Amorim: It’s special to have time with the team

Ruben Amorim claimed it’s “special” to have more time on the training pitch with his players, in his pre-match meeting with journalists ahead of Saturday’s trip to Brentford.

Manchester United are not competing in Europe this season, and while getting back there is, of course, one of the club’s main objectives, the head coach is already seeing some benefit from the lighter schedule.

He discussed that, Bryan Mbeumo and the mentality of his players in the second part of his media briefing at Carrington.

Keep scrolling to read, or watch, every word he said…

You’re having more time on the training pitch with your players. Are you seeing the benefit from that?
“Completely different. You can try to work on different things, try to imagine different scenarios. You have more time, not just to prepare the next game in terms of the strategy for the game, but also to work on your base. And I think you can see that when we play, we create more situations. We are suffering goals that we suffered also last year. I think that has to be [to do] with that urgency, that focus, that understanding that we cannot lose games in. Especially nowadays, we are going to have situations to score, so we also need to focus [on] that, if we give time to the team not suffering goals, we are near to winning games. So, I think that is special, to have that time with the team, and we are improving because of that. I think we would struggle a lot if we had a game in the middle of the week.”

In Chicago during the summer, you said there were some games that you’d dread going to because you weren’t sure what you were going to get from your team. If I heard you right before, did you say the same thing there, that you still don’t know exactly what you’re going to get?
“No, completely different. Now, I have always the feeling that we can win the next game, and we can be dominant. I have that feeling now. What I’m saying is that sometimes, in the small things, in that urgency. If you compare the way we start against Chelsea to the way we start against [Manchester] City, [it] is completely different. In that, I’m not certain, all the time, what is going to happen. And I’m really clear on that with you and with the players. But the feeling is completely different. I look at my team and I’m going to play against City, Arsenal, and I’m feeling, we can score goals, we can be dominant, we can control the game in certain moments. So, it’s a feeling completely different from last year.”

No more feelings of dread?
“No, no, no, no, no. I know that it’s going to be tough, but it’s more excitement than fear this year. So, I’m always excited to see the team.”

You spoke before about the mentality of the players, occasionally, they feel that something bad can happen instead of something good might happen. Do you feel like the players are coming out of that phase a little bit now?
“Depends. We need to win the next game. I think if we start winning, it’s not 10 wins in a row [or] seven. I’m talking about the second one, then the third one; the feeling will change. And again, that is something about the environment that we are living [in] for a while. If you look at Bryan [Mbeumo], in those moments when we are struggling, you feel a different guy compared to the rest of the team. And that is, you have to understand, some of the guys are here for a while, and that feeling is still here. And for that, we need to win games. Simple.”

Just on Bryan again, you had to wait a little bit and the club a bit frustrated by Brentford, maybe trying to sell him to Newcastle or Tottenham. How was that for you? And have you been particularly impressed by how well he started, given that he came in slightly later to pre-season?
“Yeah, but he went to pre-season in America, that was really good for us to bond with him in America. He had time to start slowly with 45 minutes, he had time to prepare the season. Again, I knew the player. I watched the player so many times. I watched him live against us last year. It was not a good day for us.”

Did that convince you that you really wanted to sign him after that performance, possibly?
“It was not that performance, but [it] helped me to understand that he’s a very good player, not [just] with the ball, without the ball. And when you see that live, it’s completely different. When you see a guy doing that, with all due respect, it’s not because he’s in Manchester United. He was in Brentford, he was sometimes defending as a right-back. So, that was really important to have that feeling live. And if I’m the owner of Brentford, I will do the same, to keep the best players and try to sell the best players for big amounts. So, I completely understand that situation.”

Just on your previous point, on failure to win back-to-back Premier League games and the need to do it. Do you think the fact it’s gone on for so long, subconsciously it’s become a bit of a psychological thing for the players? And if you can beat Brentford and finally win back-to-back, do you think it could just release?
“I think it’s going to help us. I know for people outside the club, it’s not a big thing. It should not be a big thing in Manchester United, but I think it’s going to help us a lot. So, for that, again, it’s not about playing well. It’s the way we are going to do the warm-up and the preparation, and if we are excited to go to the game, like we are sometimes when we are in the limit and we have to win some games. If we have always that feeling, I think it’s going to be massive for us. So, it’s massive to win this game.”

Over the last 10 months, do you think mentally there has been something there that has been a barrier?
“I don’t know, but the important thing is to do the maximum and to face that game like we face sometimes, Liverpool last year [for example] because we were struggling. The way we start the season against Arsenal, we were really excited to start the season. We should have that feeling all the time. So, we are in the beginning. We won the last game, we need to do everything to win against Brentford, and we need to win the game.”

Ruben, you said earlier that you spoke about the fact that you wanted to win consecutive matches. Was that here, or was it in the dressing room, or was it just generally?
“It was everywhere. I think if we, as a team, don’t understand the momentum now, we have a big problem. So again, anything could happen in a game, especially in the Premier League, and you can see in every game. But the feeling in the first minutes, it’s really important. So, for me, since we started the first training, we started talking about that. We need to understand the momentum of the club, the opportunity that we have to win the next game. So, it’s on us, and the responsibility is on us.”

On the same subject of winning back-to-back games. Obviously, you’ve come from a club that goes on these long winning runs and you did it quite a lot. How’s it been for you dealing with that?
“It’s really hard, but I also understand it’s a different club, a different pressure, completely different league. But that feeling of winning and [for it] to get really normal to win, I struggle a lot. I think also the players [do]. So it’s in our hands to change things. We just need to win the next one, and to do everything to win the next one.”

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