Amorim on Utd player's fitness ahead of huge week for the club ahead (Full Presser)

NicheSportMedia

Ruben Amorim on Manchester Utd player's fitness ahead of huge week for the club with City and Lyon ahead  04/04/2025  Carrington Training Centre, Manchester, UK

Transcript

00:00Hi Ruben, start off as always, how's the team looking? Is anyone back? Anyone ruled out?

00:05I think Kobe is returning to training, we'll see, and assess for this game already.

00:11Of course he cannot play a full game, it's a long time without training,

00:16so I think Mate has an issue, he has something during the game and we have to assess.

00:23I think the rest is normal.

00:26Obviously when the fixtures come out, City at home is one of the main fixtures

00:31United fans will be looking at, but you've got such a big game coming up on Thursday,

00:34you've got players coming back, will you be rotating?

00:36Is that something you can't afford to do in a fixture like this?

00:38No, we are going to focus game by game. We have a few games to recover from the last game,

00:44and then we'll have a few games to... I think the focus on that department

00:49will be more the next one in the Premier League.

00:54We want to win this game, we want to improve in the league table,

00:59and especially we want to win games, so we are going to have full focus on this game.

01:04Can you just assess Garnaccio at the moment?

01:08Obviously he's played a huge amount of games for a young player,

01:13maybe he's not quite delivering what people want,

01:17but equally he's still learning how to play the game. How do you assess him?

01:22I think he's doing the right things. Of course, like any player in our team,

01:29he has to choose better, especially in the last third.

01:33We have to improve, all the players have to improve.

01:35Maybe Bruno is the one that can do something, assist or score goals very easily.

01:42So we have to improve as a team to help Garnaccio,

01:44but Garnaccio is improving the way he defends, the way he runs.

01:48So he's working hard, he needs to score more goals and assist,

01:53that is clear, but also the other guys.

01:55I see him as a young kid that wants to improve, he's improving,

01:59but he's not in a great moment in that department like the other guys on the team.

02:07Ruben, just one to your reaction to Kevin De Bruyne announcing

02:11that he will be leaving Manchester City at the end of the season.

02:15How have you rated him as a player?

02:17That is easy. He was one of the best midfielders in the Premier League.

02:23The time passes to everyone, so it's a natural thing.

02:29He improved the league, he was on the wrong side of Manchester.

02:35So I wish him good luck, it was a pleasure to see him in Portugal a lot of times.

02:45I hope he enjoys the rest of his life.

02:48Ruben, how do you assess the moment that Manchester City are in facing your team?

02:52Because obviously when you faced them at the Etihad earlier on in the campaign,

02:55they were struggling far more then.

02:57Do you think they've recovered from that or do you still see some of the same problems?

03:01No, I'm more focused on our problems.

03:04I think we have bigger problems than Manchester City.

03:09They had that run in that moment, but they improved.

03:13They can play in different ways.

03:16It's really hard to understand and to think how they are going to face us.

03:21They have maybe the best coach in the world.

03:27They have top players, so it will be a difficult match.

03:33But like I said, I'm so focused on improving my team

03:36that I'm not worried about the improvements of Manchester City.

03:41I just try to understand how Manchester City are going to play

03:44to help my players to be on top of their game.

03:47Was the win there the best moment you've had as United manager so far?

03:51I don't know, it's hard to...

03:54Sometimes I'm really happy with the small things, not with the big things.

03:58I don't see one game, especially in this kind of club,

04:01but in the former clubs I don't see one win as a special moment.

04:06A special moment is to be really competitive to win titles.

04:09That is the biggest moment.

04:11Winning games you can win, even in third division you can win

04:14against the best team in the country.

04:16So I don't see it that way.

04:18Mo Salah has been training for nearly four weeks now.

04:21Is he fit enough to start?

04:23He can start, but we have to manage his minutes still.

04:30Just on that, I think his last start was against City.

04:33This is a big run-in for the club, but for him in particular,

04:36could this be the making of him at United given the injury issues he's had?

04:40I don't know. The important thing is not to speak about that too much.

04:44If not, he's going to think all the time,

04:47it's my time, I have to do it.

04:49So let's train a lot of times,

04:52getting the load in his body and forget about that.

04:57That is really important because the mind is sometimes more important than the body.

05:00It's one more play that is fit to play.

05:03We'll see on Sunday.

05:06You said just then that special moments are winning titles.

05:09I think Sunday is your 20th Premier League game.

05:11You've got 22 points from a possible 57.

05:14With that in mind, the club have got this grand plan

05:17of winning a title in three years' time.

05:20Is it realistic for the club to be thinking in that way,

05:23given that points tally that you've got?

05:25Is that unfair? Does that put extra pressure on you as a manager

05:28when the club comes out with these grand visions of winning a title,

05:31which seems, to the outsiders at least, very unrealistic?

05:34Of course, I understand that I'm not naive.

05:38What I don't want is...

05:40Sometimes it's for me.

05:42I don't want to think that we need a lot of years to be competitive.

05:45I cannot think like that.

05:47I cannot manage that. It's not in me.

05:50That's why I'm putting pressure on myself.

05:53I know that we are not going to be the biggest contender

05:59in the next year or two years.

06:01I know we need to do a lot of things.

06:04We are doing a lot of things, putting some standards.

06:08Sometimes we change players,

06:11sometimes because they are not just here.

06:13Sometimes they have to learn how to adjust to our new standards.

06:17I know that, so it's really hard to do something like that in one year.

06:21Then we have to change a lot of things.

06:23We are changing a lot of stuff.

06:25We are changing a lot of things inside the club.

06:28I know that it's going to take time, but I will not think like that.

06:31I will not say that I need a lot of years.

06:34I cannot manage that.

06:36For me, it's like we are preparing something

06:39that we have to change a lot next year.

06:42Next year is our goal.

06:45I'm not saying that we are going to win the title next year.

06:49I'm not crazy.

06:51What I'm saying is that I don't want this conversation

06:54that we need a lot of years and let's keep it calm.

06:57No, we are in a rush.

06:59Next year, we are suffering a lot for next year to be so much better.

07:03That is our goal.

07:05Sometimes things can happen.

07:07I don't want to be that guy that is here saying that we need a lot of time.

07:11I will not be that coach.

07:15You just said that you are in a rush to win a Premier League title.

07:18When you see City have quite an average season

07:20and they are in a position where they are able to spend 180 million in January

07:23and you are talking about maybe in the summer

07:25having players have to leave before players can come in,

07:27is that not quite daunting to see that they are one of the teams

07:30that you have to catch and they are able to do this

07:32when perhaps you aren't able to do that?

07:34Not just Manchester City, but other teams.

07:37They are already in a place that we need a lot to catch them

07:42and they will improve for sure next season.

07:45Again, I just want to focus on our strengths

07:48and then try to use our club to try to bring one or two players, big players.

07:54I don't know.

07:55Sometimes big players for me is different from you.

07:58What I'm saying is that we need to focus.

08:01We are doing all the stuff for next season to be better and so much better.

08:06If we are going to win something, I don't know.

08:08It's going to take like four years, that was in the memo.

08:11I don't know.

08:12In my idea, I cannot manage again.

08:14I will not manage this thing of in four years I will try something.

08:18For me, we will start next season.

08:21We need to be so much better because this is a massive club

08:25and the pressure is that.

08:26So I want to put that pressure on me and everybody here.

08:30James.

08:31Rupert, just on that, in the past some of your predecessors as United manager,

08:36you know, they're finishing the top four and maybe finish second, third

08:39and they've talked about trying to get above City, get above Liverpool.

08:43Is the reality of the challenge you face now,

08:46it's not just Liverpool or Arsenal City,

08:48there are clubs like Villa and Newcastle and Brighton,

08:52who while United have gone down, have all increased

08:56and you've got these clubs to actually get past first

08:58before you can even think about toppling a Liverpool or an Arsenal or a City.

09:03I think the focus must be how to improve our team in every aspect.

09:08So if we think like that, of course the Premier League is so different.

09:12When everybody says, and I have a lot of people saying that

09:15Sir Alex Ferguson took like three, four years to win something.

09:21It's not possible nowadays because you have to speak three times

09:24and give three interviews before each game.

09:27So the pressure is completely different.

09:28And then any team nowadays in Premier League can win.

09:32So it's going to be really important again.

09:35But we are Manchester United.

09:37There is a lot of good things.

09:39There is bad things.

09:40That is the pressure.

09:41No matter what the context, we need to be there with the best ones.

09:45So of course we will have to face a lot of adversity

09:50and a lot of big teams, more than in the past.

09:53But let's focus on that and try to win the next game.

Category

Transcript

Recommended