United humbled: Rashford back, Fernandes misses again

Rashford's return

The circumstances of Rashford's return, whether from injury, loan or a period out in the cold, were not detailed in The Telegraph's report. What matters is that he was back on the pitch, and the eyes of the football world were on him. His relationship with United over the past couple of years has been one of the more exhausting sagas in English football, and any return gets picked apart, whatever happens on the pitch.

Amorim has spoken publicly about wanting players who are fully committed to the project. Rashford being involved at all is a signal of something, though whether it points toward a genuine reset or simply a squad-depth necessity is a question only the coming weeks will answer.

Fernandes and the penalty problem

The Fernandes situation is harder to brush aside. Missing penalties is one thing. Missing them repeatedly, with the word "another" now firmly attached to the narrative, is a different conversation. For a captain and the player United's attacking play is most likely to run through, it is a reliability issue that Amorim cannot afford to leave unaddressed.

At some point, someone at Carrington has to have a quiet word about who actually takes the next one.

Where Amorim's United actually are

A defeat to AC Milan, however the fixture is framed, is not the result United wanted heading into the season proper. Amorim inherited a squad with structural problems and has been working to reshape both the personnel and the system. Progress has been uneven, and a chastening loss to a well-organised Milan side is a reminder that the gap between ambition and reality at Old Trafford is still real.

None of this is a crisis in August. But the combination of a missed penalty, a returning exile and a defeat is exactly the kind of morning-after picture Amorim could do without in week one.

Source: The Telegraph