Every word from Ruben’s press conference

Ruben Amorim explained Manchester United’s goalkeeping situation, provided team news and outlined his desire to maintain the club’s unique Academy record in his Friday press conference.

The Reds boss was addressing journalists ahead of the 197th Manchester derby, as United travel to City for a Sunday 16:30 BST kick-off.

Read every word from Amorim below…

It was an eventful deadline day with bringing in Senne Lammens. How pleased were you to get that over the line and what do you hope for him to bring to the team?
“We are really pleased. He’s a goalkeeper with a lot of potential. I know that we are in the moment that the goalkeeper needs to be really strong and have a lot of experience but we are also in the moment that we have to look at the present, but with a focus on the future. So it’s a little bit of both. A guy with great potential that is one more option, one more option to play, and he’ll be ready.”

You might have looked at some more experienced goalkeepers, like Emi Martinez, so in the end, what can Lammens bring in the present – could he start on Sunday?
“Sometimes you as a club, you try to see different options, sometimes you’re able to do one option or another. We have an option that can give us different things in the moment, but also has a great potential to be our goalkeeper for a lot of years. So that was our choice in the end.”

Have you decided who will play in goal on Sunday?
“Yeah.”

And how did you come to that decision?
“It’s the same thing that I do with different positions. Of course, it’s not the same, but Altay is going to continue because it’s a different league, it’s a different country, trainings, ball, so we try to maintain that and they will fight for the position. So, for me, it’s clear, Altay will start.”

It’s a show of faith in Altay as well?
“I think sometimes it’s to connect, even with Andre, we saw Andre Onana did a very, very good season in Inter. The quality is there, but we are in the club, sometimes in the moment, things are getting harder and harder and you can be really experienced, but in this club, sometimes the pressure is so hard in every detail, sometimes you need a change. So, we believe in our goalkeepers, I believe in Altay, he’s ready to play and he’s going to play.”

Can you update us on Matheus Cunha and Mason Mount, and Diogo Dalot?
“They are out, for this game. I don’t know how long it’s going to take. We need those guys to be a very, very competitive team, but we have very good players that are eager to play so we will be competitive on Sunday, but they are out, they cannot help us in this game.”

Have you got any idea of next week, next month?
“I don’t want to say. Because if you talk with Cunha, if you catch Cunha outside, he can say that he can play this game! So I don’t know. We will manage day by day but they are pushing really hard, and that is a good thing.”

Going into Sunday’s game, it’s the first time in almost 5 years that United go into a derby above City in the table, how do you assess the challenge that they present given the start they’ve had?
“It’s the same thing. It’s a top team with, for me, the best coach in the league. A team that is really hard to imagine how they are going to play, they change all the time. But we are prepared for that and we believe in our team and I have that feeling. So it’ll be a very good game, we know what to do, we have one more training. The table in the moment doesn’t matter. I just worry about maintaining the same principles, the way we fight for every ball, the small details that sometimes we drop a little bit, not in these games – so I’m more comfortable in these games – but we will be ready against a very, very good team.”

You obviously won at the Etihad last season. How different a team are you now?
“I think we are a better team. If you see any aspect, the data, we are a different team. We are ready to play the game but we have to show on Sunday, and I think we are a better team today.”

I’m sure you’re aware there’s this long sequence of an Academy player in the matchday squad. You have 4 in the squad now. Would you ensure there’s an Academy player or would you not be afraid?
“We want to maintain it – I don’t want to be the guy that broke that record or that idea! If you see the past of Manchester United, it’s built on kids that grew up here and stayed here for a long time. I think that should be our goal in the future so I will try to maintain that, that is for sure.”

After the Grimsby game, you said you’d look at things, maybe fix things, is that on the training pitches, how’s that been, and maybe also talking to the hierarchy of the club?
“I did everything. I watched a lot of games. I tried to understand different things. I talked with Jason, I talked with Omar, trying to anticipate different scenarios. We had the market closing in this break, so I tried to do everything in this kind of break to prepare the future, so I did everything.”

Ruben, you obviously know Hugo Viana very well, worked with him successfully at Sporting, are you still in contact, do you think that understanding of each other, does that benefit you or him in this game?
“No, it has no influence. We have different jobs, different clubs. We are having dinner all the time but we don’t talk about football. I’m red, he’s blue, but we are really, really close friends. I hope to win Sunday, and that’s it.”

Can I just ask about Andre, was there an option where he could have stayed and fought for his place, what was the thinking behind moving him on?
“It could be, but I think not just us as a club, but also Andre, we understood that this needed a change, and sometimes it’s hard to perform why. It’s the performance, the moment, the bad luck in some moments was hard on him, was hard on us. Our thinking is to have a change in the goalkeepers, but I wish the best to Andre Onana. He was really good on working, trying to help the players, but sometimes you can have all the quality in the world but you need to change the environment to return to your level, and I think that was the feeling not just for us but Andre as well.”

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