If you can't triumph, avoid defeat - as the proverb states.
Before their trip to Nottingham Forest, Man Utd had secured only eight points from deficit situations with their manager. They had failed to secure a single point from the past six matches when they found themselves behind since the trip to AFC Bournemouth last spring, when a late goal snatched a tie.
When they went down at the City Ground after conceding twice in a short span, as Forest reversed a disputed opening period goal, Manchester United were facing defeat.
The question to Amorim after his side fought back to draw could not have been any clearer.
Had that match occurred last season, do you believe you would have lost it?'
The response was equally decisive.
"Yes, and by a larger margin, that is my feeling."
We can never know the actual outcome. What we do know that Amad Diallo demonstrated why the coach selects him at defensive wing by scoring a sensational first-time volley from near the edge of the penalty area nine minutes from time to secure a point.
It's been clear since the beginning of the season that Manchester United are performing at a higher level this season. Since the start of autumn, they have additionally been getting better results.
The resolve, the will, the unwillingness to surrender are unquantifiables.
In this match, the manager felt his squad demonstrated they have improved at that as well.
"Previously, if we had this kind of bad five minutes and we conceded two goals, we wouldn't bounce back," stated the coach. "Today is a different feeling. You can sense we might not triumph in the match but we are not going to lose. And that is a feeling a big team sometimes must possess."
The manager didn't say it, but the addition of Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo must have helped.
The attacker is not the type to retreat from challenging circumstances, actually the opposite indeed. In the opening period, when he was booed by the home fans for what they believed was his gamesmanship, he reacted - instead of ignoring them - gesturing toward the crest on his kit.
The forward is a constant threat, the perfect example of a footballer who will never allow an opponent any rest.
The coach was asked exactly what had led to the mental improvement. Apart from saying the self-belief gained from the previous three successive wins, he didn't really give an answer.
"The confidence, of course, is completely different," he said. "Following three positive performances and we have a different confidence. We understand one another better. We talk more about these aspects."We demonstrated this year we can have bad moments but suddenly, we produce three strong performances.
"It's essential to remain engaged in the match until the last moments. In the past, we could have collapsed completely the way we performed in the game. Today, the impression was not that one."
While this represented a day when the team displayed their resilience, it was also a day that must have left the Dutch forward and Kobbie Mainoo even more unsure of their roles in the manager's revamped Manchester United.
In his before the game media briefing, Amorim stated it was possible members of the squad who believe they are at risk of not making the international tournament will ask to leave in the January signing period.
It is fair to assume the striker and the midfielder fit into that category. The forward has managed less than two full games from his four top-flight cameo roles this season. For Mainoo, the total is over two hours from seven.
Not one has started a Premier League game this season and neither were they called upon to come off the bench at the stadium, as United chased a route to recovery into a game they were losing from the second half.
"Our squad includes a great deal of talent on the substitutes but sometimes I have the feeling if I'm going to stop the flow all the time, I'm going to break the rhythm," explained Amorim. "Our performance was getting better during the later stages, so my feeling was not to change anything with the guys in front."
The midfielder had a deal in place to join the Italian club in the last days of the transfer period but United would not sanction a deal. Zirkzee was coming back from a fitness issue but is now considering the possibility of a move back to Italy.
The circumstances is made more complex by the absence of Mbeumo and Amad to the Africa Cup of Nations in the midst of the winter, a period which features a couple of midweek games which will demand a level of squad changes unseen before.
As the championship match is on January 18th, the duo should be back long before the signing period closes on 2 February - which may mean a later resolution than what eager to leave individual would prefer.
"This is about the demands of the game," said Amorim, when questioned specifically about the forward and Mainoo. "They know it's just a moment."It's nothing to do with quality - and we have a lot of fixtures."
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