van nistelrooy and Onana on PAOK, Amorin and Utd form
06/11/2024
Carrington training centre, Manchester, UK
06/11/2024
Carrington training centre, Manchester, UK
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Welcome, everyone, to our press conference for our Europa League game tomorrow against PAOK.
00:10Please identify whether your question is for Ruud or for Andre, and if you require translation.
00:17Let's start with Scott.
00:19Ruud, first of all, it looked nice to welcome Lenny Oro back to the group today, albeit I think it was 15 minutes,
00:24and then he did an individual session, so how are you managing his return to full fitness now?
00:28He's been managed very well after his injury in pre-season, obviously it was going to be a long one,
00:34and it's a big moment for him, that first time he's back in team training,
00:38and obviously we're going to get him back partially over the coming weeks
00:42and look to get him on board as quick as possible.
00:46We also saw Marcus doing an individual session before joining in with the main group,
00:50what's the thinking behind that?
00:52He did a bit of extra work before the session on his own and he joined the group,
00:56there was no other special news on that one.
00:59It seems to be a standard question at the moment as well,
01:01have you had any contact with Ruben just yet, even if it's to offer congratulations as to what happened last night?
01:06No, I didn't have contact so far, there's no changes in that.
01:12Do you know when yet?
01:13I don't know when yet either.
01:15Can you tell us what would be the ideal scenario for you now?
01:18I don't know, it's difficult to comment on that now,
01:22I'm waiting for conversations to take place,
01:27and in the meantime obviously one thing that's the most important for this football club now
01:32is getting the work done on a daily basis,
01:36and in the game coming up tomorrow in Europe,
01:40it's a European night at Old Trafford against the Greek champions,
01:45second in the league currently,
01:47so honestly I have to say that I feel the responsibility to do well over the next week,
01:55and that's my job, so please don't...
02:01How do I say it? I'm focused on that.
02:05As I said, I welcome Ruben, I'm happy here to help him,
02:13and that's the situation for the moment.
02:17Just wondering on the subject of injuries, Tyrell Malasia, how he's progressing,
02:21and when we're likely to see Luke Shaw, Kobi Mane and Harry Maguire again?
02:26Well, different cases, all of them. Tyrell is the furthest at the moment,
02:33he's part of team training for a couple of weeks now, fully in team training,
02:37no restrictions, so it's good for him to plan game minutes,
02:44maybe in the under-21s, we'll have to see.
02:48Harry's still inside, working on his rehab,
02:52and Luke also does pitch work like he did today,
02:56and he's progressing there to also do partial team training hopefully soon.
03:01We often ask Eric about the injury issues that derailed much of last season,
03:08and he was looking into it, the club were looking into it,
03:11was there ever a resolution as to what the issue was
03:14with the muscle injuries and things that were being picked up?
03:17Well, I think no, I don't know, I couldn't comment on that.
03:23For me it's important, as I said, that I'm focusing on the players that are currently fit,
03:29and that's my job, manage them as good as I can.
03:33Obviously it wasn't an easy period over the last week,
03:37but I think the players reacted really well with the Leicester game
03:41and also in the Chelsea game, and we're looking to build on that.
03:45That's why I'm so focused on today and tomorrow,
03:49to do well for the short spell that I'm responsible for this football club,
03:54and I take that as a big responsibility.
03:57Hi, a question for Andre.
03:59Obviously you worked with Eric ten Hag at Ajax,
04:01why do you think it didn't work out at Man Utd,
04:04and how did you feel when you learned that he was leaving?
04:07Well, when I heard he was leaving, obviously I felt bad.
04:11It's not always easy for players to understand when a manager is leaving,
04:17but at the end of the day, the club have to make a decision and we have to follow.
04:22Yes, I worked with him, he's a good manager, I have a very good relationship with him.
04:27Why do you think it didn't work here?
04:32We didn't win enough games, it's so simple.
04:36At a high level, it's not easy, sometimes you have to pay the price.
04:43Unfortunately it was him, but we did everything,
04:46the players gave everything, we worked hard, we tried our best,
04:49but it just didn't work.
04:57You got it here, yeah?
04:59I could.
05:02We saw what Ruben did with Sporting Lisbon last night,
05:06is there enough here for him to replicate that sort of thing at Manchester United,
05:10enough here in the squad, do you believe?
05:14Like I said just now, I'm so focused on the present here,
05:18to comment on that for me is very difficult,
05:23and hardly impossible, because I'm really putting all my energy into the current squad,
05:30all the players, like I said, all the injured players.
05:33I'm talking about the strength of this current squad.
05:35Yeah, I know, so that's why, to relate it to his playing style and all of that,
05:40that's for me a question I can't answer, because I'm so focused on the players here
05:46and getting results going tomorrow and on Sunday in the Premiership,
05:51which are vital two games for the season,
05:54and I think I'm doing the new manager the best favour to do that,
05:58and later, like I said in all my interviews, I'm here to help the club and him,
06:04and I think that came across, and see when communication can start about the future.
06:12Just on Manchester United in Europe, it always had such a rich heritage,
06:16as the former manager called it, but not so much in the last ten years,
06:20why do you think a club of this size has failed in Europe in the last ten years?
06:25Well, I think it's a big question for me to answer,
06:28why it didn't work over the last ten years.
06:33For me it's important, and that's the reason why I arrived at the club,
06:37is to help the club and build to those years again,
06:42where there were successful times in Europe.
06:46Obviously there was the Europa League final, if I remember well, with Ole,
06:52there was the Europa League win with Mourinho, was that in the last ten years?
06:57Yeah, it was.
06:59So I think that's big European successes.
07:04In that sense, Manchester United is always there to compete in Europe,
07:10and that's what we want as well, and that starts again tomorrow.
07:15The focus that you've just been talking about,
07:18obviously these next two games are very important,
07:21but has it been quite hard for you to focus and for the players to focus,
07:24because it's only human nature for the players to look beyond that
07:27and think, how am I going to fit in under the new manager,
07:29what's the new team going to look like?
07:31Has it been quite a challenge for you to keep the focus on these next two games?
07:35Well, I think last week before the Leicester game and before the Chelsea game,
07:40I think it was even harder, because obviously things changed quickly and massively,
07:47so to manage that was a bigger task.
07:51Now things have sort of calmed down and we're focusing on the two performances
07:58that we were confident about and can build on.
08:02But again, it's about tomorrow,
08:05that we play with the same passion and commitment,
08:09and then with the home support we can get to our best.
08:14Beth.
08:15Question for Andre.
08:17Did you happen to watch the Sporting Lisbon game last night,
08:20and if you did, how do you think these players will suit the new manager,
08:24Ruben Amreim's style, and do you think they'll be able to adapt to that high intensity?
08:29Can you repeat, please?
08:31Did you watch the Sporting Lisbon game last night against Manchester City,
08:34and if you did, how do you think the current Manchester United players will adapt to his style?
08:39Obviously it's different to what we've played so far this season, very high intensity.
08:43Yeah, I did. I did watch the game yesterday.
08:46Great victory from them, by the way.
08:49Different system, but my players, my teammates, we are all pragmatic.
08:54I think everyone here is capable to play in each system,
08:58so I don't think this will be any issue for us.
09:01We have big players, so they will step up.
09:04Can I just ask Ruud as well?
09:06Obviously you were a brilliant striker for Manchester United,
09:09Sporting, under the new manager Ruben Amreim, have scored a lot of goals so far this season.
09:13Manchester United have struggled to create chances for the strikers,
09:17Rasmus Hoyland and Joshua Xherzey.
09:19Do you have any idea why that might be,
09:21why they're not getting as many chances as we'd expect?
09:24I don't agree that we didn't create enough chances.
09:27I think if you look at the statistics,
09:29we are one of the teams that's creating the most chances,
09:33and it's the conversion.
09:35That's why I said I'm not worried, because we're creating the chances.
09:39And with the talent we have, and they're still young,
09:42not only the two that you just mentioned, but the others as well,
09:46there's lots of potential.
09:48I think when results will keep coming, confidence will rise,
09:52and that's the key thing in scoring goals, confidence.
09:56I think these guys will have it in them,
09:58and hopefully we can carry on in tomorrow's game.
10:05Hi, Reeves.
10:07In the Sporting game last night, their striker scored a hat-trick,
10:10and I think he's scored 21 goals already this season.
10:12It seems obvious that Ruben gets the best out of strikers.
10:16You've mentioned Rasmus there, he's 21, lots of big chances this season.
10:20What does he need to do to go to the next level?
10:22Because it's clear he's got a lot of potential.
10:24What does he need to do to elevate himself to the kind of level
10:27that Coy Crescent Sporting is at?
10:29Stay calm, and believe in himself, believe in his qualities like I do,
10:34like his teammates do.
10:37He knows he's young, he's promising,
10:39it's the daily work he's putting in that will in the end pay off,
10:42not only for him but also for his teammates, and I'm confident in that.
10:55How do you face tomorrow's game?
10:57There was a difficult game against Chelsea,
11:00against Manchester United, and there was another one against Leicester.
11:03How do you face tomorrow's game?
11:06And what do you know about the opposition?
11:09It's for both the question.
11:11Given that tomorrow's game is a sandwich from a tough game last Sunday
11:15and a difficult game next weekend,
11:18how do you approach tomorrow's game?
11:20And what do you know about PAOK Zalonica?
11:23Are you asking me first?
11:25OK.
11:27Like I commented before, it's a game of high priority for us tomorrow,
11:32so we don't look at the past game and the future game.
11:35We know that we need all our attention on PAOK,
11:38we analyse them very well,
11:40we know that they're the current champions of Greece,
11:42which is a big achievement,
11:44and also current second, just one point behind Ares in this moment.
11:48Lots of talented players, experienced players, strong side,
11:53will be supported tomorrow here with 4,000 fans travelling
11:57and supporting that team, so we are ready to face a very tough game.
12:03That's the approach for tomorrow.
12:06What did you say? I forgot already!
12:09We agree!
12:12Easy, I'm making it easy for you!
12:17Obviously the focus will be on these four games,
12:19but as well as tactics, how important has it been to change the atmosphere?
12:23Has there been a change of atmosphere since Erik has left?
12:29I don't know, it's difficult.
12:33Of course, it's mixed emotions as well,
12:37because when he leaves it's a very sad day,
12:39and the days after that you have to recover as a team and as a staff
12:42to go through that together.
12:45We tried everything together to make it work,
12:47and unfortunately it didn't happen.
12:50Of course, we have to switch mindsets, and we did, and the players did.
12:56You saw that against Leicester,
12:58and they also took responsibility that they had to improve as well.
13:02I don't know, after the Chelsea game we were slightly disappointed
13:07we didn't get the win, which was a very positive signal to the performance.
13:12I think emotions calmed down,
13:16players are now focusing and training on getting their performances to the maximum,
13:22and for tomorrow's game as well.
13:25That's basically what I can share about emotions and feelings at the moment in the squad.
13:32Last question, BBC.
13:34Ruud, just one more on Rasmus,
13:36I think he only had one touch inside the box against Chelsea on Sunday
13:39that led to the penalty.
13:41He's done a lot of his work with his back-to-goal in recent weeks,
13:44how do you get the best out of him?
13:45Do you want him playing that deep, or do you want him in the penalty area?
13:49I mean, the most goals are scored in the penalty area,
13:52so that's where we want to get our players as much as we can.
13:56But it depends on the games.
13:59There have been games where we arrived many, many times, created many chances,
14:03and unfortunately we couldn't convert them all,
14:07and that cost us a couple of results.
14:11But I think you have to deal with the circumstances
14:14when it's needed for him to hold up play
14:18and get players into third-man positions and play on from there.
14:23He does a brilliant job as well.
14:25And of course, he's a guy that can change a game in a second,
14:29like the penalty moment.
14:31You just need one or two in the box and you can be in with him and the others as well,
14:36so that threat we always have.
14:38OK, thank you very much.