Ruben Amorim's Leicester presser was packed full of comments a couple of which were eye opening in terms of what he said about specific players.
United will be looking to carry on the momentum after last night's win over Real Sociedad but more importantly, performance as that was one heck of a display.
Amorim believes in the last few games his players are having a better understanding of what they want to do on the pitch. He says that United don't "lose our minds" after conceding first and that there is also a better understanding of the different situations in matches.
The United manager says that they are "risking some players" when it comes to selections for games given the quick turnarounds and injuries. United once again, had a relatively young bench agaist Sociedad.
He mentions how Casemiro was tired, that Ugarte was not risked and Mount to be making a slow comeback. He wants all his players as fresh as possible ahead of the next round of the Europa League against Lyon which Amorim says will be quite physical given the way the French team plays.
While the league may be done and dusted, Amorim wants his side to continue this momentum until the end of the season citing that "everything is important."
Amorim knows that in football, there are a lot of ebbs and flows which while this latest performance was really good, anything is possible. Their goal is to improve.
Bruno Fernandes has come under a lot of criticism lately especially from the ex-players. Amorim was asked about the skipper's importance to the side to which he replied that "he is so important to this team." His numbers show it.
The manager also added that sometimes the ex-players see things in "black and white" that after having had a lot of success at United and having a high standard, that they expect this current team to be the same with Amorim saying that one has to understand the context.
"I am really proud to coach a player like him."
He also spoke about Ayden Heaven and his impressive performance, how Leicester may change their tactical setup to man-to-man on Sunday and that he "really loves Mason Mount."
Final Thoughts
I think we've all noticed in the last few matches that while the performances and results haven't been great, we can see that something is happening with this team in that we do look to be getting to better grips with Amorim's system.
We don't lose our heads as much and we actually have begun to create quite a few chances. It is slow going but sure enough, keep showing this progress, we will get there.
The Premier League has to take a back seat. I know it's our bread and butter but right now, it's all on the Europa. Yes there's a big gap between now and that first leg in the QF but we should be using the league as a rotation option and giving minutes to those who need it while trying to keep playing as we did last night, that will be the test.
It was good that the manager didn't need to use someone like Ugarte last night who clearly wasn't ready as we cannot be risking players. United need as strong a side as possible in Europe to give us our best chances of lifting that trophy and potentially risking a player is not a good choice.
Absolutely agree with him that we need to keep the momentum going. Yes rotation and rest for certain players at times is necessary but we do have to keep this winning feeling going.
A win like last night just makes us all believe that little bit more that maybe we can win the Europa League. That was one of our best performances this season and the more often we can play like that, the more likely we are to get to that final.
The positive vibes will also remain should we continue to perform like this. Very important.
I also criticize Bruno a lot only because I believe he can be too inconsistent for a player of his quality and I know he can be much better than he is.
Unlike the ex-players though, I can see Bruno's value to the team.
My God are we shit without him!
The numbers speak for themselves but we hardly have any leaders on that pitch and Bruno leads in many ways not just with his goal scoring but how he's always communicating with the team and trying to help his teammates whenever he can.
The ex-players think that where we are now as a club is the same as where we were when they were at United in that the standards have to be the same. The standard has to be high yes, but as the manager said, it's about context. These players aren't good enough. We have to understand how well they can do while also wanting them to improve.
Unfortunately, the current group are nowhere near the level we had 20 years ago but that is on the club as much as it is on those on the field. The owners allowed this lowering of the quality to happen. They need to take the blame more than anyone.
The ex-players need to be realistic about where we currently are as a club and what we can achieve at the moment.
Background Image: Ruben Amorim watches his Man Utd side beat Real Sociedad 4-1 | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)