The mood and message around Manchester United's preseason tour of the U.S. has been largely positive, but it's going to take more than good vibes to get this club back into the top half of the table. After comfortable wins over West Ham in New Jersey and Bournemouth in Chicago, the 2-2 draw with Everton at Atlanta Falcons' Mercedes-Benz Stadium exposed some familiar problems. Bruno Fernandes said afterwards that parts of the performance had been "lazy" and although Ruben Amorim didn't wholeheartedly agree, he didn't shut down his captain, either.

Amorim's Vision for United Amorim views himself as a natural optimist. However, he's perfectly placed to understand the size of the challenge in taking United from their worst season in more than 50 years to something resembling a successful campaign. The general message from Amorim and his players has been that getting back into Europe is the aim. Even that would require bridging a gap of more than 20 points.

Team Building and Discipline After a miserable eight months since his appointment as Erik ten Hag's successor, Amorim has tried as much as possible to paint this summer as a fresh start. It was important for the United head coach to get backing from the board to axe Alejandro Garnacho, Jadon Sancho, Antony and Tyrell Malacia from the trip to America and show the squad that only players fully committed will be welcome in the group.

Everything in the U.S. has been about putting the team first, with new rules in place to encourage players to spend more time together. Larger, circular tables were ordered for the team dining room at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in central Chicago to avoid small cliques sitting together.

Preseason Training and Tactics Amorim and his staff were keen for players to return to preseason fitter than last season and asked them to follow tailored programmes during their holidays. At their U.S. base (also known as Chicago Fire's training ground), each member of the squad was fitted with GPS trackers to monitor the intensity of sessions. Anyone falling below the desired standard is called out in front of the group.

Looking Ahead Despite the positivity around United's tour, Amorim has been keen not to get ahead of himself. He knows better than anyone that any optimism will disappear if the first five games of the Premier League season -- three of them against Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea -- do not go well. Much of the talk in the U.S. -- from players and staff -- has been about a reset. A fresh start and a clean slate.