We've had Rashford presssers before, we've had Maguire pressers before (ironically he was next to Amorim for this one), and now we've had the Onana presser. Almost every question was about the underperforming goalkeeper with Amorim probably frustrated at the amount of questions regarding his no 1.
He even gave the same answer for some of them yet the media asked him all the same. No questions about our opponents though, despite them being a side that stand between us and potentially our worst season E V E R.
"Zirkzee out for the season" confirms Ruben Amorim. Not the news United fans wanted to hear although we all knew it was coming. The United manager says that it's tough on the player but that he now has to be ready to recover.
Amorim also confirmed that Onana will be starting in goal tomorrow night.
More team news is that Amorim expects to see De Ligt return some time this season and while Heaven is also not far from a comeback, he did suffer a setback causing him to miss out against Lyon. We all saw that Evans has made a return to training but he too will be out for this match.
Amad is another whom we saw the training videos of but Amorim says that the forward will be missing for the remainder of April.
The MUFC boss believes that when it comes to Onana and trying to resolve his issues, it's about managinig them [players] "physically, but also mentally." The manager felt that Onana needed the week off after last week's draw and thought that now that he is ready again, he would be the golakeeper for tomorrow night.
Harry Maguire was next to Amorim and he was giving his thoughts about what has been a truly terrible campaign. The former captain says that "it's been a disappointing season" and that United have been "far too inconsistent." He believes that the players have to take responsibility in key moments of the game to change their fortunes.
Maguire went down the same path as Amorim in which he said that even if United win the Europa League, it will still be a "disappointing" season but acknowledges that it would be a big bonus to lift it all the same.
Amorim then said that it's more about the budget when it comes to planning for next season however, admits that while the goal is to qualify for the Champions League and win the Premier League, without those mid-week European games, there is more time to train as the team "needs a lot of work."
The United manager says that his team aren't ready to play in both the league and Champions League at this moment in time. "You have to be really clear." Again he mentioned how if you play in the Champions League, you will have a better budget which can help to get a better team.
The 40 year old says that it's about trying to improve the players that are already at the club instead of saying that certain players aren't good enough and new recruits are required when asked specifically about whether he wants a new goalkeeper.
Amorim was continually asked the question of whether a new goalkeeper is needed by a journalist to which he kept giving the same answer.
Maguire was also asked whether it's difficult to play in front of a goalkeeper prone to mistakes. He replied that in his past, Onana has proved to be "an excellent goalkeeper" and that "I have confidence in Andre."
Maguire himself experienced something similar to Onana in that the spotlight was on him for all the wrong reasons. He said that the best way to deal with it is to try and "ignore it all." One can only go out onto the field and give their best.
Final Thoughts
Not the best of team news. And we're having Onana start in goal as well.
😩.
No Zirkzee, no Amad, no De Ligt, no Heaven, Martinez out for the season. WTF is going on with injuries at United?! I thought we'd sorted this issue out. Clearly we haven't and it could cost us European football next season.
With Onana, most would probably say that he needed more than a week off IYKWIM. I trust the manager and he was my predicted gk to start tomorrow and it's not as if Bayindir is much better. Hopefully this time off was exactly what Onana needed because we might need him to have a blinder tomorrow.
I like the fact that they are backing him in this presser as it is what you expect them to do. You don't want to say things that could further dampen his spirits ahead of such a big game.
Yet in the news (whether true or not) we've seen reports that Amorim apparently wants a new goalkeeper. It's understandable given how poor Onana has been considering the expectation everyone had of him before he joined. For the now though, we need him to be at his best and if words of encouragement can help, then I'm all for it.
The importance of winning this trophy cannot be stated enough. First of all, just winning a trophy is such a massive thing. To lift a European one, even the EL, is even better and is the next best to the league and CL.
You then qualiy for next season's CL which is where we want to be. None of this Thursday night crap. I suppose that that's a bonus either way 🤷♂️.
Winning the Europa League will give us a good amount of money of £11m based on team's performances which is something to add to that budget Amorim was talking about.
This might allow us to bring in better players who will help us achieve our and his vision of where he wants this team to be and give Amorim the chance of reaching that playing style sooner rather than later.
Champions League football also attracts better players which makes everything even better.
It's a snowball effect.
As for him saying that without European football, it gives them more time to train because the team needs work, I don't like that. It's almost as if he's saying it's okay to not play in Europe at all next season. Just imagine that: Man Utd not in Europe at all.
If that were to happen, all of those things mentioned above won't occur or have a higher chance of not happening. From what I've seen as well, we seem to perform better when we play every three days rather than have those weeks off. I think we need European football.
It's an absolute must!
Paulo Fonseca: Photo by SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP via Getty Images - Get French Football News
Ruben Amorim: Image credit: Getty Images via Goal