Amorim's pre-Liverpool press conference

The United head coach was addressing journalists inside Carrington in part one of his press conference ahead of this weekend's Premier League trip to Merseyside.

He was also asked about Senne Lammens's debut against the Black Cats, the current situation with the Academy and his relationship with executive figures at the club.

Keep scrolling to read, and watch, everything he had to say...

I know you always talk about how much you are in contact with the leadership here, the likes of Sir Jim [Ratcliffe], Jason [Wilcox]. Sir Jim had some really positive comments for you over the break, really backing you. How do you feel when you see those type of comments?
“He tells me all the time. Sometimes with a message after games. But you know, I know, and Jim knows, that football is not like that, so the most important thing is the next game. You cannot control, even with owners, you cannot control the next day in football. So, I know that, but it's really good to hear that. Also, because of the noise, but he tells me, and Omar [Berrada] and Jason tell me that all the time.”

In terms of your vision for this club, does it help when they say that?
“First of all, I can feel it. It's not just that thing that people talk [about], but I feel it in every day. And again, sometimes the pressure that I put on the team or on myself is so much bigger than them. I know that it's going to take a while, but I don't want to think like that. I said that last year. But of course, again, it's really good to hear that. I think it helps also our fans to understand that the leadership understands that is going to take a while. But at the same moment, I don't like that because we'll give a feeling that we have time to work things out. So, I don't want that feeling here in our club. Again, the most important thing is the next game. It’s good to feel the support, but we need to prove in football, especially in big clubs, that, every weekend, we are ready to win games.”

This will be the 100th match at Anfield between Liverpool and Manchester United. It’s a game with an awful lot of history. Your history, I think your first visit there as a player, maybe could have been better, but your most recent was possibly one of your highlights here so far.
“Yeah, I remember it, we played well, it was a draw. I was really upset in the end of the game because we proved, on that day, that we can compete against any opponents. I know that it's special for our club. I know that they are fighting all the time for the titles, the number of titles. I know what it means to the fans, but again, it's one game that we need to prove again, that we are playing better. I think we are playing better. We need to do better in both boxes. So, it's one more game that we need to win.”

The results and the performances against the so-called bigger teams have been quite good since you got here. What do you think the difference has been in those games?
“Maybe, I don't know, but maybe the expectations. When you have to win and the responsibility of winning, it's so much harder to play like that. That's why when you play in big clubs, you need to win every match, especially when people are expecting you to win. And we have some difficulties, sometimes, to deal with that. When people, and you guys, expect Manchester United not to win that game, maybe it's easier for the players to perform, and we need to change that. But to change that, we need to have confidence to win more games, to have more points, to feel more free to play the game. So, I think that is the main reason.”

I think there are seven players who didn't train yesterday, some of them were rested and had additional days off, but which players do you know won't be available for the weekend’s game?
“Licha [Lisandro Martinez] is near, but almost returning to the trainings with the team. [Noussair] Mazraoui, I don’t know. The rest of the guys, the national team [players], they are ready. But, if you saw the games, some players play in Japan, so we need to be careful, to give more time. Diogo didn’t play the last game [for Portugal], he was here [earlier]. Bruno played 62 minutes, we gave [him] one more day. We try to balance everything to have everyone ready. But they are ready, the guys are returning from national teams. They are ready to play.”

When your goalkeeper puts in a performance like that on debut, United fans are calling him the new Peter Schmeichel after less than 90 minutes, does that make him impossible to drop, even for a big game like this?
“Impossible? Nothing is impossible. You have to prove during the week but, of course, he did a great job. It is possible that he is going to start the game. The first impression in this club is really important; to maintain the level is even more important and is really difficult. So, he’s not Schmeichel yet. He’s a young guy with talent. He showed a lot of composure, and the fans liked it. But again, that is in the past; we need to prove in the next game.”

Sir Jim was quite critical of the Academy in his interview last week, he said the standards had slipped. You’ve been here nearly a year now, what’s your assessment of the health of the United Academy?
“I think we can always improve. I'm not the best guy [to ask] because I'm here for a year and our results are not being so good, so I'm not going to be the guy that is going to say that Academy is not in a good shape. What I know is that, especially nowadays, with the fair play, with the feeling of the club, the Academy is really important. We need to take care of that. We need also to give the right conditions for all the people that we have here to do a better job, because sometimes it's not just you are doing a bad job, but we need to see what kind of conditions they have to do a great job. We are paying attention to that. We are bringing people. We are always in contact with Travis [Binnion], with all the kids, trying to bring the right kids for the trainings, trying to make that relationship with the Academy. So, I think if you look at our club, we are trying to improve. We have a lot to improve, not just in the Academy, but in all aspects of our club.”

You talked earlier about how Liverpool and United are competing for the same number of titles, and the two clubs are always going to be compared with each other. When you have a season like last season, when Liverpool finish so far ahead of United, how do you address that, and what becomes a realistic aim in terms of closing the gap to them?
“That I don't know. Sometimes, things change really fast but, if you see the history of both clubs, you can feel that sometimes you have one club that is winning, winning, winning, the other club is having a bad moment. That happened with Liverpool, when Manchester United was winning everything, and that happened with Manchester United, when Liverpool was winning everything. So, we just have to acknowledge that, to be really honest with the fans. But we can win any game, so if we think about just winning the next game, that is the most important thing. We can win the next game. If we are going to fight to be at the same level as Liverpool in the future, that is the idea. I don't know how long it is going to take.”