The United boss was back in front of the media ahead of the Monday night fixture against Everton. United are unbeaten in five with the MUFC manager looking at extending that run. However, certain team news might make that harder than he would've liked.
Amorim confirms that Maguire will miss the visit of Everton while Mainoo will train tomorrow despite not being in training today. Martinez is also close to being ready whereas we know that Sesko will be out for a few weeks.
The United manager admits to wanting to "keep them a little longer" when it comes to those who will be going to the AFCON in December. Amad, Bryan Mbeumo and Noussair Mazroaui will all jet off two weeks prior to the start of the tournament on 18 December.
However, he does add that the academy will be ready for this moment.
The LWB position is one that is still up for grabs with neither Diogo Dalot nor Patrick Dorgu truly making that spot their own. Amorim was asked whether Luke Shaw could play in that position. He answered that "yes, he can play there" but that that role requires more workload than his current spot of left centre-back.
Another player who many fans feel can play in a different position is Martinez as a midfielder. However, the United boss says that “a smart intelligent football player can play in a lot of positions but he can't play there."
Speaking on his one year anniversary, Amorim says that things moved very fast and that the environment in the Premier League was different. "There was a feeling that it was the best league and the best club in the world."
Final Thoughts
Losing Amad and Mbeumo will be HUGE. The quality they've brought to the side and the partnership they've developed in this short space of time has been one of the main reasons as to why we've done well in this recent run.
It's impossible to replace such quality but Amorim doesn't lack for options in those positions.
When it comes to the academy, Amorim has hardly used it. I think that this is down to the risk factor of playing inexperienced youngsters rather than the fact that he doesn't want to use them. I know there's the issue with Mainoo but he has been in the first team for a couple of years. He has been reluctant to make use of La Carrington since being appointed and while that is disappointing, I understand why he doesn't want to take that risk.
We also only have one game a week so there's no need to rotate the team however, with players being injured and going to AFCON, thrwoing them straight in will be unfair. They would need some game time in the first team before they play regularly.
There is obvious quality in the academy but playing in the Premier League is way harder than anything at youth level. They will need time and can we afford that? I doubt we'll see many minutes given to them unless absolutely forced to.
I do believe that Shaw is more than capable of playing in this position but that due to that workload Amorim mentioned, at some point, he will break down again. However, this is what I think about him in this role.
Martinez has a lot of abilities that would make one think that he could do a job in midfield. One of his best is his ability on the ball and calmness in possession.
Whether he can be an out-and-out midfielder I'm not sure, but at times, when we need him to, he can definitely step into midfield. When we have possession and the team has pushed higher up the field, a player like Martinez is more than capable of stepping up and allowing us to keep the pressure by winning the ball back quickly with his defensive attributes and how well he anticipates danger.
There's also no need for United to have three defenders when we have the ball. Someone can step up and I feel like the best out of the three is Martinez.
I will have my review of Amorim's year in charge coming out tomorrow and there's a lot to discuss. Stay tuned 👀.
Ruben Amorim | Image credit: Getty Images via Goal