Ruben Amorim conducted his West Ham presser straight after the win over Bilbao and he had a lot to say regarding the situation of the team in the league and what he's going to do in order to try and win the Europa League.
It may make some unhappy.
Amorim mentions how small characteristics of a player can make a difference and change the way one plays. He was talking about Garnacho playing on the right of the two no 10s and that if he had a left-foot it "can change the way you play."
He adds that to get players with the characteristics needed is going to take time and won't happen in one summer window. Despite the win last night, the United boss says that they "have a lot of things to improve."
The United manager says that key players will still feature in the next two Premier League games (West Ham and Chelsea) even though that final is not far off. He says that he won't risk the players who are injury concerns and that it's also "better to play" instead of sit on the sidelines.
United will play in Asia (28 May) straight after the final league game against Aston Villa on 25 May. Amorim says that he was consulted about this and that it's good for the club as they need the money and also to connect with fans around the world.
He also confirms that they will take the entire squad including youngsters.
With the injury concerns, Amorim says that they will have to manage how they take care of those on the edge and that while they may not be fully ready for that final in 17 days, they will be pushing for a place in the squad.
With there being just three league games left, Amorim confirms that his players will "fight for their place in the final in these games" as training will become "softer."
He also agrees with ex-captain Roy Keane in that his side can do better as their form is very up and down from Europe to the Premier League. Amorim says that considering how bad the season has gone, he accepts the criticism but admits that the final is of utmost importance resulting in him taking the added risk of dropping further down the league table by resting key players in order to try and win the final.
Final Thoughts
I'm glad he said this about Garnacho and this isn't specific to him but why is it that footballers can't play with both feet? Unless you're Messi you really should be confident enough to use your weaker foot whenever necessary. There are several situations where this is the case but because it's not on their strong foot, they don't make the most of the opportunity. It really is these small things that make the difference.
The game last night was also not as smooth sailing and emphatic as the scoreline suggests. We were terrible until those substitutions with 30 minutes remaining. We cannot play like that in the final otherwise we may as well give Spurs the trophy now. There is much to improve.
Of course we don't want anymore injuries but we also cannot afford to take our foot off the gas. We need to keep the players playing as much as they can ahead of the final so as to maintain that rhythm of playing football. It's very difficult when you lose that momentum but as the manager says, they also cannot afford to push the players too hard.
These three matches are like a glorified pre-season. We don't want to lose but more than anything, we just want the players to maintain their form and improve whilst getting minutes. If we can win on top of that, that will be great but at this point, the league is a total disaster regardless of where we finish.
This is pretty much what Amorim has been saying for a while that it is unacceptable how the league has gone and that nothing will save the campaign as a whole but lifting the Europa League will certainly salvage this season to some extent as well as give us serious help moving forward.
If we don't beat Spurs, then it's hard to explain how we feel about this season. It really is all on that final.
Fuck the league. Simple as that. Jose did it albeit we were in 6th rather than 15th but he sacrificed the league to win the Europa and in the end, it turned out to be the correct decision. Amorim is going to do the same and I think we all agree with that, all of us it seems except the ex-players who believe we are still the Man Utd they played for.
Understand the context and where we are currently and stop comparing to the past. We unfortunately, aren't that United anymore. The standards have to obviously remain but we need to know our place currently and try to improve where we can instead of trying to keep up with those of yesteryear and fall short because we're simply not good enough.
That won't help anyone.
Ruben Amorim says focus is on the Europa League final | Ruben Amorim: Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)