Ruben Amorim has revealed he liked “today more than last weekend” when comparing our last two wins against Brighton & Hove Albion and Liverpool.
The Reds registered our third consecutive Premier League win with a 4-2 victory over the Seagulls, with Matheus Cunha, Casemiro and Bryan Mbeumo (2) all getting on the scoresheet.
Amorim met with journalists inside Old Trafford after the victory and discussed those two wins, Casemiro’s resurgence and Cunha’s first United goal.
Keep scrolling to read everything he had to say…
Congratulations on the win. Obviously, we spoke a lot about the Liverpool result and how important that was, but to get over the line, a third win in a row, how big is that for you and your season?
“[It] was really important. Also, the performance, we had to play different games in different moments of the game, and I think the players understood really well what to do in every moment. We suffered a little bit in the end. But it would not be Manchester United without suffering a little bit. But I think we deserved the win against a very, very good team, a team that is really hard to press really high. But we did well.”
It’s obviously your best winning run, but do you think over the past few weeks we’ve seen the best of Manchester United under you? And, to your mind, do they look a lot more like your team than they ever have?
“Yeah, I think they are more confident. I think the best game that we did this season was against Arsenal, was the first one. But then, when you are a little bit more confident, when you have a different spirit, sometimes you have a little bit [of] luck in certain moments of the game that help you to win games. Is that what I’m feeling now, that we are a little bit more free playing the game? And like last week, we have a little bit luck because of that, because we are in the different spirit.”
Sir Jim Ratcliffe was here. I don’t know if you’ve spoken to him since the final whistle, but what do you feel now that your team’s winning, that you can look at him and say, ‘I’m delivering what you want’?
“It’s more for the fans. I never had that feeling of embarrassment of what I was doing, or not winning games. It’s more with the fans, because I felt always that Jim believes and knows what we are doing, but to face the fans is a little bit different in this moment. But what I feel is the urgency of not losing this moment because it’s so hard and in football, everything can change in one week. So, let’s enjoy today and focus on the next one.”
You just said there that Brighton are quite a hard team to press high up. It looked like you had Matthijs [de Ligt] and [Luke] Shaw being very aggressive when [Georginio] Rutter and [Danny] Welbeck dropped in. Did you feel like the team was a little bit more aggressive today?
“That was the plan. When we have Harry Maguire, we can defend better, our box, so we can play a little bit lower. But when you have players that can press high, they are – Matta maybe – but Luke is not really tall, but he’s fast, he’s aggressive. We can press a little bit higher. And we know that they are so confident that if we win the ball, we have the players in front of the goal. They are so good that you just need one chance when you win the ball. And I think we did really well, especially in the first half.”
That was Matheus [Cunha]’s first goal for United tonight, but his performances so far have warranted more than that. Do you expect him to kick on now? And what can you tell us about what he brings to this team and how he changes?
“You felt that – I think everyone felt against Liverpool – he feels more confident if the game is harder, he wants the responsibility. I really like the way he defends today. He was not jumping all the time. He was not jumping and then returning to position without the right pace. Today, [he] defend really well. And when he has the ball, he’s not my concern. I have no concerns [when] Matheus has the ball. He was struggling about not scoring goals. He can try to hide, but I understand. He was really happy, but I’m [happy] not just with Matheus. I think everyone understood really well how to beat a very good team.”
How happy are you with the mental side of the team, that they’re showing resilience?
“I think we are improving in the bad moments, we can respond in a different way, and we feel that we can solve anything. And that helps us to win these kind of games when you are in a very good moment and then you struggle in the end, but you can feel that the team is a little bit different. But you said everything in your question. Was three weeks ago, ‘Ugh’, also, so that can change also in the next three weeks. So, again, let’s enjoy, but that urgency of, ‘This could change’, it must be there in the next training.”
