Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim on injuries in the squad, their tough week following defeat to Everton and the challenges of facing Crystal Palace on Sunday Carrington, Manchester, UK
00:00Reuben, on Monday you spoke about your team being, you felt your team is still quite a long way from where you wanted to be.
00:11Last year and during the summer we took you at face value when you were saying the things about your team,
00:17but like this week you've had a whole week off and you're playing opponents who were away from home in Europe on Thursday night.
00:26Isn't this exactly the kind of game that Manchester United should be able to step into?
00:32In our club is the same thing because last year we had to win every game all the time and we took a lot of things,
00:42a lot of criticism because we were not winning.
00:45So in our club there is no excuses.
00:48About Europe, I already talk about Europe and I said the same thing last year when we were in Europe
00:53and I said the same thing this year.
00:56The advantage and the disadvantage of not being in Europe.
01:00So there is no excuses.
01:02Last year or this year we have always to win games.
01:04Are you disappointed with where your team is now then?
01:08I think if I look at the games we should have more points.
01:12And because we had control of some games, we had the advantage in some games and we lost that control.
01:20So if I look at our games we should have more points and that is really disappointed and really frustrating, especially in the last game.
01:29How do you stop them getting too low and going into a tailspin?
01:39To start again, it was really tough. The week, as it should be, it was hard to do this result, this defeat.
01:51But the process needs to continue and we need to go for the next game and we need to understand that, especially in our league this year,
01:58everything can change really fast. So let's go again and focus on the next one.
02:03Will Mateus Cunier and Harry Maguire be available tomorrow? And what's the update with Sesco? Is it looking like next week maybe?
02:09No, Sesco is going to take a little bit more time. Harry the same. I expect to have Mateus in the next one, not this one.
02:17Sorry, on Sesco, does that mean he's had a setback or is it working?
02:20No, no, no, no, no. It's taking a little bit longer. We are taking care of the injury.
02:26Ruben, you mentioned after the game on Monday feeling similar to last year and being afraid of having similar feelings to last year.
02:35How much did that increase after the game? And do you think the players share that maybe nervousness that they could repeat last year?
02:42Again, I think we, if you look at the game, I think we can play better. We could be better in the game.
02:50And with everything that happened in that game, we should have won that game.
02:56So we have to feel that urgency of winning games. We know what happens around the club if we don't win games.
03:04So if we know that, let's do everything in the right way. But again, we lost that one. We cannot change that. Let's focus on the next one.
03:15Ruben, the away issues that the United have faced, I think one away win in the last 11, what can you do to solve that?
03:23What are you doing to solve that?
03:25The same things that we need to do to show to the players why we lost control of Nottingham, why we lost control against Tottenham.
03:38And if you look at that games, we're there to win. And then sometimes a small detail can change everything.
03:47Then I felt during this year that when we play at home, the intensity was higher. And I felt in this game at home, the intensity was not at the same level.
03:57So I think it's something that we need to work on. So it's hard to point one thing why we are not winning away.
04:06There's a lot of issues. We are improving. Like I said, we have advantage in the away games. We need to know how to finish the games in order to win.
04:16James and then Samuel.
04:18Ruben, obviously Palace are a different club, different pressures and scrutiny to United, of course.
04:25But obviously Glasner's had a lot of success playing a similar system to you and that's continued this season despite losing his best player.
04:35Do you look at what they've done and do you draw a lot of inspiration and encouragement from Palace?
04:43And is one of the big differences is that their win-backs obviously really settled? How big an impact can that have?
04:51We play in a different way and you can understand that by data. But now it's hard to explain everything.
04:58Like you said, it's a different club and they are doing things better than us. So that is quite simple.
05:04But you don't say that all 4-3-3 play in the same way, right? We play in a different moment. We defend in a different space.
05:14We try to attack in a different way. They are just doing the things better than us.
05:19They can be very quick, the speed with which they attack. I just wonder sometimes when you see, you know, obviously like you play in a different way, but a similar setup in terms of formation, whether you ever take or draw ideas from things thinking, I quite like that, I don't like that.
05:37I think, I play against him in Frankfurt with Sporting, so I know the players. I take inspiration from everyone.
05:46When I have two weeks for national teams, I watch all the managers and try to take all the inspiration that I can take.
05:56I have six years as a professional manager, so I'm always trying to learn to improve my team.
06:02And finally, there's been obviously a lot of focus on your central midfield and whether that will be an area that you strengthen next season.
06:09Is the wing-back area, though, which is a fundamental part of your team, is that an area over the next 12 months that you want to explore?
06:17I think we need time to improve the characteristics of the team. I said that in the last year. And to give an example, the last game, we should have an Ahmad with the right foot to put on the other side to play against 10 men.
06:33So, it's this kind of characteristics that we will try to get to be a better team. So, if we are at the perfect setup to play in this way, not yet.
06:47But like any other team, we need time to put the right characteristics in every single position to be prepared for everything.
06:54Just on the wing-back still, Ruben, I think Munoz and Mitchell are in the top five for most distance covered in the Premier League and United's wing-back is quite a way down.
07:04Do you feel as though that those players are still having to develop to get those attacking instincts that you want to really become proper?
07:12Maybe they play, I don't know how you read that data. Maybe they play more games, more minutes, so you cannot compare the data.
07:20We make a lot of substitutions. Sometimes we change because we know that it's a different position or you want to change the feet with Alou and Patrick and we change a lot.
07:31Sometimes we start with Ahmad in front, but most of the times if we need to win the game, I put Ahmad on the right.
07:38Ahmad changed position all the time so that can change all the data and you see different things.
07:44But again, they are doing the things really well. They play more in transition than us. The opponents see it in a different way.
07:55So all these things we have to look when we compare teams. But of course in every position we can do so much better.
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