Gary Neville feels Ruben Amorim has given himself a blueprint to move forward after a notable change in style this week - but Roy Keane remains unimpressed with "one of the worst teams in the league" without the ball.
For the first time in his tenure, Amorim has visibly moved away from the rigid 3-4-2-1 formation he had previously stuck with both at Old Trafford and across his managerial career, displaying a level of flexibility which had previously become a bone of contention for Manchester United supporters.
After deploying a hybrid back four in Monday's 4-4 draw with Bournemouth, United put on another improved display despite losing 2-1 to in-form Aston Villa at Villa Park and deserved more than they got for the second game in succession.
Speaking on the Gary Neville Podcast, Neville said: "I thought it was a really good performance, but the details of the two goals have cost them.
"Now that's going to continue to happen whilst they don't have the likes of Harry Maguire and Matthijs De Ligt, and they don't have players that would make them a lot stronger.
"What I have seen in these last two games is a couple of things. One, the manager has changed. Quite obviously, the system that he said he would never change, the five or the three [at the back], the two in midfield, the two wing backs and the three up front, that has been thrown out of the window in the last two matches. That's a good thing.
"I'm happy that the manager is adapting to what's happening out there because of what's happening with AFCON, but also I think there's an element where he couldn't carry on as we saw against West Ham and Everton at home.
"More of that would find the manager in a lot of trouble - more of what we've seen between Bournemouth and Villa is going to find the manager in a job, and will allow him to build something, because you can build off what you've seen here.
"Manchester United can still finish in the top five and they've missed three or four opportunities in the last three weeks to do that, but if they can get those players back from AFCON and they can stay fit, they can do something.
"Ruben Amorim has got to approach it the way in which he has in the last five or six days. The system has been tweaked - more than tweaked - and I think with [Mason] Mount, [Matheus] Cunha, [Bruno] Fernandes, [Bejamin] Sesko, [Bryan] Mbeumo and Amad [Diallo] out there on the pitch, not all of them but probably four or five of them, they will cause a lot of teams a lot of problems."
Keane was similarly impressed with Man Utd's attacking output, with Amorim's side only outscored by Manchester City this season, but felt that was little excuse for the ease with which they were cut apart for both of Morgan Rogers' fine strikes in their latest defeat - their fifth from 17 league games.
Leny Yoro was singled out for criticism for a lack of intensity in closing down Rogers when he first received the ball before cutting inside and netting a stunning opener, while Keane was just as frustrated by Diogo Dalot's attempts to block a cross leading up to his second.
"You can have all the talent in the world, but you have to roll your sleeves up and when the game gets a bit tight you say you're going to do your bit for the team," he said on Super Sunday. "This isn't a tricky winger, it's just a little shimmy. He's like yeah, have a cross. This ends up being the winning goal.
"It's not like someone's done a brilliant trick or run at him with real pace. You get down low, you get your body in position. You say if you're going to get a cross in, you're going to have to do remarkably well.
"There are too many players who don't do enough. Not just Dalot. In the last two games Man Utd have conceded six goals. What chance have you got? Newcastle are coming up in a few days, they'll come to Old Trafford and enjoy it, they'll have runners.
"These are the ugly bits of football. We know you've got the other bits, but you've got to do the ugly bits. That's what all the top teams do.
"But you can also dig deep, you can win playing ugly. You have to find a way to do that.
"Out of possession they're one of the worst teams in the league. With the ball they're good, but if you want to be a top footballer, it's about what you do out of possession.
"Man Utd cut corners, take too many risks and I'm glad they get punished. I like to see teams getting punished who take chances and let their team-mates and fans down."
