Ruben Amorim admits the Manchester United team needs to help Rasmus Hojlund out more to unlock his potential in front of goal.
The Dane is experiencing a tough period but our head coach says the issues are linked to the Reds' lack of chance creation in the final third.
Amorim went on to list Hojlund's strengths and reiterated his belief that things will eventually click for our no.9.
Read the full quotes below, including updates from the boss on Mason Mount and Luke Shaw and his views on Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu's performances so far...
Ruben, I think the club said there was a small issue with Luke Shaw, I think that was two or three weeks ago now. Do you know when he will be back?
“No. He’s doing his rehab but we don’t have a date for him yet.”
Is that the same for Mason Mount, you still don’t know when he will be back?
“Not specifically, no. I think he’s closer than Luke Shaw but we don’t have a specific date to return.”
Hi Ruben, it’s almost three months now since you spoke to us here and said the players need to run like mad dogs. Just going back to the question before about Everton on Saturday, are they doing that for you and if not, why not?
“I think they improve. All the data that we have, we improve. We can do much better. I think the confidence sometimes is like… they train very well, but say [on a] Sunday in the game, they are not so confident and then the game is so hard for them in certain moments that sometimes they want [to do it] but can not do it. Like we proved in the last game, we have to play more like the second half than the first half. Sometimes it’s hard but we can cope with that and to fight for every ball – that we can improve also.”
Ruben, obviously there are probably a lot of staff who are feeling they have paid the price for the failings at the top. You say we have to understand what we did wrong and think in solutions, how can the staff who are staying here and the fans have any confidence going forward that things will improve, particularly in terms of recruitment which, for 10 years now, has been particularly poor? How can they have any confidence that it will change and the club will get better at signing players?
“I think we need to show [it]. It’s easier for me to be here and say all the pretty stuff. We have to improve the recruitment, I think it’s crucial. We have to improve the team. We need to perform better, we need to be in Europe and not in our position during the season. That’s all. They are paying the price for our lack of success. I cannot say nothing now that is going to convince the fans and all the staff that we are going to do it. We have an idea, we need to… like you said, I think for me, as a coach, we need to be a better team and to recruit better and not make a lot of mistakes in that department.”
Rasmus Hojlund can divide opinion, some people say he’s not quite good enough to be Manchester United’s no.9, while others say you’re not creating enough chances. What’s your view of him?
“I think it’s clear: we as a team, we are not helping Rasmus. We don’t create a lot of chances. We have a lack of threat and you can feel it in the game. Sometimes, we are like in the final third but you don’t feel like we are a very dangerous team. You feel it also when we are defending a little bit more low. Sometimes the opponents are not afraid of transitions, so I have this feeling also as a coach, that we are not helping the strikers. I think Rasmus has a lot of potential. I think if we improve the way we play the game, he will have more opportunities to score. I think he came here very young and, when you are very young, to be the no.9 and to play all the time, sometimes it’s hard. It’s everything together, it’s the context. We have to look at Rasmus as a player. He has the pace, he has the technique. He’s scored some goals that are really hard to score. Sometimes, he doesn’t choose the better run, sometimes he’s so anxious to touch the ball because he passes long minutes without the ball and he moves away from the goal, where you’re supposed to be, especially in the final third. So we address that in training but sometimes it has to be the confidence of the player, but especially the way we play.”
Can I just ask: in training, does he show he can be a lethal finisher, ruthless?
“Yes. I see it in training because also we make exercises near the goal. He has the ability and he’s shown it here but I think it’s more a team thing than a Rasmus thing. If we improve, Rasmus will improve, and I have that feeling.”
How are you feeling amidst all this, with the redundancies being made, with the results, the perception of the summer transfer market being difficult? You’re an emotional guy, right, how have you been coping with all this?
“I have empathy for everybody, but that is easy for everybody to feel empathy with all the situation that occurs here. Then the second feeling is that I need to improve also my job. You want to improve to help everybody – the board, Omar [Berrada] – during these transitional moments. Then I’m trying to feel, all the time, positive because I’m the manager and I know the staff is always looking at me. I took a lot of energy for giving that hope for them, to be positive and energetic all the time. I’m trying to do my job the best I can, to help all the club.”
Just on Patrick, he touched the ball second-most to Bruno in the Everton game. It looked like a lot of team-mates were looking to him, to pass to him. Is that a good thing or is it perhaps a negative thing because it’s quite a lot to ask for a 20-year-old in his third game?
“Sometimes it depends on where the space is in the game, so we use him more often. I think I’m happy with Patrick because he has the abilities we look for from him, during when I saw him at Lecce. He has the physicality, he has the technique. He’s playing better on the left side, like you guys said. He has a lot to improve but the good thing is that in a difficult moment you can see good things in Patrick and that’s what you want when you recruit players, so we address that issue about recruitment. We are very happy with him.”
You’ve already talked before about the pressure of playing here. Managers who have been here in the past have talked about the weight of the shirt, but in this situation where people are losing their jobs, having to sit in front of us and talk about added pressure and responsibilities, is that not an environment that’s making it really, really hard for these players – particularly young players – to play and perform and to really be themselves?
“I’m not saying it’s not a bad thing but I think the players don’t feel that too much. They have one life, they live in a bubble. It’s completely different for them than it is for me, for Andrew [Ward], for anybody in the club. So they are not feeling that pressure. They feel the pressure of the need to win in Manchester United and, every time we lose and every time they don’t perform, there’s a lot of people on social media and in the newspaper who are putting a lot of pressure. Then they go to the pitch, to the training and they try to fix things, not in a good way – thinking too much and not playing the way they’re supposed to play. In that department, they don’t feel that pressure of people losing their job. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, they are kids that live in a different world but they suffer a different pressure and sometimes it’s harder. The other people are talking about them all the time, all their friends, social media, former players etc. They take it so personally and sometimes it’s really hard for them to turn things around.”
Last year, Sir Jim Ratcliffe spoke about how he wanted people at Manchester United to be best in class and 10 out of 10s. You’ll obviously see behind the scenes which people are really good at their jobs, does that make you worry that some of these 10 out of 10 people who are really good could be some of the ones that might go?
“No, I’m not worried about that. I’m just focused on my job, that is clear. If you watch our team, we have a lot to improve, in my department. So I’m just focused on improving my performance here in the club, then there’s that part. In that part, we have a lot of people assessing in all the departments the best people to stay and the people that has to go, so I’m just focused on my part and I have to improve my performance as a manager of this club.”