Every word from Ruben's pre-Fulham press conference

Friday 24 January 2025 13:30

Ruben Amorim addressed journalists at Old Trafford on Thursday night, previewing Manchester United's Premier League fixture against Fulham at Craven Cottage.

United are looking to return to winning ways in the league after a 3-1 home defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion last Sunday. The Reds triumphed 2-1 over Rangers in the Europa League on Thursday night, after which, Amorim looked ahead to the next fixture in a busy schedule.

Amorim's squad are at Fulham in a rare Sunday evening (19:00 GMT) kick-off, which will be shown live on TNT Sports in the UK.

Here's what the boss had to say to the press pack...

Press conference: Fulham v United Video

Press conference: Fulham v United

Press conference | Ruben Amorim provides the latest on Shaw, Casemiro and the status of our keepers…

Ruben, you obviously have very strong team spirit, as this comeback has shown and other games, does that give you belief that you can do what you need to do here?

"It also depends on the leader of the coach, I am a lot like that and I think we need that for that feeling of belonging and for that, we also we need time to train and to stick together. That is really important and we don’t have that, I don’t know the word for it in English, but the internship, the sleeping before the matches. Sometimes that detail is really important. Pre-season, spending three weeks together, creating something and then you want to create something where you know the players. I want them to know me in the different ways and not always preparing the match, with stress! We do not have the time to do. I think that is the secret of teams, even when you have the best players and that feeling, it is really hard to win and I wanted to build something like that here. But we need time for that."

Casemiro has been an unused sub in 10 of the last 13 matches. Why has he lost these opportunities on the pitch?

"He has to have the characteristics and then I have to choose the player with the characteristics on how I see the game. It is just like that and I have to make some choices, I want to play a game that is sometimes different from other coaches and I have to chose based on that. That's all."

You took Leny Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt off, are they likely to be fit?

"I don’t know. Leny [Yoro] has a pain and Mata [Matthijs] was a bruise from a touch. Leny was a little bit tired, he is playing more in this moment, so we have to be really careful and we will see. I don’t know."

Do you expect Luke Shaw to be playing within two weeks?

"Oh no, he is going to be fit to train with the team, then we have to start with more minutes, we do not have a lot of time to train. We have to put some exercises in 10 minutes and then he has to make extra work to improve his fitness. I don’t know, it is two weeks to start training before I think about putting him in for some minutes."

Could you say a word about the performance of Bruno Fernandes for this team because there’s a lot of players coming in, he’s your captain, your leader…?

"He is a top player and people talk a lot about his frustration and [they] always talk a lot about his arms in the air, sometimes it is not a good thing to see but you have to see the other side. When we are under pressure, he is always the guy that wants the ball and he is always available, that is so important. Especially in the Premier League and then, he can run, and he runs a lot, he can fight a lot. He has two side and I have to help him manage both situations. We are lucky to have a player like Bruno Fernandes. Sometimes he makes mistakes, like me last week, but he is really important and he has passion. This is so important to be a football player."

Ruben, just on Marcus Rashford and easing him back in, is it fair to say he will be staying at this football club this month?

"I don’t know. I really don’t know."

If he does stay, you’re going to reintegrate him?

"Guys, it’s eight days, eight days until the end and then we will see at the end of the window and then we will talk about that in the moment."

You played Altay Bayindir in goal tonight after Andre Onana’s errors, is it still a case of [number] one keeper, two keeper, or is it more of an even fight now?

"It is always an even fight but this was rotation, it was prepared. I also think about the mistake and the idea I think about is the message I send to you guys and the fans. The rotation was done and everything was prepared and we will deal with that normally. We have two really good goalkeepers and they need time to play, the space in the team. So this rotation was prepared but that mistakes was my concern and, in the end, we continue with the same plan that we did last week."

Over the Arsenal game and the game tonight, do you think Altay has put himself now in a position where the picture has changed slightly?

"I see him in the same way and he is prepared to help the team in the right way and that is the most important thing."

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