Manchester United center-forward Rasmus Højlund spoke on something important that manager Ruben Amorim is working on: forging connections between players to “complement each other” because, in his words, “It is very important to understand movements.”

Rasmus Højlund speaking with MUTV after scoring two goals in their 2-1 win against Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League on Thursday:

“I think it’s about getting those connections with each other, especially when you’re playing this sort of system and there are people close to each other.

“It’s very important to understand movements.

“The manager is also trying to sort of play with players who complement each other very well, so yeah, it’s good.”

I noticed this with Bruno Fernandes in their 4-0 win against Everton. There was a ton of counter movements between the three central midfielders, Fernandes, Kobbie Mainoo, and Casemiro, and then individually between Fernandes and left-back Diego Dalot. 

I would consider Bruno Fernandes to be a player with a high level of intelligence in relation to knowing where each player is most useful and someone who knows how to maximize the use of that intelligence due to him having a lot of experience. I consider him more of a great organizer, like a general. The team would operate better if he could control each player’s movements.

Between the midfielders, there was a push and pull, a lot of hand gestures, and communication verbally, being thrown back and forth to coordinate this constant movement. And it was small changes in position, nothing drastic. Fernandes was the main midfielder directing both the center-backs and midfielders, telling them how, when, and where he would want them to move to push and pull at Everton’s defense. One player drops, one player moves forward, Everton follows, and then there’s room to pass into the center of the pitch on the ground. It was a constant set of movements to open passing lanes into the midfield and then out to the wings.

I just find it interesting that Højlund’s first comment was that it is very important to “understand movements.” It alludes to the fact that there wasn’t as much of an emphasis on movement or connection under previous manager Erik Ten Hag.

It does translate to their play because there does seem to be a better understanding between the players to know when to move, when to hold their run, and to better time the arrival into those open spaces. A change most noticeable in the midfield, and then the timing of the runs from their forwards once they transition to the final third, the near posts runs, are much more pointed, sharper, more well timed. That’s probably why Amorim has success improving the output of strikers.