What we learned from Man Utd’s win over West Ham

As Manchester United opened their US pre-season tour with a 2-1 victory over West Ham at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, Bruno Fernandes underlined his significance by scoring twice.

Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, United’s top attacking players, have been spending more than £120 million this summer, but Alphonse Areola, the Hammers goalkeeper, punished two errors by United.

Fernandes added his second shortly after half-time from outside the box after the fifth minute.

In injury time, West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen was denied by United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir after Jarrod Bowen made an excellent save in the 63rd minute, but Ruben Amorim’s side won the first game of the four-team Premier League Summer Series.

Fernandes was dropped further this season by Amorim on Friday, rather than putting him in one of his two system-critical top 10 roles.

Maybe we should stop paying too much attention to the head coach, who chose Fernandes to play at left-back alongside Cunha because £65 million newcomer Bryan Mbeumo isn’t currently deemed fit to play.

Fernandes’ search for the ball in space and his subsequent attempt at something novel were all characterized by familiarity.

However, Fernandes found the net after Areola fouled Ayden Heaven on another of those nights, which gave United a number of chances.

Another Areola error saw the keeper’s poor pass be intercepted by Kobbie Mainoo. A shot was found by Fernandes, who lofted it into the far corner.

Fernandes’ contributions to the game exceeded his goals. Rasmus Hojlund had already played in the opening minute when he jumped on the ball, showing good strength as he squatted shoulder-to-shoulder with Hammers defender Max Killman before rattling the post with his shot.

Fans will be thankful that the Portuguese midfielder, who won the club’s player of the year, rejected a sizable offer from the Saudi Pro-League club early in the summer.

After the game, Amorin praised Fernandes for being a “leader, not just on the field, but also off it,” and said the 30-year-old “will have more help this season.”

As United finished 15th in the league and advanced to the Europa League final last season, Fernandes scored 19 goals and added 19 assists in 57 games.

When asked about Fernandes’ significance for the team, Amorim responded, “You can see it with the goals and assists. However, that’s not all.

I believe that more players will now be able to help him lead the group, which is a good thing.

He occasionally becomes irritable and loses some of his job’s focus. Sometimes, he finds it difficult to do so because he wants to assist the teammates so much. Bruno has to wait for the ball while they have to do their jobs, for instance.

We miss Bruno close to the box, he continued, “Last year, I felt like I pushed him back to have more possession in the build-up.”

After being replaced by all but goalkeeper Bayindir after 65 minutes, Amorim wanted to play down suggestions that his starting lineup would be the 11 that would face Arsenal at Old Trafford in the Premier League opener on August 17th.

However, it seems as though Amorim wants quick, mobile players to fill the defensive void. De Ligt occupied the middle berth throughout the first half and beyond. He was then replaced by Maguire.

Graham Potter, manager of West Ham, thought his side had a weak beginning before developing.

They owe Bowen a sizable sum. His understanding of the game and ability to identify openings are impressive.

However, his goal also exposed a lack of communication among Manchester United players.

Left-sided central defender Heaven was too close to De Ligt in the defensive line, wing-back Patrick Dorgu was too far forward, and neither Mainoo nor Toby Collyer addressed the growing threat from midfield as Tomas Soucek charged deep into their half.

Bowen was then able to take Soucek’s pass and fire a shot across Bayindir into the net while pulling wide.

On Thursday (30:30 BST), United travel to Soldier Field to face Bournemouth, where Mbeumo will make his debut.

Everton defeated Bournemouth 3-0 in the previous Summer Series game held on Saturday at the MetLife.