Every word from Ruben Amorim’s Leeds United post-match press conference

Ruben Amorim says Manchester United played better today in their Premier League clash with Leeds United at Elland Road. Speaking at the post-match press conference, Amorim was asked how he thought his team had played in the 1-1 draw today. “I think we did well,” he said. “We improved a lot of things that compared to the last game. We controlled quite well the aggressivity of the offensive from Leeds. We controlled well one against one. A really good environment, really funny environment, and they did well.” “We controlled more the possession, the connection, the position of the players. I think they were in the better positions to play, and that can show in the way we played. We had more chances than the opponent to score, but we need to not to think about the next one.” Amorim was then asked about Joshua Zirkzee‘s contribution from the bench and his link-up play with Ben Sesko. “It’s really important,” he admitted. “I think Ben improved in the connection today. Josh, the 20 minutes that he played, he was active. He was creating chances, creating spaces for us. It’s important. Also, Manu [Ugarte] played better today and helped the team also to create chances. So it was better than last week.” On Ben Sesko The next question was “You made a big decision in the summer when Rasmus went away to bring Benjamin in. His goals are not there. Could you just explain what he’s bringing to the team because he missed a couple of chances?” Amorim replied: “First of all, to miss the chances that he’s missing he’s always there, and that is the first step. He’s really aggressive when the ball goes to the side. He’s really aggressive when he has to fight for the first ball. Of course, when you look at the game of a striker, if you miss chances, they will say that the player did everything wrong. I don’t agree. I think the right position. He just need to score one and then all the weight that he has on top of him is going to disappear and he’s going to be better.” “Just on Sesko,” a reporter asked, “there was a couple of occasions first up when you were really frustrated at the inability people like Dalot and Shaw to get the ball so quickly. Do you think that the players are not finding it quickly? The ball’s too much too slow or too late. Does he need better service?” “No, I think if you tell me that in the different game today, we need to have possessions, especially in this environment. If we are losing the ball all the time, if we are trying to be the team that we was in the past with a lot of transitions all the time, we don’t want to play like that,” Amorim explained. “We want to prepare better the way we played. We play better than compared to the last week. We were talking two seconds ago about the chances that Ben had. We are creating chances for Ben. He just needs to score one, and then all the weight is going to be easy for Ben. We are creating chances for the strikers.” The reporter pushed, asking “Sorry. Do you feel like there’s been an upgrade on the player that went out in Rasmus, to bring in Ben Sesko?” Amorim replied: “It’s the characteristics of the player. Ben is completely different from Rasmus. Rasmus had this moment here. He moved on. We bring Sesko. He will try to, Sesko, to score goals. Is he keeping his morale high even on the goal? Of course. He knows the pressure of being the striker for Manchester United. He’s doing the right things. He needs to improve the last moment. That is the most important moment because he did things that he did well today. He just need to score one.” Asked about reports linking Zirkzee with Roma The next question was about Zirkzee’s impact off the bench. “We’ve really not seen a lot of that times this season, where the second player making an impact off the bench. Is that why you’d be reluctant to lose a player like that in this window? Obviously, he’s been linked with Roma. You need somebody who can come on and change the game.” The head coach replied “Josh needs to be prepared to play in every game. All the players need to be ready. If you play 20 minutes, you need to play 20 minutes to help the team. He does that. He’s a player from our team. That’s it.” Trouble at t’mill The next question picked up on some irritation Amorim showed when asked why it has taken him a year to realise he will not have the money to build the team in the system he wants. The reporter asked “Ruben, even in difficult moments this season, you’re always very upbeat. Obviously, just on Friday, you look pretty downbeat. Obviously, talking about transfers and systems. Can I just ask, nothing has changed. Do you still feel very much that confidence from the board and everything?” Amorim answered, somewhat defensively: “Guys, to stop with that, and I noticed that you received selective information about everything. I came here to be the manager of Manchester United, not to be the coach of Manchester United. That is clear.” “I know that my name is not Tuchel, is not Conte, is not Mourinho, but I’m the manager of Manchester United. It’s going to be like this for 18 months or when the board decided to change. That was my point. I want to finish with that. I’m not going to quit. I will do my job until other guy is coming here to replace me.” The reporter asked “Do you feel that maybe certain assurances around things about the ability to manage this team that you thought you had? Do you not feel that there …” Amorim interrupted. “I just want to say that I’m going to be the manager of this team, not just the coach. I was really clear on that. That is going to finish in 18 months, and then everyone is going to move on. That was the deal. That is my job, not to be a coach. If people cannot handle the Gary Nevilles and the criticises of everything, we need to change the club. No, no guys, I would say that I came here to be the manager of Manchester United, not to be the coach. Every department, the scouting department, the sport director needs to do their job. I will do mine for 18 months and then we move on. Thank you, guys.” A reporter then asked Amorim whether his job had changed, as he was originally appointed head coach, but he did not answer. Featured image Matt McNulty via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Red Billy Red Billy is the managing editor of The Peoples Person, author of three books and two magazines and totally obsessed with football’s transfer market. Billy first saw United live in 1971, watching George Best, Bobby Charlton and Denis Law, before becoming a League Match ticket book holder from 1975/76 and a writer since 1995. Billy still insists Matteo Darmian and Alex Telles could have made it at United given half a chance.