Amorim picks out key squad voices

He was speaking to the assembled press inside Carrington ahead of Brighton & Hove Albion's Premier League visit to Old Trafford on Saturday, scheduled to kick-off at 17:30 BST.

The Reds boss was also asked about the start Senne Lammens has made to life at United, Arne Slot's comments after the Liverpool game last weekend, and adapting to different opponents, plus youngsters training with the senior squad.

You can read, and watch, everything he had to say below...

Can I ask you about Senne Lammens, who's made a tremendous impact on joining the football club? Have you been surprised by the impact he’s made in just two games?

“I think a little bit, because it's hard in the moment of our club, all the speculation around the goalkeepers to have, he’s not a young kid, but is still young. He coped really well with the pressure. He's really composed, he’s defending really well. The importance of playing [with] both feet to kick the ball well is so important nowadays, especially when you have to play, like against Liverpool, a more direct style. So, I'm a little bit surprised, but I was expecting a talented guy. But yes, a little bit surprised.”

You talk about Bruno [Fernandes] wanting to help people, to keep up the standards. Do you have other players on your team who are vocal? Do you think your team is loud enough when it comes to difficult situations?

“Yeah, I think Harry Maguire. Sometimes players have a different style. [Diogo] Dalot, he tries to do that. Luke Shaw is completely the opposite. He can show in some moments the way he plays when he's so focused, he can help the team in a different way. I can look at Harry. I think Nous [Mazraoui] has a good impact. You don't see it, but you can feel it. Licha [Martinez] is really important on that; he’s really loud. So, sometimes, it depends on the moment, and if we win more games, you will feel the confidence of everybody to start to have that role in the team.”

How frustrating will it be tomorrow if the attitude is not as it should be?

“Let's wait for the game. I think if you look at our wins, especially this year, it has to do a lot with the attitude. And sometimes these attitudes, I'm not saying that my players don't want to win or to run. Sometimes, it is getting harder, but we need to force ourselves to do the basics. If we do that, we are near to winning more football games. But again, I think if you look at Brighton and you see the way they play, every team that presses a little bit higher, struggles with them, and they won those games. So, all these things we need to be prepared for that, not just against the top teams, like you call it - Chelsea, Liverpool - but against these opponents that are really good, and we need to be really focused and really smart to play this kind of game.”

Arne Slot sounded quite bitter after you beat him last week, talking about low blocks and long balls. What did you make of that?

“Oh, Liverpool is in the past. I don't want to comment. That is not important. Important is what Fabian [Hurzeler] said, for me to try to understand what is going to happen. I understand everything. I'm really pleased that the team can play different games. [It] was an important win. But I was the first one to say that we need to play better with the ball. So, I don't care what Slot is saying, what people [are] saying about our team. I can watch the game, and I can say we can do better. We need to do better in the future, but sometimes you need to adapt to the game. So, I don't need anyone to evaluate my team. I can evaluate my team, and I'm really clear on that. We should play better with the ball. We are going to try to do that in this game.”

How important is it after the past two games, and certainly after last Sunday, to now seize this moment, to kick on and actually make things happen now and not go backwards?

“Yeah, we are always talking about that, but that connects with the other question about the way we face competition. If you think just about that, we are going to try to perform everything that we are going to put on the field; that is the most important thing. So, sometimes when we talk too much about the turning point, it's worse. So, let's take it naturally. We won two games. It's not a big deal; it should be sooner. Let's go for the next game. It’s going to be really, really hard to play against Brighton. So, let's try to perform better than against Liverpool.”

The boy, JJ Gabriel, what did you see when he trained with you? And will he have some more sessions with you?

“Like everyone, I know that he's a really talented guy and everyone pays attention with the social media, but you can see that [the] Under-21s had a game, so we had less players, and you try to pick some players that have talent. Not just for me to see for tomorrow, but for them to feel what it means to be in the first team, the difficulties of playing against our defenders, the difficulties to be in our training, the pace. So, if we can use every training that we have to show the kids what they need to do to be here, it's important not just for JJ, but for everyone.”

About the low block and sitting deep, as you had to do at Anfield last week. I think you said last season that you felt the players were more comfortable doing that, and you actually found that quite hard because you want to play a more proactive game. Is that still the case, or has there been any progress with that, do you feel?

“No, I think I think you can see it if you see all the games. That game was different, and if you have to point [to] a team that can control the games with the ball, it’s [Manchester] City, and you saw against Arsenal the end of the game. So, every team has to adapt, and we adapt. We struggled to have long possessions against Liverpool, but then if you go to the Arsenal game [it] was completely different. So, sometimes it’s the environment [that] is the first part that we miss, it’s some players that, in different positions, can give us more direct play than playing with the ball. We want to play a different style. Our style is a different style, but I'm really pleased for the adaptation of winning games. Sometimes, we are struggling, but we can manage some things to win games, and that is really important. But if you judge for all our 80 games that we have, you know clearly what kind of game we want to play.”