Ruben Amorim says Manchester United are trying to work with the positives of losing the Europa League final to Spurs in May.
The boss was speaking ahead of our first reunion with the London side since that disappointment in Bilbao.
Although he conceded that, of course, he'd rather have lifted the trophy at San Mames and been involved in this season's Champions League, the Reds are benefiting from the reduced workload and increase time on the training ground.
Read his quotes below, and watch the full press conference before Saturday's midday kick-off...
Hi Ruben. We’ve spoken positively in recent weeks about the run of form the team is on and the performances this season. What shape do you think the side are in for the game this weekend? How confident is your team now after the start to the campaign and the results recently?
“I think we are more confident. We believe more, that we can win any game and we prove already that we can win any game. The last game was tough on us because in some moments we were not the team that we’re supposed to be in every minute. Compare that to Brighton. We suffered two goals against Brighton but it was a different thing. We know that we cannot forget that we have a lot to improve. We are more prepared for anything that happens in the game, so that is also a good thing. We are in a better moment but we also know that we have a lot to do, a lot to improve, to win more these kind of games and consistently win games in a row. We know that we are capable, we are confident but we also know that we struggle sometimes in games where we need to do better.”
Do you still feel like you know what game your team is going to have in the first action of the match? Or can you trust your team more to cope with the ups and downs in matches and even if you don’t start well you can finish well?
“I think a little bit both. I think we can manage the game better now. We can always change from one moment that we are struggling, we can change that. Also because we have players that can change that for us – not as a team but sometimes the individual can help us to change that. But if you look at the game against Nottingham [Forest], the game we control in the first half, the energy… if you put the two games together at the same time, you can sense the energy was not the same and that is something that you can watch in the first moments of the game, so it’s a little bit of both.”
You’re playing Tottenham for the first time since the Bilbao disappointment. How different do you think your team is now to the one that lined up in the Europa League final?
“First of all, the characteristics of the players. We have different characteristics in our team but we also have a lot of players that played last year. So we are a better team, we play better, we understand the game better. I think we are more confident. We reached that final confident that we could win because we were doing well in Europe, but in this moment we play with a different confidence. We managed better the moments of the game, but if you remember that game they had that [one] shot on the goal, they won the game. I expect a different game, that we can play better but also to have a little bit of luck to help us win the game.”
Another difference to last season – and you might tell me I’m wrong and there’s been loads this week – is that you don’t seem to have as many injuries this season as you’ve had in the past and as United have had in recent seasons. Is there a change?
“No there’s no change. “It’s one game every week and then a little bit of luck, because sometimes you have problems with players with knocks, it’s not something that is soft tissues. So you never know what is going to happen in the next training. If you play with intensity in training, something can happen but I think the big reason… of course, we try to do everything well, the big reason is one game every week. You can give one extra day to the players that you know could struggle in the next training [session]. I think that is the biggest reason.”
Ruben, you conceded two goals last week, two against Brighton, you’ve still only kept one clean sheet. Is that a problem for you?
“Yeah, it’s a problem, especially if you see the league nowadays. The team that is winning all the games is not suffering goals, maybe [even] some shots on target, and that is a big thing. When you have talented players, if you defend well, in one opportunity you can score a goal and win a game but I think it’s more a team thing. We need to defend better, we need to be more aggressive. That part of the energy when we have the full energy in every ball, we defend better. So everything is connected, but of course we have a lot to do. We cannot suffer the amount of goals that we are suffering and that is a thing we need to improve.”
Is it possible, because it’s a collective thing, is it possible to reduce the number of goals without reducing the amount you score at the other end?
“You can attack really well. Sometimes when you defend better, you attack better, so I think it’s not that. It’s the way we defend the box, but I think the last game we struggled a bit inside the box, because outside the box we allowed the crosses without any pressure. So these small details you watch from the last game, we worked on during this week to try to improve that. We suffer goals especially in the beginning of the season, but we didn’t allow much to Arsenal to win that game, but in our last game, they had 17 shots. That, we cannot allow. That is something that we need to change and we pay attention to that. We can attack the same way, we can score even more goals but we need to defend better.”
Ruben I’m not suggesting there’s any positives to losing a final but after not having European football, in terms of the transfer strategy in the summer of maybe reducing the squad size, you have more time on the training ground… are you seeing the positives of maybe those two factors?
“Yeah, it’s not the fact of seeing the positives. It’s using the positives. Any situation you have in life, you can look at it in a positive way, or in a bad way. If you ask me, do you prefer to be here with a cup and in the Champions League, more money, more players maybe, of course I would say yes. But you have the other side: you have more time to train, more time to know your players and more time to arrange everything: the connection between staff and to prepare the future. The future will be in European competition, so we just try to use the positive thing of not playing all the games during the week, so yes, I can see the positives.”
Your former team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo has come out with a few comments about the club. He said that you’re doing a good job but you can’t provide miracles. He was also a bit damning on the players, saying that some players don’t have Manchester United in their mind. Do you think that’s quite unfair maybe from a club legend like him that maybe some of those players look up to as a legend of the game?
“Of course, he knows he has a huge impact with everything he said. What we need to focus on is in the future. We know that we as a club made a lot of mistakes in the past, but we are trying to change that. Let’s not focus on what happened, let’s focus on what we are doing now. We are doing that, we are changing a lot of things in the structure, the way we do things, the way we want the players to behave. We are doing that and we are improving, so let’s focus on the way we are doing things. We are improving, so let’s continue and forget a little bit the past.”