Ruben Amorim’s fortunes have seen a stark upturn in the past month courtesy of a four-game unbeaten streak, but his colleague deserves as much credit for his form because he was ruthlessly targeted.
The scrutiny that follows everyone at Manchester United probably no longer surprises Ruben Amorim.
Amorim has grown immensely as the Man Utd manager, and so has his staff, who had to tackle some common doubts due to their age and lack of experience.
One of those Man Utd staff members unexpectedly found himself in the eye of the storm last season for United’s biggest weakness. Now that is their greatest strength.
The curious case of Carlos Fernandes
Of all the staff members brought along by Amorim to Old Trafford, Carlos Fernandes, his assistant, has been the most visible presence.
There’s the young Adelio Candido, who is hard to miss, but in terms of clear roles and responsibilities, Fernandes is always right beside Amorim.
That worked against him last season when Man Utd conceded one goal after another on set-pieces, particularly corners.
United had a dedicated set-piece coach in Andreas Georgson when Amorim arrived, but the manager revealed that Fernandes was looking at set-pieces.
Therefore, as the team looked leaky on corners, Amorim had to defend Fernandes in multiple press conferences last season.
Georgson’s subsequent departure from the club only increased the pressure on Fernandes, who was probably the person solely responsible for doing them.
After being ruthlessly targeted last season for United’s weakness on set-pieces, he deserves immense credit this season because the team looks unstoppable on them now.
Fernandes deserves credit for Man Utd’s set-piece strength
Against Forest, United added another goal to their tally of goals scored from set-pieces this season, a table in which they place third across the league now.
The second goal didn’t come directly off a corner, but Amad’s positioning was part of a structure that eventually yielded a positive result.
United have already come a long way from looking blunt at every attacking corner and leaky at every defensive one.
Set-pieces against an extremely vertical Forest side were dealt with authority, and the players managed to trouble Forest with their own set-pieces most times.
Much like Amorim, the work Fernandes has done with the team on dead-ball situations is starting to bear fruit during games.
He deserves as much credit now as he was ruthlessly targeted back then.
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