Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim on the mood in camp and their recent poor form ahead of their Premier League derby clash with Liverpool
Carrington, Manchester, UK
Carrington, Manchester, UK
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00:00Welcome, everybody. Happy New Year.
00:04Press conference for our Premier League game against Liverpool on Sunday,
00:08first section in Barguilo until 1.30pm.
00:12Hello, Ruben. What's the mood been like around the place this week,
00:16given the team's form as you prepare to go to Anfield this weekend?
00:20We had more time to train, two days in a row, to train with the team.
00:24I think that can help us, even the environment.
00:28It's a difficult moment because we are losing too many matches.
00:32We are going to face the best team this year.
00:36But like I said, with training we feel more the team,
00:40we prepare more the team and we want to improve the performance
00:44compared to the last game.
00:48Liverpool are in brilliant form at the moment.
00:52What gives you the belief that you can go there and get something this weekend?
00:56Anything can happen. If you talk about the season,
01:00almost every time the best win.
01:04But at the moment they are better than us.
01:08On the context,
01:12but on the performance, what we have to do, simple things.
01:16I think we need to improve the simple things
01:20to play these kind of games.
01:24The ability to play to win a game.
01:28On Monday, Joshua Xherxey came off and didn't get a great reception.
01:32There's been a lot of talk about him.
01:36There's been suggestions of interest from other clubs.
01:40Have you spoken to him about what happened? Is he committed to this football club?
01:44What is his situation?
01:48His situation is the same as the other players.
01:52His situation during the game is really hard for any player.
01:56But this can happen. They understand this part of football.
02:00Sometimes you are in a good moment in your career.
02:04Other times things don't happen the way you like.
02:08He's focused. He trained very well.
02:12But we have to understand sometimes the players feel that lack of confidence.
02:16In the game they had difficult moments.
02:20Two players who have been doing reasonably well.
02:24Harry Maguire and Ahmad.
02:28What is their contract situation?
02:32Both of them due to expire quite soon.
02:36Ahmad is near.
02:40Harry Maguire is going to trigger our option.
02:44I spoke with him this morning.
02:48I told him he has to improve his game on the pitch.
02:52We need him a lot.
02:56He also needs to improve as a leader.
03:00We all know the situation he had here.
03:04We need him a lot in this moment.
03:08We are going to trigger the option for Harry.
03:12Is he a key player?
03:16He was going to leave this football club.
03:20There has always been this uncertainty.
03:24It's the same as Josh.
03:28There are moments in the career of a player that are different.
03:32I think he coped very well with these struggles.
03:36When you look at our team,
03:40we are starving for leaders on the pitch.
03:44He is a leader. He has to improve that part.
03:48He has to improve his game.
03:52We are happy to continue with Harry.
03:56You said there is no point referencing the January transfer window
04:00as a solution for Manchester United given the need to sell to buy.
04:04You said you had extended time in training.
04:08What solutions have you managed to find?
04:12We need time to work on the basic things.
04:16Like I said, it's the only way.
04:20Of course, when the windows open, we can try to do something.
04:24We will try to do something.
04:28In the next weeks, we are going to have more time to train.
04:32We have to improve. That's the only way.
04:36We had a lot of games without training.
04:40We have a lot of space to grow.
04:44The context is worse at the moment because we had a lot of losses.
04:48We have to manage everything.
04:52The only solution is to work hard.
04:56We cannot change the last game.
05:00Let's focus on the next one and work hard during the week.
05:04You said you will try something during the window.
05:08I will keep that to myself. We will try to do something.
05:12In terms of your approach, there has been a lot of talk about changing.
05:16I know you cannot betray your principles.
05:20Can you make a few tweaks, possibly adding an extra midfielder?
05:24No, I adapt all the time.
05:28We played most of the games with three.
05:32Bruno was in a different position, but he was on the midfield.
05:36Sometimes it's not a big difference.
05:40I know people look for the three defenders, but I don't see the game like that.
05:44I adapt for every opponent because I think it's really important.
05:48No matter the quality of our team, we have to look at the opponent
05:52to understand what kind of game we will have.
05:56I will do the same with the same principles.
06:00Like I said, we need time.
06:04This is the first four weeks between games. What has been the focus?
06:08Everything. The small things, the transitions.
06:12I think you can see the lack of possession
06:16in the last game, in the first half.
06:20The control of the game. Everybody was so anxious, so nervous.
06:24The crosses are really important.
06:28Everything. Set pieces.
06:32It's hard to say one thing. We worked on a lot of things,
06:36but I think the possession, the way we controlled the tempo of the game,
06:40the understanding of where you should play was the main focus this week.
06:48The Marcus Rashford situation at the moment, has anything changed over the last week?
06:52He's been left out, he's been on the bench.
06:56Is he still going to be a part of Manchester United in the next few weeks?
07:00He's ill, he's not training, so we'll see in the future.
07:04But he's like a normal player. Then I make a selection, so it's the same.
07:12Is he ruled out for the weekend, or could he be fit?
07:16I think he's going to be out this week. He's not training, so we'll see.
07:20But I think this week he's out.
07:24Just on Anfield, it's the longest run United have gone without.
07:28What were your experiences of it? What are you looking to expect?
07:32We know that it's going to be a tough moment.
07:36Really different context from both teams.
07:40They had that strong base for a long, long years.
07:44They are a strong team, but like I said, we worked this week to win the game.
07:48We will try to do that.
07:51Ruben, going to Anfield is very difficult at the best of times when you're in form.
07:58Obviously the team aren't, and Liverpool are flying.
08:01It's nine years since United won there.
08:04There's been some very big defeats since then.
08:074-0 and 7-0 at Anfield, 5-0, 3-0 at home.
08:11A lot of scar tissue has built up. Are you worried going into that game?
08:17No, I'm just focused on the performance.
08:20I'm not focused on losing or what could happen.
08:25Like I said, we had some losses.
08:29We prepared this game to win, and we know what we are going to face.
08:33My focus is to prepare the team to not suffer those difficult moments.
08:39You saw it in the first 15 minutes against Newcastle.
08:43I want to improve that, to have more control of the ball,
08:46prepare the players for each situation.
08:49Our focus is not thinking about any bad result.
08:53You can't afford to start at Anfield like you had against Newcastle.
08:57I think that is clear. That is a massive problem for us.
09:01It was not just this game.
09:05When I arrived, we were scoring one goal in the first minutes and then change.
09:11That is really important.
09:13When you are in a bad moment, when we suffer a goal,
09:17it's so hard to connect the players in the game plan.
09:21We have to be prepared for a strong start from Liverpool.
09:25To be prepared for that is to start strong with the ball.
09:30That is important.
09:35You said a minute ago that you were starving of leaders in the team.
09:40How essential is it that your senior players start showing a bit of leadership
09:45if you are going to get out of this slump?
09:48I think it's not one thing of our team.
09:54If you want to be a top team, you have to be leaders.
09:58We have that in the dressing room.
10:02They have to step up because we have a lot of young kids also.
10:07This moment is really, really hard.
10:10You can look at the table, but you are still Manchester United.
10:14This gap and this pressure of a big club in a really low moment is really hard to cope.
10:21We need the guys that are more experienced to help the others.