Every word from Ruben’s post-match press conference

Every word from Ruben’s post-match press conference

Ruben Amorim joked he has been “really, really lucky” that his Manchester United team have made a habit of scoring quickly after kick-offs during his reign so far.

The Reds followed up Thursday night’s Europa League victory over Bodo/Glimt with a 4-0 win over Everton in the Premier League on Sunday, with Marcus Rashford striking a killer blow with the third goal of the game within seconds of the restart.

After also scoring soon after opening kick-offs against both Bodo/Glimt and Ipswich, the subject naturally came up in his post-match press conference, as did the game-defining performances of Amad and Joshua Zirkzee, and the high pressing that directly led to two of the four goals.

Read every word from the press conference below…

What did you make of Amad’s performance, he seems to be everything you want in a player?

“He was really good again, he’s in a great moment, but that moment started with Ruud [van Nistelrooy]. I’ve just taken advantage of Ruud’s work with Amad. He was really good defensively, and really good attacking, so he has to continue to play like that. You could feel at the end of the game, he was really tired, so we also have to manage that, to increase his physical ability.”

You’ve spoken about lifting players, mentally. Have you felt you needed to lift Joshua Zirkzee’s confidence?

“First thing, I need all the players to cope with all the games. I just try to help my players and put them in a good position for their characteristics, and I think, today, it would be really hard, even for Rasmus [Hojlund], to fight with the two centre-backs of Everton. So we tried to push them to a position that they are not so comfortable. Josh did a great job, scoring two goals is always important for the confidence. But, more important than that is the performance, the way he fought in every situation, so it was a good day for him and for our team.”

Three goals in three games scored soon after kick-offs, is that something you’ve worked on in training?

“I’m just really, really lucky [laughs]. No, we just want to play well, because it’s better to start the game by scoring. But if you look at the three games, all the decisive moments were for us, and you have to acknowledge that.

“Today, we started very well but then lost control of the game. We were following the ball without any possession after 15 minutes. But then we scored in a set-piece play, so that was a key point for us. And then, near half-time, we scored again. Then, in the first play again [after half-time], we scored the third goal, so we have acknowledge that, in the right moments in these three games, we scored goals.

“On Thursday [against Bodo/Glimt], I think we controlled possession, today I think we had some difficulties after the first 15 minutes and had some possessions just to keep the ball and not be so dangerous. In three games without training, they did a great job, so this is even more from the players than the coach.”

You’ve spoken about Rashford needing to ‘want it’, was that an example of him wanting it today?

“Yes, he can do so much. He has to continue to improve, he has the ability to do it and already proved that. But he can play so much better like the other guys. Tomorrow, he has to recover and start thinking about Arsenal [on Wednesday].”

Is challenging for the Premier League top four something you can aim for?

“If I said no, you would say I cannot be a Manchester United coach. But I want to be honest with our fans, so let’s focus on the performance, not the results. We’ll see in the end. I will be judged by the place that we finish, I know that, but let’s just focus on the next game and look at the performance.

“On Thursday, we [won] 3-2, but I think we deserved more. Today was a 4-0 [win], but I think Everton deserved more. So let’s focus on the performance, congratulations to the lads, let’s rest, recover and think about Arsenal.”

Is there going to come a point where you have a first choice centre-forward?

“We always want two players with different characteristics for changing the game. In the future, we’ll have a more clear structure of a base in the team. That is normal in every big team. We start this job now and have a lot of games. We are changing some details in training.

“The games, the way we play is different, sometimes we have more pressure and cover more distance running. We have a lot of players returning from injury. Kobbie Mainoo was a little bit of a risk [today] because he was supposed to play just 60 minutes. Nous [Mazraoui] was clearly in difficulty. Luke Shaw really wants to play more, but we have to control and rotate the team. In the future, we will have a different system, or you can see more of a starting XI.”

After two goals from pressing defenders into mistake, how impressed are you with players taking on the message?

“All the team has to understand the type of player in the opponent that has the ball and which situation is the best time to press. They are smart players and we try to help them. We have to tell them sometimes when to start the pressure, so everybody has the same mentality this is the right moment. We tried that for every game.

“You could see, after 15 minutes, Everton changed position and [Idrissa] Gueye was nearer the line of the centre-backs. It was difficult for us to cope with that because we’ve not had training and you cannot adapt like that. We are trying and the players are believing that, in the right moments, you can press and win the ball.”

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