is looking for maximum effort from his players.

He added: “That is a key point for us.

“We also have to understand our supporters; in just two weeks and four matches, they just want to see effort.

“Then they want to see us win games. After a while with effort and winning games, they will want to see a dominant team.

“These are the phases that we have to follow. This one is the easy one, effort. Full sprint back, full sprint forward. Our focus is a lot on that.”

United face Nottingham Forest on Saturday and will be looking to continue rising up the Premier League table.