Ruben Amorim singles out Man Utd star as example that club have turned the corner

Ruben Amorim knew his Manchester United players were finally getting the message when he saw Casemiro break into a sprint against Arsenal last week.

The United boss has been consistent since arriving at Old Trafford nine months ago that his team must be prepared to put in the hard yards if his methods are going to work.

Watching Casemiro transform from his lumbering usual self into the leader of United’s counter-pressing pack as they chased down Gunners’ skipper Martin Odegaard strengthened Amorim’s belief that the squad he’s building is starting to sing from the same hymn sheet.

United still lost the game 1-0. But there is a new sense of optimism shared by both players and fans alike. And ahead of the trip to face Fulham at Craven Cottage, Amorim insisted: “I think you can see it (an improved physicality).

“It is a fact. You can see it in the data. With confidence, sometimes you react a little bit sooner. Against Arsenal, you could see the reaction of some of our players for the second balls, the duels.

“We are stronger, we are recovering our positions faster. I remember at least two times when Odegaard had the ball and you could see our players sprinting full power.

"Even Casemiro! And he's at a different pace. In the end we cannot control the results. But we have to see the game in the small things that we can do better.

“Sometimes we are not going to play as well as we did in the last game. But the consistency of the movements, the intensity, the opportunities, the runs in behind. In all these small things we need to be consistent.

“If you look at our last few games - and I know pre-season is pre-season - but if you look at those games and the first game in the league, we are maintaining the level.”

United have invested more than £200million this summer to bring attacking trio Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo to Manchester. But despite an encouraging performance against Arsenal they were still beaten by Mikel Arteta ’s below-par team.

With no distraction of European football this season, Amorim believes the extra hours he will get on the training ground will start to pay-off with Premier League points. Amorim said: “We need to work during the week - and we need to score goals.

“But when we are playing, I think you can see that we are more confident. I feel the team is more free in playing the game. When you have more time to train, to see the way we play, then you become free because you don’t need to think all the time about what you should do in certain situations because it’s already in your mind.

“We have more time to train and prepare for the games, so they know what they need to do. We have more time to train on our base and then, in the last two days, you have time to prepare the strategic part of the game. I think it’s simple.”

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