Amorim: What I said in half-time team talk

Saturday 22 February 2025 16:38

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim says his team played with more energy and fight in the second half of our Premier League draw away to Everton.

The Reds trailed 2-0 at the break, but the boss admitted afterwards that the gameplan and his message to the players didn’t change inside the dressing room, before United re-emerged and scored two second-half goals to take a point from our final visit to Goodison Park.

Amorim believed that his side were capable of executing the intended strategy better, hence the lack of altering at the midway mark, and so it proved as Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte found the net late on.

See those quotes and more from Ruben’s post-match interviews with MUTV and external broadcasters, after an eventful afternoon on Merseyside, below…

WE DIDN’T EXIST IN FIRST HALF

“We managed to recover second half. But we didn’t exist in the first half, so the feeling is disappointed. Not with the point, not with the recovery, but we need to play both halves to compete in the best way because at this moment we need to win.”

WHAT I SAID AT HALF-TIME

“I just said we are going to play the same way, because during the week and I saw a different thing. We are going to do the same thing, no matter what the result [is]. It’s more [about] belief and then [about having] the quality in the small things. Like control the ball because men were free. Everybody knew because we watch the games of Everton, we worked during the week and we proved that in the second half. I didn’t change nothing, it was playing the same way with better energy and fight for the second balls.”

SET-PIECES ARE KEY ROUTES TO GOALS

“Set-pieces are really important, especially in this competition. So, we need to improve in all areas and sometimes we struggle to score goals and even create situations, so we have to use the set-pieces to score.”

FERNANDES IS IMPORTANT FOR US

“He’s really important, in any position that he plays. He is the guy that can, sometimes in the hardest moments, hold the ball and that is really important for the team. He is a leader, he scored the first goal and he helped us get a point today.”

VERDICT ON THE OVERTURNED PENALTY DECISION

“What I saw was a little bit soft, a soft touch. It’s a crucial decision that can change the game so I think it was clear for the referee to overturn the decision.”

Ruben’s post-match press conference Video

Ruben’s post-match press conference

Press conference | Ruben Amorim discusses Everton’s overturned penalty, selection decisions and more…

A GOOD POINT?

“If you start the game without the first half and losing 2-0, it’s a good point. But we need to win three points and we need to play all the game.”

IPSWICH NEXT ON WEDNESDAY

“We need to win. It’s a different game, we proved that we can make a very good game but then in the next game we have the momentum but don’t show in the best way to the game. So, what we need to is work during the week and do in the game what we work [on] in the week.”

Amorim: What I said in half-time team talk