Kobbie Mainoo was among four Manchester United stars picked out by Ruben Amorim for a “lack of enthusiasm” after their comeback win over Southampton on Thursday.
Amad Diallo scored an incredible late hat-trick to save United’s blushes after the Red Devils had been outplayed by the side rooted to the bottom of the Premier League on their own path for the vast majority of the game.
Manuel Ugarte scored an own goal to give the Saints a first-half lead which could an perhaps should have been by more before Diallo scored three in a little over ten minutes at the end of the game to paper over significant cracks at Old Trafford.
Speaking on TNT Sports after the final whistle, Amorim named four players he felt “lacked enthusiasm”, including Mainoo, who was hooked at half-time.
“It’s not just tiredness but playing in this stadium, we lost the last three games here,” said the United boss. “The pressure is different because we try to press the opponent in the build-up and you can feel the difficulties.
“Matheus [Fernandes] between the lines and [Tyler] Dibling between the lines caused us a lot of problems. We have difficulties to press high at the moment. This team is not used to doing that.
“It seems a lack of enthusiasm. Ugarte is late. [Kobbie] Mainoo is late. Bruno [Fernandes] going outside when the ball is inside. In one transition, Leny [Yoro] cannot press the guy.
“These small things push the team behind and we get nervous without the ball. When you have one opportunity you feel the team can control the game better. I want to be fair to my players. It was a lack of speed and a lack of control in the game.”
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Amorim did though give credit to Southampton, who were the better side for most of the game.
“A very difficult game, a game of two halves,” he said. “They did a very good job, Southampton, creating space between the lines. [Kamaldeen Sulemana] with a lot of space, we had a lot of difficulty to stop that player.
“When they lose their physicality, we find the space to use. The feeling is we have so much to do. The team is really tired. It was a win, it was good. Let’s continue.”
When asked for his thoughts on Amad’s display, the 39-year-old added: “Even in the first half, every time Amad gets the ball he can push the ball. He pushes the other team into the final third.
“That is really important. We didn’t have a good game, but at this moment, winning is the most important thing.”
The result pushed United above Tottenham and West Ham into 12th place in the Premier League having won just seven of their 21 matches, but they’re still closer to the relegation zone than the top four.
