Amorim explains what he is looking for

The Manchester United head coach is preparing for the 14:15 BST kick-off against the Hammers and touched on a number of topics, including rotating his side with the Europa League final date against Tottenham Hotspur now on the horizon.

Ruben was also asked about the post-season friendlies in Asia, the intensity in training and the latest criticism from former skipper Roy Keane on our domestic performances, despite sealing a 7-1 aggregate triumph over Athletic Club to set up the Spurs clash in Bilbao on 21 May.

See every word he had to say to the press pack...

Earlier, you mentioned that the team has some weaknesses and, after your victory over Lyon, you said your squad is lacking some characteristics. Are you willing to share the sort of thing that you're trying to get the squad to learn that perhaps is not there yet?

"No, I will not share too much. But you can understand the characteristics; when I say characteristics, it is players that play more inside than outside, those small things, even the foot. It's really important in the position that Garna [Alejandro Garnacho] played today, as a right 10, to have a left foot. It can change the way you play. To have some wingers that are more offensive than defensive, that can change the way we play. So these kind of things that we are going to try to do in the future but it is going to take time. It's not going to be one summer or whatever. So I was just talking about that and then the weaknesses, you can see the game. We have so many problems, even winning these kind of games. You can see during the game, we have a lot of things to improve."

What are you going to do now in the Premier League? Are we just not going to see Bruno [Fernandes] and Harry [Maguire] and all your key players in these next few games? Or do you want them to get some game-time before they have to play Spurs in the final?

"No, they will play because sometimes it's better to play. What I will protect is the players that can get an injury. For example, Bruno, or the last game before Tottenham but we moved the game to the Friday against Chelsea. So we'll have time to recover. We want to win and to be competitive, also in the Premier League. Bruno doesn't have the problem of any injury [touches wood] but Harry has. So we have to manage that but they have to play and it is better to play than to stay out."

At the end of the season, there's a post-season tour, I'm just wondering what are your thoughts on that and were you consulted on it too?

"Yes, so I was consulted and, again, I already spoke about that. We cannot say nothing after this season, so we need to help the club because the club wins some more money. We are going to connect with our fans around the world and that is important, especially when we lose and we disappoint our supporters during this tough season. So I think it is the least we can do. And we are going to take all the team, the young kids also, and we'll have the staff there. We had a lot of changes in the staff so we're trying to build something as a family. I think it is also a good thing."

Will you take all the senior players as well?

"Yes, yes."

Just with regard to competition for places for the Europa League final, do you expect it to be sort of dog-eat-dog in training and really intense?

"I don't know. I expect, for example, like I said, some players we have some doubts that they will recover. They will push forward a little bit and we have to manage that and not take the risk and to have big issues. Of course, they will fight for the places, they will be really excited and that is a good thing, not just for the final but also to prepare for the games of the Premier League with something in our mind that we can win, it is going to be massive."

Do you have to be a little bit careful that the players aren't too fierce in training because of the competition?

"I don't have that in me. I always push forward but, of course, I will try to manage everything. They don't need a lot of load now so that the trainings are going to be soft in that department. But, of course, they will push each other."

What will you look for from these last three league games now because everybody will assess your season based on what happens in the final. You'll win it and finish 16th and it won't matter or you'll lose it and finish 15th and it's terrible. So what are you looking for?

"Again, we cannot save anything from the Premier League. But I think it's a good thing for them as we'll not have a lot of trainings. They will fight for the places in the final in these games. I think, against Brentford, we had some mistakes that I felt some of our players were thinking about this game [against Athletic Club]. So we have to manage that but we also have to acknowledge that we are Manchester United and we need to win games, also in the Premier League, and we have to use every game to improve, even to prepare for the final, but, especially, to prepare for the future."

We know that West Ham are one of the sides that can overtake you so how important is that? Do you understand the criticism of your approach in the Premier League matches. Roy Keane has been quite outspoken today about the players' performances in Premier League matches in between these key Europa League games...

"Yeah, we are trying to do our best but I agree. We can do better. And, again, I don't have anything to say about the criticism because we deserve it. If we cannot accept everything in this kind of season, I think we are in the wrong business, and I have full acknowledgement of that. I agree with all the critics but, in this moment, I think it's really clear and we have to be smart. We have to take a risk and we have to take the risk to get a lot of criticisms from everybody because the standards of Roy Keane and all of these guys are really high. But I have to make a choice. What is the best for the club not what is the best for me. I make a choice in this moment [that] I'm going to try to save all the players because it's really important for us to win the final."