The manager discussed last week's match winner's contract situation, what he took away from the recent wins, Brighton and his skipper coming up to 300 appearances for the club.
Team News:
Amorim gave us a bit of a concerning update regarding both Maguire and Mount as the pair has picked up knocks during the week. However, he has confirmed that they aren't serious but they will have to be evaluated before tomorrow's game. Martinez is still not ready although he did train really well on the next pitch says the manager. Amorim feels the butcher is close to training with the first-team but cannot say when exactly he will return.
On Maguire's contract, Amorim says that this isn't the time to discuss his future but is happy with the defender.
He mentions how Maguire is "more comfortable" with playing in aback three and that he's really pleased with his performances yet feels he can still "learn a lot" despite his age of 32. The manager feels he can be so much better with the ball and believes he needs to show it given his capabilities and with teams using longballs a lot more, a player of Maguire's aerial ability comes in handy.
"Brighton is really fun to watch." Amorim feels that the Seagulls are really strong in "every aspect of the game" and that to come up against such a side, United will have to be really smart. MUFC's manager was praising of his counterpart Fabian Hurzeler in that one can see the quality Brighton possess and that they believe a lot in what they are doing. "I'm a huge fan of Fabian."
The Portuguese wants to use the good spirit from the win over Liverpool but the focus is on the next match.
He spoke about the team being really focused during the wins over Sunderland and Liverpool but says that his side adapted to the situations of those particular games in those moments. Amorim feels that it is "a good thing" to be able to manage games differently pointing out to how the first half went against Sunderland compared to the second and also how scoring early at Anfield meant having to manage that game differently.
On Bruno, he admitted that his captain is "a little bit different to what he was expecting." Whenever we see Bruno's frustrations, his manager says that it comes from a good place because he wants to help the team and that we don't understand that because "you are not here." He says that Fernandes "takes it personally" whenever United suffers defeat. Amorim also added that we will have to wait and see whether he does make his 300th appearance tomorrow but did give us awry smile. "He is a great captain."
Amorim says he wants to maintain a level of calmness in what they are doing. This was in reference to his comments post the Liverpool win where he told the media to continue with their narrative. "We need to be clear on our path and not changing because of one game."
Final Thoughts
I'm not going to go into too much depth about Maguire. He has been good the past year, he's come through a lot of stick which is an example for all but I think we need to move him on. He is of the past, isn't the most successful and as per Amorim, he plays well because of three at the back. Here are my thoughts.
Brighton are a good side. We know that for the past 5 years, they've been one of the better footballing outfits in the league. However, this season, they have been very inconisistent when looking at their results and against whom they've picked up points. They also have a strong record against us.
Whether they're fun to watch, I'm not sure about that but they're certainly easier on the eye compared to United. We will have to be smart in how we play and if you saw Hurzeler's comments, you will see that he has taken a page out of Arne Slot's book and spoke about how United are essentially, a long ball team:
"I think they are playing more direct and more vertical style, so more long balls trying to target [Bryan] Mbeumo and [Benjamin] Sesko, trying to win the second balls and continue on the wing."
This and Amorim's comments suggest to me that we might go the direct route again tomorrow given how Brighton like to play. Theirs is a similar style to Liverpool in that they prefer the ball on the ground a lot. Playing it in the air counteracts that and might put the Seagulls off their game. Amorim mentioning Maguire's height could indicate that he will start (if fit) and will continue with this more old-school approach. Sesko up front may be another option although as Brighton's two centre-backs in Lewis Dunk and Jan Paul van Hecke are two big, tall defenders, the United boss might want to do what he did at Anfield and use the false 9 of Mount once more (if he too is fit).
I don't like this whole game-to-game approach. I prefer when we have a set team and a set style and need oppositions to adapt to us. I understand that Amorim was (and perhaps still is) in survival mode and he needed to do whatever he needed to get results. But I fear that the longer he keeps doing that and the longer we keep picking up positive results with a side that I believe is very short-term, the greater our problems will be in the future.
Watch this video where I spoke about how I don't like the teams he's picking.
Admittedly though, it is great to know that we do have this ability to adapt to different circumstances during different games. Adapting at all signals progress because that was something we certainly didn't do much of in the past.
As for Bruno, we all know he's going to start tomorrow so Amorim doesn't need to be coy about it. Reaching 300 appearances is an incredible milestone for a player at this club and he has been an incredible servant.
Just not in the past couple of seasons 😬.
I find that the skipper has dipped in terms of his performances over the last two years and it's not all down to playing out of position. He may still get the numbers but it's about more than that for me. It's not all about scoring and assisting when you're a creative player. Those stats will show he manages to create chances more than anyone else but it's about his overall performance that has been concerning to me.
It's hard to see where he's had a consistent run of solid 7/10s in the past year as these performances are sporadic rather than anything continuous.
I also wouldn't agree that he is a 'great captain.' He's nowhere to be found in the difficult moments and can often be quite frustrating himself with some of his whiny antics. He does have leader-like qualities but I don't believe he's a great captain.
But I can never doubt his passion and love for United. That is one thing no one can question and when we lose, I've no doubt that he feels it more than most especially because he's the captain. The responsibility on his shoulders to be the guy is not something anyone else in our squad can take and he's had to do it for many years. Knowing the character he is though, he wouldn't have it any other way. Bruno is probably quite hard on himself as he expects nothing but the best.
Ruben Amorim | Creator: Carl Recine | Credit: Getty Images Copyright: 2025 Getty Images via Goal