An angry Ruben Amorim admitted he was “really really mad” despite being pleased with his side’s performance after Manchester United’s hard-fought draw against Liverpool.
The United boss echoed the sentiments of captain Bruno Fernandes in wondering how his team could perform well today having been so shoddy in recent weeks.
When asked on Sky Sports if the 2-2 draw over the league leaders was a step in the right direction, Amorim said: “Yes because the expectations were so much different than what we saw during the game. I get more mad because of the other games so it’s even harder to understand some things.”
He added: “It’s not about the system, it’s not about the technique, it’s about something else. It’s hard to understand even for the coach.”
Today’s draw follows three consecutive league defeats which left United closer to the relegation zone than a European place, and these losses are still on the manager’s mind.
“It’s a point and I think we should get mad and disappointed more than what we did against Newcastle,” he said. “Today we need to be really disappointed and I have to calm down and say the right things.
“We are in a difficult moment. If we play against Liverpool every day we will do that but we have to do it against any opponent. We need to fight really bad to get out of this situation.”
United’s performance today was arguably one of their best of the season, but while the manager acknowledged this he is refusing to get carried away: “I’m happy for the performance not happy for the result but I’m really really mad because of the other games.”
Fans and players alike will be desperate for today’s game to be a turning point, and Amorim is clear that this will take work.
“The important thing is not to tomorrow relax, forget and then in the next game return to the same behaviour,” he said.
“I will do everything, more than the system, I will try to remember these players that we need to suffer. In a football match, to suffer is part of our job.”
After the Portuguese said “congratulations to the lads for the performance, not for the result”, the interviewer noted that this was “the most angry” he had seen the United boss.
“Sometimes it’s like that,” he explained. “Sometimes everybody is angry with my players and I have to do the opposite. Today, everybody is going to say that the lads did everything right and I am allowed to be upset today.”
Featured image Carl Recine via Getty Images
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Joe Ponting
Joe has spent more than half his life writing about football and all of it following United. As a child he told a doctor his name was ‘Paul Scholes’, but could never pick a pass like him no matter how much he tried.
