Ruben Amorim singled out Amad Diallo for special praise, revealing he seen huge improvement in the Manchester United star in just a matters of days under his watch.
The Portuguese head coach arrived in Manchester last week with many members of his squad still on international duty, only getting a couple of days with the full group before his first game in charge against Ipswich on Sunday.
Immediately implementing his preferred 3-4-3 formation, Amorim enjoyed a perfect start with United taking the lead inside two minutes. Amad, taking up a right wing-back role in the new system, burst down the flank to see up Marcus Rashford who converted from close range.
But the size of the task at hand for Amorim became apparent as the game wore on with Ipswich fighting back to earn a point, with Andre Onana forced into a number of saves to keep the hosts at bay.
Having only had a few days to train with his players, Amorim has warned there is plenty of work to get through in the coming weeks.
But the 39-year-old did reserve special praise for Amad, pleased with his defensive progress after just a few training sessions.
‘I think he was very good,’ Amorim said. ‘Since these three days, he improved so much defensively.
‘The opponent that he had all the team was the left-back, so it’s like a winger that follows the left-back. It’s so much easier I think, because he doesn’t have to think, can I jump on the centre-back or no?
‘You just follow one guy, and go forward with the same guy, it’s man-to-man in that area. He was so focused on everything. I think he did a great job.’
Amorim also heaped praise on his goalkeeper with Onana producing a save of the season contender to deny Liam Delap late in the first-half.
‘I think it’s so clear for everybody,’ Amorim said. ‘He saved us two times at least.
‘And then one important thing is that he used to do so [many] long balls. He tried to connect with the players and that was very good for me.
‘I think he understood the idea. He did a great job.’