Ruben Amorim was asked several questions about Manchester United's plans for the summer transfer window during his latest press conference at Carrington.
Our head coach sat down with reporters inside the Jimmy Murphy Centre to preview this Sunday's trip to Bournemouth in the Premier League.
After detailing the latest team news, including updates on Diogo Dalot and Amad, Ruben addressed speculation in the press and the performance of our players out on loan. Here, you can read a full Q&A...
Hi Ruben. Team news to start off with. Are there any positive updates on Amad and is Diogo okay?
“No, Diogo is out. We don't know how long he is going to be out. But he is out for these next games, we will see until the end. Amad is near, Matta [Matthijs de Ligt] is near, but the rest is at the same pace. Ayden [Heaven] is not ready, so I think that is it.”
With Diogo, what's happened and do you think there's a chance he could miss the rest of the season?
“There is that possibility but I don't know, we will check week by week, because he works really hard, he can recover quite well, so we will see.”
Are you able to say what Diogo has done?
“He has a problem with his muscle in his calf. He had a sequence of games, he played all the time. We tried to manage but some of the players have to play a lot of minutes and we have to protect the ones that we think are not so ready to copy with that, but Dalot felt something.”
“The focus is that we have to face it and we need to have that feeling that every game is here is important, and we have to win every game, because that is a feeling that's really important not to lose. Of course, you can see the context. But I think we are going to face this game with the best team, because we had a full week to prepare, some of the players did not play against Wolverhampton, so sometimes if you recover so much of the players it is a bad thing. So I will try to manage everything to win this game and to prepare for the next one.”
The window is nearly here. Do you know the players you would like to keep and the players you would like to leave?
“Yeah, you can say, I could say... of course this is a conversation for the end of the week [season] but I have an idea that is clear because we have to do things early, but things can change until the end of the season.”
Matheus Cunha's name is repeatedly mentioned. Is that the kind of player you are looking to attract?
“I will say nothing about Matheus because if I say one time, I will have to say for any situation that is yes or no, so I will not comment about that. We are focused on this season and even the way we are going to prepare the next season could change in these games, so it is hard to predict what is going to happen in the future.”
“It is Manchester United. What I feel is that there's a lot of players that want to play for our club. I know that if you look at our club in the moment, it looks like, sometimes, with all the problems, with the staff, with people going, changing coach, the results, it looks a little bit of a problem in the moment but we have a clear idea and that is the easiest part to explain to a player. And then it is Manchester United. Everybody wants to play for Manchester United.”
Ruben, you hinted that your mind is made up on certain people with regards to what happens next in the future. Have they still got time to change your mind?
“Everything can happen. Casemiro is the best example. He was a player who wasn't playing and then, you see the last games, he is having a part and he is performing quite well, he is playing all the time, so I am not the kind of coach... I like to change my mind. If they change my mind, I am really happy with that. I just want to win and to put the best players in my team.”
You've played against Bournemouth already. When you look at the challenge this weekend, considering the matches you have coming, how big a challenge is this Sunday?
“It is massive because one thing is they press a lot. He has something to fight for in this moment with European nights and we know the quality of the squad, of the manager, the way they play, the way they press, the one against one they have, the mobility of Evanilson, Kluivert, Semenyo, so it is going to be a really tough match and we have to be really focused on this game. Because, here, every game is really important and we need to win games in the Premier League. But, of course, in certain details, we have to focus not just on this game, but also the next one.”
“I don't talk about Bilbao during the week, I just talk about Bournemouth and the way they perform against Bournemouth can change my mind for the next game, so they are fighting for a place in the next match. If you look at our table, in the last game, I think we were the better team, we had some situations to score a goal, it was tough to deal with that loss so we need to win, that is all.”
How is Rasmus Hojlund's confidence and is that a challenge in itself, trying to manage a player's confidence?
“A striker, we have talked about this a lot of times. A striker needs to score goals. We try to help him and he is trying really hard. Sometimes he wants some things really bad and it's worse. But I show him and all the team, he is so much better in connection, in one against one, he created situations against Wolverhampton, he is improving in the small things and he needs to focus on that. The goals will appear. We are just trying to explain how to improve.”
“All the players that are on loan, they will return and then the club will decide what to do at the end of the season.”
Are you pleased?
“Yeah of course, of course, of course. The talent of Rashford, the talent of Antony, all these players, they have to put that on the team. So we are really happy because if you put a player on loan, the best thing for us is for them to perform and they are performing.”
The Europa League is your priority, you've said that. Does that suggest it doesn't matter to you where you finish in the league? Is that the case?
“No, it matters a lot. What I am saying is that with our current squad, you have to take a risk and to choose a priority. It is impossible. I want to put the best starting XI in every game and sometimes it is so hard for me to take a risk in the Premier League. Because sometimes the games in the Premier League are tougher than the Europa League, but in this moment we have to make choices. I also want to protect the young players. I don't want to put everyone together in the same game in a way that they cannot perform. I just try to choose the best thing to help the club. The most important thing is the club at this moment and I am trying to cope with everything.”
You've been more critical of your own performance than anyone else. Do you think that when the owners come to evaluate the next season and what they want to do this summer, do you think they will be sympathetic to the issues you've had to face?
“I think the best thing is that conversation connecting with that feeling we have to win every game and every game is important. So we have to put our standards, even without winning, really, really hard. And I feel every day that the board understands the context and especially understands what we want to do, that our idea is really clear. I am critical because we are not winning games, like everyone can understand, we are Manchester United and we are near the bottom of the table, so we need to be critical, no matter what happened. No matter if we lost one game from a free-kick and missed some goals inside of the small box. That doesn't matter in the end. That is the feeling that I want inside of Carrington.”
Part two of the press conference will be published at 22:30 BST on Saturday.