Amorim realistic after resounding victory

The boss gave his views on the action, after doubles by Marcus Rashford and Joshua Zirkzee accounted for the Merseysiders on the opening day of a busy December.

Speaking to the official broadcasters, Amorim provided an honest assessment of the display and discussed, among other things, Amad's performance and what the fans want to see from the team...

A PRAGMATIC PERFORMANCE

"The result was good but we were pragmatic. It was not pretty, I think, but we were pragmatic. We did our job, which is to win, but you can feel we have a long way to go. You can feel, in the first minutes, that we are okay, and then Everton control a little bit the game. Then, in the right moments, we had the goals that changed the game a little bit. So you have to not just focus on the result but focus on the way the result appeared. We have so much to do but it's better to work with the victories. Let's focus on the performance more than results."

WELL DONE TO THE PLAYERS

"It was a really tough match and, in the important moments, we could score and that changed the game. Sometimes, we have to suffer and I felt that everybody is suffering together and that is really important. Also the supporters because you can feel it and I know they want more in this moment. They want a better game but they understand we need time. But we have to congratulate the players, they changed the game. We need fresh legs and then they are good players and they can solve some problems that the team cannot solve at the moment. The players are helping a lot so congratulations to the players. We have a lot to do so this result doesn't change anything. It has just given us more strength and more joy to work on our game idea." 

ROOM TO IMPROVE

"We have some moments but it's not like a line of top performance. It's like a rollercoaster of a performance. So we have to understand that we have to feel that in the game, we have some moments that we are good but, in other moments, we have to suffer. I think we did it again, like in the last game in the Europa League [against Bodo/Glimt]. But we need time to train and time to improve."

IS SCORING GOALS EARLY IN HALVES THE PLAN?

"No, I'm just very, very lucky! If you can understand the moments of these three games, we had some luck in the moments that we scored. So I'm just a lucky guy. It's not the focus. I just focus on winning, to try to build a new idea to the team."

GOALS FROM THE FORWARDS

"It doesn't matter who scores. If you have players in your team that you want to score to give them confidence, it's the strikers and it's better for them. For me, even if Andre Onana scores, it's the same. I just want to help them to be the best they can be."

TRAINING-GROUND ROUTINE FOR OPENER?

"It's another thing you have to say congratulations to the players and the rest of the staff for. They are the most important thing on set-pieces, the staff. So congratulations to the staff, great job. Of course, we knew that [Everton's defending shape] and also you can see how big they are. You know how small we are as a team today in our line-up. So we try to feel the game and to see where we have the space to create the danger."

AMAZING AMAD

"He's a really big talent. Small in size but he did a great job. He also has to improve but I think he's in a very good moment. Also I think the three amazing games that Ruud [van Nistelrooy] was in charge of this team helped him a lot, Amad, and Amad is now helping me." 

SENSE OF OPTIMISM?

"I think to have a new face always helps and I think we have to be very clear to our fans and that will help. Instead of us trying to look at this result and try to convince our supporters of something, we have a lot to do. If we take our time to do it, we will fight for every game like we did because, sometimes, we are not playing well but we defend - everybody together. I think this is an important point and it's very important in this club because I think our fans just ask for hard work and then, in the second moment, with time, they will ask for better football."