Amorim: Athletic will be intense and aggressive

Our head coach ran through the Basques’ strengths and key men during his pre-match press conference, as he sat alongside midfielder Manuel Ugarte.

While Ugarte fielded questions on Casemiro and the differences between Europe and the Premier League, Amorim was asked about the impact our comeback over Lyon has had on the squad, as well as developing strikers, like he did with Sporting Club marksman Viktor Gyokeres.

Read every word from San Mames below, or watch the full video…

Hi Ruben, good luck tomorrow. With the travelling squad, it’s obviously expanded so what’s the thoughts, are Amad and De Ligt fit?
“To start, no. But they can be in the squad for the game and the rest of the players we have a game tomorrow then we have to train here Friday, so we need to prepare and play not just this game, but also prepare the next game against Brentford, so we took a lot of especially young kids to prepare the next game.”

Does it feel like there’s a different edge to the game around the team given the importance?
“Not just the team, but in the fans, in you guys also. Everybody knows that it’s really important for our season. We know that nothing is going to save our season but this can be huge, winning a trophy. And also to get in the Champions League, to have European games next year, it could change a lot of things in our club, even in the summer.”

In the four knockout games, the team’s scored 12 goals, but in your past 12 Premier League games you’ve only scored 12 goals. Why do you think the team is so much better in the Europa League than the Premier League?
“I don’t know in that department, I don’t know, because we had some games that we didn’t create situations but it’s not the case in the last games. When we stopped for the national teams, we had situations against Nottingham, Wolverhampton, Arsenal at our home. We are creating the chances but we are not scoring goals and sometimes you don’t have an explanation for that to happen. So if you create situations you are near to score a goal, but in the Europa League we are scoring more than the league, I don’t have a big explanation for that.”

Can you talk about the importance of winning the tournament, Manuel?
“As the head coach said, this is not going to save the season but the history of United is winning titles, and the Europa League is quite important. We’re focused on tomorrow. We also want to get into the Champions League so it’s very important and altogether we’re going to try and win.”

You’ve been very honest about the team’s form this season since you took over, there’s a scenario where you could finish 17th in the Premier League but win the Europa League and get into the Champions League. Some people say that devalues this competition and it’s embarrassing a team that finishes so low in a domestic league can be in the Champions League. What’s your answer to that?
“I think it’s the rules. It’s hard to talk about that. Maybe you could say it’s not fair because the best teams, the champions, should be in the Champions League but it gives a value to this competition, it’s like one cup in our league, if you win the Cup, you go to European games. It’s the rules, I don’t know if it’s fair or not. But if there is that possibility we have to try to reach it.”

Gyokeres has been mentioned as a potential transfer target, I know you’re not going to tell me if he’s the one you want, but you brought him in from Coventry and developed him into one of Europe’s best strikers. Is that the kind of project you want to do at United or are you looking to bring in someone with experience who can help the young strikers we already have?
“Our focus is to help our players that we have. Rasmus scored one goal in the last game. Again, I think you can see that Rasmus has the talent, Josh has the talent, Chido has the talent. We have to improve the players, but to improve the players individually we have to improve the way that we perform, the way we play. We are far from being a really consistent team that can help the strikers to score many goals. We have a clear lack of goals and that has cost us a lot of points this season, we have to improve that [play] to help the strikers to improve.”

You’ve spoken before about the pressure that comes with playing for Manchester United, obviously tomorrow is very important, the season is riding on it, the summer budget, the future of the club even. Have you any concerns about that extra pressure, given there’s already pressure playing for Man United anyway?
“No. I think they are prepared. If you see this team maybe with some problems during the years, they were able to win cups and that was also a pressure. Especially the English [FA] Cup is a big thing in our league. They are prepared, every players is an international. The context this season is really complicated in every aspect so I don’t see that as an issue. They are excited to be here, they want to win, they are capable of winning. It could change our summer, it could change the next year, but if we want to improve the club, we should not be focused on this. It’s not the most important thing in our club. We have to deal with a lot of things in our club and we’ll be fine, with or without Champions League.”

What kind of impact do you expect from Rasmus Hojlund tomorrow?
“The same as in the last game. He scored the equaliser. He’s really anxious in every game to score goals, but he’s working really hard. I already say that, in goals that we scored in this tournament he was really important, even when he didn’t score, he opened up the space. I expect the same thing, he needs to work hard for the team. I think he’s in a good moment, in a good spirit, to do a great game tomorrow.”

Can you talk about what that incredible comeback against Lyon has done for the team’s confidence?
“I think it’s more a club thing. Everybody knows when you play in Old Trafford, something special can happen, but then in the next game against Wolves we create a lot of situations and we didn’t score and that confidence came down a little bit. This season is a little bit like that. We are always searching for a great moment that can change a lot of things. We just need to be consistent. But it was a great night. In this kind of season, sometimes you have these special moments that you can take and in these kind of games, you can use that to fuel the players to do something more special.”

How important Manuel as a player is it that United are in European competition, and why have you done so much better in Europe?
“I think that there is an important difference in the physicality. Like the coach said, in the Premier League, we created chances but didn’t convert them, we lost points because of details, we need to be focused on these details. A little the physicality, a little the attention. In the Europa League, we’re always completely focused, it has to be the same in the Premier League.”

Jurgen Klopp when he became the Liverpool manager spoke about turning doubters into believers. You’ve said already that nothing would save your season but would winning a trophy help you turn doubters into believers?
“I think it’s not the most important thing of course it’s good that people are going to look at this season in a different way, especially the coach. It’s something more in the core of our club. There are a lot of things we need to change and we need to be consistent. [Winning the] Europa League is not going to change anything in our problems. It’s going to help us have Champions League next year and more money to spend, but the problems are still there. We have to change the minds of our fans with good decisions, with the Academy, with recruitment. This is what we need to change to take this club back to the top. This is more a shortcut to go to the European games, nothing more. The problems we need to solve in a different way with more time and be really clear on that.”

Are we going to see a happy United in the build-up, will you be more reserved and defensive?
“We try to play the way we see the games and the way that works. We change each game. If we see the opponent, against Bournemouth it’s a team that can press really high so we suffer a goal building up in the way we build up, Bilbao is more or less the same thing. We are focused on the way we play and then we see what is the strengths of the opponent. We try to do the same. We are going to play the game that we see and we are paying attention to the strengths of the opponents.”

Manuel, how is it playing with Casemiro and what have you learned from him?
“I’ve learnt a lot from Casemiro. I have a very good relationship with him. I try to copy all the good things he has as a player, not only inside the pitch but also outside the pitch, because there are things that he does to win. I feel very comfortable with him and talk a lot with him. I’m learning a lot and I am very happy for him.”

Ruben, welcome to Bilbao. What strengths did you see in tomorrow’s opponents and what weaknesses?
“I think they have a lot of good things. I’m not going to talk about the bad things, but they are really strong as a team, they are really intense, they are really aggressive. Even for a Spanish team, they are really aggressive on every duel. They have great players one against one. Nico Williams is a special player. They are the best defence in Spain in the league and we are not scoring too many goals so it’s going to be a tough match for us. We know that in the beginning of the game, 20-30 minutes especially, they are really strong and intense and use the crowd to take the game to a different level and we are prepared for that, so we are going to face a very strong team.”