Ruben Amorim has insisted that he isn't concerned about Arne Slot's apparent criticism regarding Manchester United's style of play in their win against Liverpool last weekend.
Arne Slot pointed to United's defensive setup and “long balls” after the historic victory at Anfield. He later explained that his comments were meant as praise when speaking on Friday. Amorim, speaking soon after, gave his response to the Dutchman's initial comments. “I don’t care what Slot is saying, what people are saying about our team,” he stated. “I can watch the game and say we can do better and we need to do better in the future but sometimes you need to adapt to the game. So I don’t need anyone to evaluate my team. I can evaluate my team and I am really clear that we should play better with the ball and we are going to try to do that in this game.”
Key Players Upholding Expectations
Bruno Fernandes will reach a milestone for United when they host Brighton on Saturday. When questioned about who beyond the captain maintains the standards at the club, he mentioned several individuals: “Harry Maguire. Diogo Dalot tries to do that,” he noted. “Luke Shaw can show in some moments by the way he plays, when he’s so focused. I think Nous [Mazraoui] has a good impact. Licha [Lisandro Martínez], he is really important in this.”
Building Momentum
The win against their rivals means United have secured back-to-back league victories under Amorim. He explained that this achievement has to do a lot with attitude. “I’m not saying my players don’t want to win or run, but we need to sometimes [when] it’s getting harder [in matches] to force ourselves to do the basics,” he commented. “If you look at Brighton and the way they play, every team that pressed a little higher struggled and they won. We need to be prepared – not just against the top teams but against opponents that are [also] really good.”
The Captain's Landmark and Future
The midfielder signed for United from Sporting for a significant fee in January 2020 and has been one of the few consistently high performers for the club in the intervening years. The 31-year-old considered joining Al-Hilal in the summer after a lucrative bid was tabled, but chose to stay with United following discussions. Talking before his landmark game, Fernandes, whose deal runs until 2028, insisted he will discuss his future again only after next summer’s World Cup.
“I’ve seen a lot of people talking that I had an agreement to go already next season. If the club has done that agreement, it wasn’t with me,” he remarked. “I haven’t spoken with anyone. I could tell you that there are still people talking to me and saying that they will be very eager to have me next year, of course. But from my side, that’s not talked about. Because my agent also knows how I work, so if he wants to talk to me, it will be after the World Cup. Because until then, I won’t speak to anyone.”
New Signings and Team Dynamics
The captain also highlighted that the new arrivals, who signed for United in the summer, are the kind of characters United require. He went on to commend their fellow new recruits the young striker and goalkeeper. “We need big characters because at this club being good players sometimes is not enough because of the pressure,” said the captain. “Cunha has that good arrogance to do the good things. Bryan, the same. He’s not afraid to take the ball, do his play. We brought two players who were aware of the Premier League also. And then we bought a very young goalkeeper [Lammens] and a centre-forward [and] they hit the ground flying [running]. We know Ben will be judged by scoring goals or not. But apart from that, he’s been doing great. He’s got his goals already [too].”
Reflecting on Mbeumo, he continued: “Sometimes I get upset with [Mbeumo] in training because he’s like, one touch more, and I say: ‘Bryan, you don’t need that. You can one touch and shoot because you’re more than able. You did that against us when you were at Brentford. You just have to make it for us now. The shirts have changed, but you’re the same player so we need that from you.’”
