A tough week is what Amorim called the last few days after that embarrassing 1-0 loss to Everton at Old Trafford on Monday night. He now has to see his unpredictable United side travel to a ground in which they haven't tasted victory at since 2020! He will have to do this one without a couple of key players as well.
The manager says that Sesko is expected to be missing for longer than was initially thought and that both Maguire and Cunha will be out for this trip to Forest. They do expect Cunha back for West Ham next Thursday however.
Amorim believes that United "should have more points" when looking at the games this season and that the defeat to Everton was "frustrating." He feels that his side need to know how to finish games in order to get the desired result.
He finds that the intensity with his players has imrpoved this season but that against Everton, it had dipped which is "something we need to work on." Amorim also says that the draws against Forest and Spurs were games that were there for the taking which goes back to his comment about not knowing how to finish games and lack of intensity at times. Amorim adds that not having the right urgency in Monday night's defeat was part of the reason as to why they didn't win that game and other games this season.
The United boss admits that it has been a "tough week" after the loss to 10 man Everton yet feels that the process must continue with focus shifting to the next game.
Amorim points out to the data as an explanation as to why they "play a different way" to Palace despite both sides' use of the 3-4-3 system. He points out that Palace play more in transition compared to United but believes that in "in all positions, we can do so much better." He also wants to have the right characteristics in every position.
Final Thoughts
What the fuck is this Cunha injury?!
I really expected him to be back so much so that I have him on my banner image for the preview. Did that before we faced Palace in the hopes that the Brazilian will return but alas, I was wrong.
Very disappointing tbh because that is now two injuries he's had in just 12 league games. You could say that his lack of form is down to these injuries and stop-start nature of his time at United but obviously we're missing out on one of the league's most exciting players. We are also better with him than without.
I know it's early days with him but this is a little concerning. Hopefully this isn't another Mason Mount case 🤞.
No, we shouldn't have more points that what we do because we deserve to be where we are. Yes, you could argue that certain games like Arsenal and Fulham, we should've gotten more than 1 point in those two games but we can't look at those and say this. You learn and improve which is why he is correct in saying we need to finish games.
Going back to those two at the start of the season, prime examples of what the manager is saying. How many chances did we have to finish off Arsenal and Fulham. You take those lessons and move but as we've seen, we don't really finish teams off and always give them a chance. Even against Brighton, 3-0 up and we almost threw that away.
When it comes to the intensity, we very rarely see it and certainly don't see it consistently enough. It seems that almost every team outruns us and we can also see that we run out of steam in the second period. That's why we have that awful second half record. Much like the mentality, the intensity is very inconsistent.
Against Everton, we had neither. The intensity was nowhere to be seen all game and the mindset wasn't one that would've suggested we would find our way back into it. Amorim also has to look at himself here because he did nothing to affect the game and was very risk averse. Many have complained about him keeping three centre-backs on despite playing against 10 men for majority of the game. This lack of intensity, mindset and overall ambition in games from the manager runs through the team.
I don't think we should be looking at data when it comes to style of play. I'm not a big fan of stats and numbers because it can mask how a team or player truly performs.
We saw that earlier in the season, United were top of the table for shots, crosses, accurate long balls and this, that and the other, but fuck me was the football boring! And it still is!
I don't really know what we're going to get because we don't know whether United will actually show up or not. One does not need data for that. It comes from you.
Why Palace performs better is because their manager plays the right players in the right positions for a start, and they also have players who give their best every time they play. We do neither. Regardless of the system, if you don't do these things correctly, you'll get nowhere.
Perhaps this is why he says that we can do better in each position? Maybe this is a way of him telling the players that you're shit and need to improve (almost like a test to check whether they will or not) and also to the club that who he has is simply not good enough. Both of these are true.
The players do need a kick up the arse because whatever you think about the manager, his lineups, tactics and so on, as a player, you have to go out there and give your best. If things still don't work, all the blame will go on to the manager.
We also know that a lot of players are just shit. No matter what Amorim wants of them or his setup, there's simply no improving a player who isn't good enough for this level.
This is where the board have to come in because they have all the power to change things. Amorim can only do so much with what he has and needs the support of the club in terms of signings. January will be here soon and it gives us a chance to bring in players which is more necessary due to the AFCON where Mbeumo and Amad will be gone. We've seen how much of an impact they've had this season.
Signings need to be made.
Ruben Amorim believes Man Utd should have had more points after start to season | Creator: Carl Recine | Credit: Getty Images via Goal