‘We just need to …”: Ruben Amorim adamant there is one thing he needs to get United competing at the top level

Ruben Amorim says “there is no doubt in” his “mind” that Manchester United will finish the season well. The United head coach was speaking at the post-match press conference following his side’s dismal 1-1 draw with Wolves at Old Trafford this evening. The first question of the conference was whether Amorim feels the seven senior absences contributed to tonight’s poor result. “That is normal, but we didn’t use that excuse against Newcastle,” Amorim replied. “We are not going to use today. But of course, if you see the game, I understand why we play the way we play today, the lack of fluidity, lack of one against one. We knew that that would be a completely different game compared to Newcastle, because in Newcastle, we have more space to play. We didn’t have to work the play so much. And today, we have difficulties in that aspect and that is clear.” The boss was then asked to explain why he had made a tactical tweak of reverting to three at the back, switching Patrick Dorgu back to the left. “No, we knew that they will play with five. They will use it the width. And today was just to do that and then sometimes building up with him open or close with Luke Shaw doing the opposite,” he explained. “So we try to arrange the right situations for the situation that we have in the moment.” The next question came from the BBC’s Simon Stone. Do United lack creativity? “Ruben, you’ve said a lot that you know that this team is not a finished article, but is this, tonight, an example that you need more creativity in your side? There was a lack of creativity, and it feels as though there’s some players within your squad who can’t give you what you need, and you need greater depth?” Amorim replied: “No, I think we are in one situation that you have a lot of players out in the same time. Of course, when you play Casemiro and Ugarte in the middle, you know that is different. When you have Kobbie Mainoo or Mason Mount or Bruno, that is normal. We just need to recover our players, the players from Afcon to return, and then the fluidity is going to be different.” “But again, we won the last one and today we could win with the players that we have. We had lack of fluidity and then lack of quality and then lack of creation of chances. Then we suffered a goal with set pieces with the team, and we are tall in this moment. So these details are important to win these games in difficult moments.” The next reporter asked Amorim if it was difficult to try to bring academy players in to the team in such difficult circumstances. “Yeah, it’s completely different,” he agreed. “You know that when there is a lot of new people in different positions and you put one young kid, he will struggle. It’s completely different when you have a base, everything is working well and you can give minutes to a young kid. You look at the game and you understand clearly and you see our team and you know that you are going to struggle in certain aspects. I think that was what happened during the game.” The follow-up question was about the level of risk Amorim took in substituting the goalscorer Joshua Zirkzee at half-time. “We need to do what the game was asking,” he explained. “We were struggling. They put a lot of men in the middle of the park and we managed to do with Jack, we balanced that. I think we recover the ball faster in the second half. In the first half, we struggled a little bit to recover the ball. I’m just looking not for their age and the experience. In this moment, I just look what I can do to win the game.” Was the Zirkzee substitution due to an injury or was it purely tactical? “No, it was just tactical,” Amorim replied. Why do United struggle at home against low-league opposition? The head coach was then asked: “The home form was encouraging at the start of the season, but that’s now one win in five at home, and most of the opponents have been from the lower end of the table. Is it an extra pressure being at home? Why do you think this is happening? It wasn’t just tonight, where it’s been a struggle.” “I don’t feel… I think against Everton, we clearly underperformed,” he said. “West Ham, we had some lack of creation, but we have our chances. Bournemouth, we had advantage three times. So it’s the details. It was not offensively, was not the creation of chances. We had the game. We had full control of the game. Today was completely different. Newcastle, we struggled, but we managed to win at home.” “I think this year, I don’t feel that. I feel the support of the fans when we are here. I feel that they want to play at home. I feel that we are dominant at home. We won one that they were a little bit more dominant, was the last one. Today, we had lack of quality, fluidity in the game today, and that was the reason of our game today.” Simon Peach asked “Andy’s touched on the other point, home results. You’re only two points off of a potential Champions League spot at the halfway point of the season. How do you look at things going into the new year and how confident are you?” “I’m really confident. We just need to recover all the players and I’m really confident,” the boss smiled. “I don’t know what is going to happen until the end of the season. Then we will make the resumé of the season. But I’m really confident when we recover all the players that we are going to be a strong team. There is no doubt in my mind.” Finally, asked whether anyone will be back for the next match against Leeds, he answered: “I don’t know. I have to check. I’m not going to risk anyone to lose them for one month or two months. We will try to arrange the solutions. Again, let’s see, and we will try to win the next one with no risks for the players.” Featured image Alex Livesey 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.