Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim says he will speak to his captain Bruno Fernandes and forward Alejandro Garnacho after his side’s final Premier League match of the season against Aston Villa tomorrow.
At the pre-match press conference ahead of the game, Amorim was asked about the future of the two players who have both been linked with a move away from United.
“I always speak to my players, but the focus now is on the last game,” he said.
“We have a plan and we prepared for both situations, with Champions League and without. Now we have to focus on the last game.
“I don’t know what is going to happen, we have an idea type of squad we want but we still have the last game. Have time to address all these situations.”
Speaking about the Europa League final, he said:
“It was really tough, it still is really tough. I think it was harsh for us to lose that game, I think we were the better team and we created more chances. We suffer a goal near the half-time and try everything in the second half, but it was really hard because like I said before the match, if you don’t win the final, it’s really harder to deal with that.”
“It’s really hard, I will not try to convince you otherwise, it’s been a tough season, but we had that hope we could win something and that could help us to finish the season in a different way.
“The way we need to get up is to focus on the next game, to finish in a good way. When you start thinking about the future and the squad, a new season is going to start and we will start with new ambitions and try to do better.”
On tomorrow’s opposition and the example they have set of returning from a poor period he commented:
“They have stability, they are used to fighting for the first places, so we want to do that also, but there are a lot of things that are really good with this kind of club.
“But when you are in this situation, you feel it will take time, but we can improve.
Asked how many windows will be needed to fix United’s problems, he said:
“It’s not [about] windows and sometimes we don’t know. Things can change fast. But to reach that kind of level we have to be as Manchester United will take time. I cannot say how many windows or how many years to reach that point but we can improve, that is clear.”
Asked to comment on his time so far at United, Amorim replied:
“These six months was hard for all the club, so many changes inside our club, not just for me, for all the club. Sometimes it takes five years to change all the personnel and a lot of things. We changed coach in middle of season and the way we played.
“It has been really tough. Now the part we need to enjoy, to focus on the future and be positive. We know what we want to do and how we want to play. That is clear. With all the mistakes that you guys can point to me, I know how I want to play. Now is the exciting moment that we can change something.
Asked about changes he intends to make, he said:
“We have this game against Aston Villa and we need to focus on that, this is not over. We want to finish in a good way in front of our supporters. The rest, we are going to assess the squad. We know what we want to do. We will deal with that when the season is finished.”
Amorim was then asked if he regrets having joined United in the middle of a season.
“In this moment I’m really glad that I arrived six months before we started the new season,” he replied.
“I think we are going to avoid a lot of mistakes that would have happened next season. We have avoided a lot of suffering.”
“Now is the time we can use all that suffering to change things in the summer. It is not just the players. There are a lot of things to change. We have suffered a lot but I am really glad I arrived six months ago because it will help me in the next season.”
In regard to how a lack of European football will affect the coming season, the boss replied:
“What changes is it is one less competition and no game in the middle of the week. You can manage the squad in a different way.
“That rotation of the players and the depth of the squad, that changes completely if you have four competitions or three competitions. That changes a little bit the plan but not the way I look at my players just by looking at the final.”
Embargoed comments from the presser will be published here shortly after they are released at 10.30pm tonight.
Tomorrow’s match at Old Trafford kicks off at 4pm UK time.
Featured image Alex Livesey via Getty Images
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Red Billy
Red Billy is the managing editor of The Peoples Person, author of three books and totally obsessed with football’s transfer market. Billy still insists Matteo Darmian and Alex Telles could have made it at United given half a chance.
