And there were more positives to take than negatives not least actually scoring but also winning a game of football which isn't something we've done much of in recent times.
But Ruben's Reds began their Premier League Summer Series in New Jersey with a decent-enough win over the Hammers. Two strikes by captain Bruno Fernandes early in each half doing the business for Amorim's team despite a goal pulled back by Jarrod Bowen in the second.
The United manager went with a more routine starting XI compared to last week against Leeds. Interestingly though, he did put the skipper in what many deem his best position of no 10 rather than as a no 8 which is where Amorim has been using him most of the time. I believe this helped in him getting those two goals even though one was a penalty. Further back, the magnifico doesn't influence the game as much versus further forward.
It was also good to see Ugarte and Mainoo as the midfield pivot as ideally, we'd all prefer this duo to be in the centre of the park compared to any other combo.
The first half was where all the action was.
United hit the ground running early on as just 55 seconds in, Hojlund hits the post after a through ball by the captain. The Dane was one of several players who had a decent performance. A pity he didn't score that as it may have done him some good for confidence.
But on the 5th minute, a penalty to United and you know the rest.
Another player who was on point was Ugarte. The midfielder made a run prime Zidane would've been proud of only for the goal to be disallowed after Amad was given offside after a great pass to him from the Uruguayan.
His midfield partner in Mainoo was also one who stood out. The 20 year old's performance was exactly what people want to see from him especially in that position. The manager did say before the game that Mainoo can elevate his game, perhaps this is some of what he meant.
Other top players included Yoro and Heaven despite his mistake that led to Bowen's goal as well as the other centre-back in De Ligt who once again, just quietly went about his business and dropped arguably a MOTM performance.
Dorgu was also good and so was new boy Cunha who impressed once more. Amad was perhaps the only one who was kept quiet but didn't have an awful game by any means. Even Bayindir was alright and made a fantastic stop to deny a late equalizer for the Hammers.
Once Amorim made the changes around the 70-minute mark in the second half (which is what he said he was going to do), you could see that there was a big drop-off between the first and second team. For the likes of Mount, Shaw, Casemiro and Maguire, if they really want to stake a claim in that first team, we'll need to see something better than that second period from them. With the amount of players we have in certain positions as well as some who still need to return (Zirkzee, Martinez, Mbeumo) it's going to be even harder for those players to make it into Amorim's first XI.
There were still concerns over the midfield as it did get played through easily at times with West Ham's goal being an example; the fact that Bruno is better as a no 10 but the manager wanting to play him as a no 8 could be a problem in the future; and that issue of not creating anything clear-cut was still evident. Other than Hojlund's shot early on and Fernandes missing a 1v1, there wasn't much else. One goal was a penalty brought on by a mistake from their goalkeeper and the other was a top-bins, unbelievable strike by the skipper. Despite having the creativity of Bruno, Amad and Cunha on the field, Amorim didn't really see his side cause Graham Potter's team too many issues.
There were also too many long balls especially once the subs were made which invited pressure from West Ham and isn't what Amorim wants in terms of his play style.
All-in-all, it was a bit of a mixed bag from both United and the reactions of the fan base in regards to this performance. I believe that that is a positive because last week everyone was all doom and gloom with there even being murmurs of 'Amorim out.'
We don't want to be hearing that so soon.
At least this result and performance will silence that, to some extent at least, but there is always the next game and we really need to start seeing big improvements.
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Bruno Fernandes scores brace in Man Utd's 2-1 win over West Ham in Premier League Summer Series encounter in New Jersey | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)