Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim on improved form of late, the challenge of facing Tottenham and Cristiano Ronaldo's recent criticism of United Carrington, Manchester, UK
00:00Hi, Ruben. We've spoken positively in recent weeks about the run of form that the team's on,
00:07the performances across the season so far as well you've spoken positively about.
00:12What sort of shape do you think the side are in for the game this weekend?
00:16How confident do you think your team is now after the start of this campaign and the results recently?
00:22I think, again, I think we are more confident. We believe more that we can win any game and we prove already that we can win any game.
00:35The last game was tough on us because in some moments we were not the team that we supposed to be in every minute
00:46and compare that to Brighton and we suffered two goals against Brighton but it was a different thing.
00:51So we know that we cannot forget that we have a lot to improve.
00:58We are more prepared for anything that happens in the game, so that is also a good thing.
01:04So we are in the better moment but we also know that we have a lot to do, a lot to improve, to win more these kind of games
01:14and consistently win games in a row. So we know that we are capable, we are confident,
01:20but we also know that we struggle sometimes in games that we need to do better.
01:25You said before that you know what sort of game your team is going to have almost in the first action in the match.
01:31You can see that the way that they start will be the way that they go on.
01:33Do you still feel like that or do you feel like you can trust your team a little bit more to cope with the different ups and downs in matches?
01:40Even if they don't start well, they can finish well.
01:43I think a little bit both. I think we can manage the game better now.
01:48We can always change from one moment that we are struggling, we can change that.
01:54Also because we have players that can change that for us, not as a team, but sometimes the individual can help us to change that.
02:02But if you look at the game against Nottingham that we control in the first half, but the energy, if you compare, if you put the two games at the same time, you can sense the energy was not the same.
02:13And that is something that you can watch in the first moments of the game, so it's a little bit both.
02:19Hi, Ruben. You're playing Tottenham for the first time since the Bilbao disappointment.
02:24You've touched on your side and changes. I'm just wondering how different you think your team is now to the one that lined up in the Europa League final?
02:33First of all, the characteristics of the players. We have different characteristics in our team, but we also have a lot of players that played last year.
02:46So we are a better team. We play better. We understand the game better. I think we are more confident.
02:54We reached that final confident that we could win because we were doing well in Europe.
02:59But in this moment, we play with a different confidence. We manage better the moments of the game.
03:05But if you remember that game, they have that shot on the goal. They won the game. So I expect a different game.
03:15That we can play better, but also to have a little bit luck to help us to win the game.
03:21Another difference last season, and you might tell me I'm wrong now and tell me there's been lots of injuries this week, but you don't seem to have as many injuries this season as you've had in the past.
03:29Historically, United have had in recent seasons. Is there a change?
03:33No, it's not a change. It's one game every week. And then again, a little bit luck. Because sometimes you have problems with players with knocks. And it's not something that soft issues. So you never know what is going to happen in the next training. If you play with intensity in training, something can happen.
03:53But I think the big reason, of course, we try to do everything well. The big reason is one game every week. You can give an extra day to the players that you know that could struggle in the next training.
04:07So I think that is the biggest reason.
04:11You considered two goals last week. You considered two against Brighton. You've still only kept one clean sheet. Is that a problem for you?
04:21Yeah, it's a problem. Especially if you see the league nowadays. The team that is winning all the games is not suffering. It's not goals. Maybe some shots on target.
04:33And that is a big thing. Especially when you have talented players. If you defend well, in one opportunity, you can score a goal and win a game. But I think it's more, again, a team thing.
04:47We need to defend better. We need to be more aggressive. And that part of the energy, when we have the full energy in every ball, we defend better.
04:57So everything is connected. But of course, we have a lot to do. We cannot suffer the amount of goals that we are suffering. And that is a thing that we need to improve.
05:06And is it possible, because it's a collective thing, is it possible to reduce the number of goals without reducing the amount you score at the other end? Because in a way you're not committing quite as much.
05:20No, I think you can attack really well. Sometimes when you defend better, you attack better. So I think it's not that. It's the way we defend the box. But the last game, I think we struggled a little bit inside the box, because outside the box, we allowed the crosses without any pressure.
05:39So these small details that you watch from the last game we worked during this week to try to improve that. The opponents, we suffer goals in the beginning, especially in the beginning of the season, but we didn't allow much to Arsenal to win that game.
05:54But in that, in our last game, they had 17 shots that we cannot allow. That is something that we need to change. And we pay attention to that. So yeah, we can attack the same way. We can score even more goals, but we need to defend better.
06:14Ruben, I'm not suggesting there's any positives losing a final, but after not having European football, in terms of the strategy in the summer, making maybe the club reduce the squad size,
06:25you have more time on the training ground. Are you seeing the positives of maybe those two factors?
06:29It's not the fact of seeing the positive, it's using the positives. So any situation that you have in our life, you can look in the positive way, or in a bad way. If you ask me, you prefer to be here with a cup, in Champions League, Champions League, more money, more players, maybe.
06:47Of course, I would say yes, but you have the other side, you have more time to train, to know your players, to arrange everything, the connection between staff and prepare the future.
07:00And the future will be with European competition. So we just try to use the positive thing of not playing all the games during the week.
07:13So, yes, I can see the positives.
07:16If you don't mind, your former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo has come out this week with a few comments about the club.
07:21He said that, you know, you're doing a good job, but you can't provide miracles.
07:25But he was also a bit damning on the players, saying that some players don't have Manchester United in their mind.
07:31Do you think that's quite unfair, maybe, from a club legend like him, that maybe some of those players in the squad look up to as a legend of the game?
07:39Of course, he knows and he has a huge impact in everything he said.
07:46What we need to focus is in the future.
07:49We know that we as a club made a lot of mistakes in the past, but we are trying to change that.
07:54So let's not focus what happened.
07:57Let's focus what we are doing now.
08:01And we are doing that.
08:02We are changing a lot of things in the structure, the way we do things, the way we want the players to behave.
08:08We are doing that and we are improving.
08:10So let's focus on the way we are doing things.
08:14We are improving.
08:15Let's continue and forget a little bit the past.
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