Bruno Fernandes hints at brighter Man Utd future but big decisions await Ruben Amorim

The mercurial Portuguese helped Van Nistelrooy sign off in style, however poor form of Holjund and Rashford presents conundrum for new coach

Bruno Fernandes back in the goals, fans smiling, the manager being serenaded in the stands. Viewed through the prism of this comfortable victory over a poor Leicester City, there might not have seemed a lot wrong at Manchester United.
But Ruben Amorim will walk through the club’s doors on Monday with an awful lot to put right and some big decisions to make.
In the first instance, he must decide whether there is a place on his coaching staff for Ruud van Nistelrooy, who signed off his unbeaten four-match stint as interim manager in the wake of Erik ten Hag’s sacking with a third win and supporters chanting his name.
Beyond that, the new United head coach will have to figure out which players are malleable enough to fit into what is likely to be a new system should he insist on employing the 3-4-2-1 formation with which he has enjoyed such success at Sporting.
A glance at United’s squad suggests there are several players who might very quickly find themselves to be square pegs in round holes under Amorim. But it will also be interesting to see which talents the Portuguese will feel he can harness – and where there is untapped potential. Rasmus Hojlund falls into the latter category.
For all the joy United had against Leicester, this was another difficult afternoon for the young Denmark striker, whose body language was that of a player in desperate need of a spark and direction. He will certainly hope Amorim can do for him what he has for his fellow Scandinavian Viktor Gyokeres at Sporting. United will need him to.
And then there is Fernandes, a player who enthrals and exasperates in equal measure and who has rediscovered his scoring touch just in time for the arrival of his compatriot at Old Trafford.
United’s captain was presented with a framed shirt before kick-off by co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe to mark his 250th appearance for the club and followed that up with a match-winning turn against a Leicester side that are in a spot of bother at the moment.
It was a reminder that, for all his faults, Fernandes is still United’s most influential player, even if Ten Hag might be wondering where that player disappeared to during his final months in charge.
Fernandes’s goal here was his fourth in as many games for Van Nistelrooy whereas he had failed to score in his last 17 matches under Ten Hag, which prompted an apology from the midfielder that was derided as too little, too late by Roy Keane last week.
In a team that routinely found goals hard to come by under Ten Hag, Amorim will want to find a way to best balance Fernandes’s creativity and goal threat against the tactical indiscipline and reckless distribution that inevitably comes with him.
Amorim, for example, is unlikely to appreciate Fernandes dropping almost on to his centre-halves and turning the ball over with a needless 20-yard pass in the 56th minute that was speared straight to Abdul Fatawu. Such cheap transitions have been one of the many troubling features of this United side. Equally, Amorim will wonder how many others in his squad could have fashioned United’s first goal, exchanging a quick one-two with Amad Diallo out of nothing after a throw-in before curling a lovely finish into the far corner.
Fernandes was also in the thick of it for United’s second goal, missing his header from Noussair Mazraoui’s fine cross but watching the ball brush his thigh and bounce in off the hapless Victor Kristiansen, who had a day to forget. And who was it in space, arms up and screaming at Christian Eriksen for the ball in the 82nd minute? Why Fernandes, of course, the midfielder driving at goal and teeing up Alejandro Garnacho to cut inside and bend one into the top corner.
Successive United managers have found that you have to take the rough with the smooth with Fernandes but if Amorim can curb the 30-year-old’s worst impulses while channelling his attacking instincts the team will benefit for it. Who else in the team can do what Fernandes does, after all? Mason Mount? He would have to be fit and available to stand a chance, and even then the jury is out. Marcus Rashford as an inside forward? The England striker lasted 57 minutes before being subbed for Garnacho after another frustrating display. Joshua Zirkzee? So far at least, the summer signing from Bologna has been miles off the pace.
Amad has enjoyed a new lease of life under Van Nistelrooy and Amorim may appreciate his technical quality and ability in tight spaces. The Ivorian and Fernandes were certainly on the same wavelength against Leicester, who gave away possession too often and looked short of confidence and ideas. Sitting just three points above the relegation zone, they will hope to benefit from home advantage after the international break when three of their next four games are at the King Power Stadium.