Ruben Amorim hailed summer signing Matheus Cunha and four other Manchester United players after the pre-season friendly win over West Ham.
Bruno Fernandes scored twice as United beat West Ham 2-1 at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Saturday night.
It was Manchester United’s first win in pre-season after they played out a goalless draw with Leeds United last weekend.
Cunha, who joined the club in a £62.5m move from Wolves in June, started against West Ham and impressed his new manager.
Amorim also heaped praise on United striker Rasmus Hojlund, who has been linked with a summer move following a dismal 2024-25 campaign, and midfielders Fernandes, Kobbie Mainoo and Manuel Ugarte.
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Asked who impressed him against Graham Potter’s West Ham, Amorim said in his post-match interview: ‘All the guys. I don’t want to talk specifically.
‘Rasmus [Hojlund] did well. I really liked Rasmus’s game, the runs and the way he fought during the game, one against one, when we kicked the ball. He connected with the team-mates so he did a great job.
‘Matheus Cunha is that kind of player that can help us, he can help us a lot because he can run with the ball and that is something that can change the game. We missed that last year.
‘In the first half, Kobbie [Mainoo] and Manu [Ugarte] were really good. I’m not going to talk about the second team because it’s really hard for 11 [10] players to go to the pitch, you know, a lot of young kids.
‘But I really like the team. Of course, you have to look at the game and you have to improve things.’
Fernandes was one of the few positives from Manchester United’s woeful 2024-25 campaign and Amorim hopes the Portuguese star will receive more ‘help’ from his teammates next season.
As well as signing Cunha, United spent a further £65m to sign Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford.
‘It was so clear last season with Bruno, you can see it with the goals and assists,’ Amorim said. ‘But it’s not just that. I think now he has more players, I feel, to help him to lead the group and that is a good thing.
Manchester United in pre-season
Man Utd 0-0 Leeds United (July 19)
Man Utd 2-1 West Ham (July 26)
Man Utd vs Bournemouth (July 31)
Man Utd vs Everton (August 3)
Man Utd vs Fiorentina (August 9)
‘He is our leader and really important, not just on the field, but off the field. He leads by example. He works really hard, is always available and, sometimes, he plays with pain.
‘Sometimes, the problem is he gets frustrated and loses a little bit of focus of his job. Sometimes, he wants to help the team-mates so much, it is not the best thing to do.
‘They have to do their job and Bruno has, for example, to wait for the ball. He has a function or a position for every game. It’s impossible to play all the positions.
‘Last year, I felt sometimes I pushed him back to have more possession in the build-up and we miss Bruno near the box. With different characteristics from Bryan [Mbeumo] and Matheus Cunha, and I really like Kobbie Mainoo’s game, he will have more help this season.’
Manchester United have three more pre-season friendlies before kick-starting their Premier League campaign on August 17 against Arsenal.
‘It’s a strong team and we need to prepare all the players, and we don’t have a lot of weeks or a lot of games to prepare all the team,’ Amorim added.
‘That can change, you saw in the second half, there are players who can play in the first game. It’s not a decision I made already.’
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