Why Ruben Amorim is in a rush

United are 13th in the table going into Sunday's Manchester derby and Ruben acknowledged that the club and team are going through a period of short-term change, in the pursuit of long-term improvement.

Our head coach added that, while it might be 'crazy' to believe we will challenge for the title next season, it is not in his nature to think it will take years for the Reds to compete in the Premier League again.

He also suggested that 'one or two big players' could be added to the squad this summer as we seek to narrow the gap.

Read what the boss said in more detail below, as part of the full press conference transcript...

Hi Ruben, start off as always. How’s the team looking, is anyone back, is anyone ruled out?
“I think Kobbie is returning to training so we’ll see and assess for this game already. Of course he cannot play a full game, he’s a long time without training. I think Matta [Matthijs de Ligt] has an issue. He has something during the game [at Nottingham Forest] and we have to assess. I think the rest is normal.”

Obviously when the fixtures come out, City is one of the main fixtures United fans will be looking at, but you’ve got such a big game Thursday, you’ve got players coming back. Will you be rotating or is that something you can’t afford to do in a fixture like this?
“No, we are going to focus game by game. We have a few days to recover from the last game and then we will have a few games to come. I think the focus in that department will be more on the next one in the Premier League. So we want to win this game, we want to improve in the league table and especially we want to win games. We are going to have full focus on this game.”

Ruben can you just assess Garnacho at the moment? He’s played a huge amount of games actually as a young player and maybe he’s not quite delivering what people want but equally he’s still learning how to play the game. How do you assess him?
“I think he’s doing the right things. Of course, like any player in our team he has to choose better, especially in the last third. We have to improve, all the players have to improve. Maybe Bruno is the one who can do something - an assist or scoring goals – very easily. So we have to improve as a team to help Garnacho but Garnacho is improving the way he defends, the way he runs so he’s working hard and he needs to score more goals and assists, that is clear, but so do the other guys. I see him as a young kid that wants to improve, is improving, but he’s not in a great moment in that department, like the other guys on the team.”

Ruben just want your reaction to Kevin De Bruyne announcing that he will be leaving Manchester City at the end of the season. How have you rated him as a player?
“That is easy. He was like one of the best players in the Premier League. The time passes for everyone, so it’s a natural thing. He improved the league. He was on the wrong side of Manchester [laughs] so I wish him good luck. It was a pleasure to see him in Portugal a lot of times so I hope he enjoys the rest of his life.”

Ruben how do you assess the moment Manchester City are in facing your team, because when you faced them at the Etihad earlier in the campaign they were struggling far more then. Do you think they’ve recovered from that or do you still see some of the same problems?
“No, I’m more focused on our problems. I think we have bigger problems than Manchester City. They had that run in that moment but they improved. They can play in different ways. It’s really hard to understand how and to think how they are going to face us. They have maybe the best coach in the world and they have top players, so it will be a difficult match but like I said I’m so focused on improving my team that I’m not worried about the improvements of Manchester City. Just try to understand how Manchester City is going to play so I can help my players be on top of their game.”

Was the win there the best moment you’ve had as Manchester United manager so far?
“I don’t know, it’s hard. Sometimes I’m really happy with the small things, not with the big things, and I don’t see one game – especially in this club but also former clubs – I don’t see one win as a special moment. A special moment is to be really competitive and to win titles, that is the biggest moment. Winning games, you can win… even in third division you can win against the best team in the country so I don’t see it that way.”

Ruben, Mason Mount has been training for four weeks now. Is he fit enough to start?
“Yes, he can start but we have to manage his minutes still.”

Just on that, I think his last start was against City. This is big running for the club but for him in particular could this be the making of him at United, giving the injury issues he’s had?
“I don’t know. The important thing is not to speak about that too much. He’s going to think all the time: “it’s my time, I have to do it.” Mason Mount trained a lot of times, getting the load in his body and forget about that, that is really important because the mind sometimes is more important than the body. It’s one more player that is fit to play. We’ll see on Sunday.”

You said just then that special moments are winning titles. I think Sunday is your 20th league game and you’ve got 22 points from a possible 57. With that in mind, the club have got this grand plan of winning the title in three years’ time – is it realistic from the club thinking that way, given the points tally you’ve got and is it unfair? Does it put extra pressure on you as a manager when the club comes out with these grand visions of winning a title which seems to outsiders at least, very unrealistic?
“Of course I understand, I’m not naïve. Sometimes it’s for me, I don’t want to think we need a lot of years to be competitive. I cannot think like that, I cannot manage like that – it’s not in me. That’s why I’m putting pressure on myself. I know that we are not going to be the biggest contender in the next year or two years. I know we need to do a lot of things and we are doing a lot of things, putting some standards and sometimes we change players sometimes because they are not adjusting here, sometimes they have to learn how to adjust to our new standards. I know that, so it’s really hard to do something like that in one year. Then we have to change a lot of things, we are changing a lot of staff, we are changing a lot of things inside the club. I know that is going to take time, but I will not think like that and I will not say I need a lot of years. I cannot manage that. So for me, it’s like we are preparing something, that we have to change a lot next year. So that next year is our goal. I’m not saying that we’re going to win the title on the next year, I’m not crazy. What I’m saying is that I don’t want this conversation that we need a lot of years and let’s keep it calm, no. We are in a rush. So next year, we are suffering a lot for next year to be so much better. And that is our goal. Sometimes things can happen. I don’t know, I don’t want to be that guy that is here saying we need a lot of time, I will not be that coach.”

You’ve just said there you’re in a rush to win the Premier League title, but when you see City have a quite average season and they’re able to spend £180m in January and you’re talking about in the summer maybe players have to leave before players can come in. Is that not quite daunting to see that they’re one of the teams you have to catch and they’re able to do this when you aren’t?
“Not just Manchester City but other teams, they are already in a place that we need a lot to catch them and they will improve, that’s for sure next season. Again, I just want to focus on our strengths and try to use our club to try to bring one or two players, big players, I don’t know – sometimes big players for me is different from big players to you. What I’m saying is that we need to focus. We are doing all the stuff for next season to be better, and so much better. If we are going to win something, I don’t know. If it’s going to take four years like in the memo, I don’t know. In my head here, I cannot manage again. I will not manage this thing of ‘in four years, I will try something.’ For me, we will start next season. We need to be so much better because this is a massive club. The pressure is that and I want to put this pressure on me and everybody here.”

Ruben just on that, in the past some of your predecessors will have finished in the top four – maybe second, third – and they’ll talk about trying to get above City, get above Liverpool. Is the reality of the challenge you face now that it’s not just them and Arsenal, there are clubs like Villa and Newcastle and Brighton who, while United have gone down, have all increased? And you’ve got these clubs to get past first before you can even think about toppling a Liverpool or an Arsenal or a City?
“Yeah, the focus must be how to improve our team in every aspect. If we think like that then of course the Premier League is so different. I have a lot of people saying Sir Alex Ferguson took three or four years to win something, it’s not possible nowadays, because you have to speak three times and give three interviews before each game, so the pressure is completely different. Then any team now that is in the Premier League can win, so it’s going to be really important again. But we are in Manchester United, there is a lot of good things, there are some bad things. That is the pressure. No matter what the context, we need to be there with the best ones. So of course we will have to face a lot of adversity and a lot of big teams, more than in the past. But let’s focus on that and try to win the next game.”