Ruben Amorim might have to wait two months before unleashing his dream Manchester United attack

Manchester United's defeat to Arsenal on Wednesday night was a reminder that it is easier and quicker to improve a team's defensive structure than to change the way they attack. For large parts of the game, United looked secure in open play against one of the more offensive teams in the league, but when they had the ball in the opposition half, they carried almost no threat of their own.

In four matches under Ruben Amorim, United's style has clearly changed. His 3-4-3 system and the tweaks he has made have stopped games from becoming the end-to-end basketball-style contests they often descended into under Erik ten Hag. United aren't giving up as many opportunities and can exert greater control on proceedings.

Even in the first half, there were times when Amorim's team held on to possession and had the shape to manipulate the ball, keeping it across the back three, looking for Diogo Dalot and Tyrell Malacia as they hugged their touchlines and trying to find space between the lines. The problem was that when possession reached the final third, they often ran out of ideas.

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Speaking after the first defeat of his tenure, Amorim admitted after the game that he just hasn't had the time to really improve his team's attacking play. While he wants more aggression and bravery in attack, it is going to be a process.

“We didn’t have the time," he said. "We work a lot on building up. You can see the structure, you can see the idea, you can see the bounce when the centre-backs go into the midfielders.

"But then in the last part or the last third, you can see that we need to