Ruben Amorim and Matthijs De Ligt took a seat in front of the press to talk about what has now become a must-win (or at least must not lose) game against Real Sociedad.
There was much to discuss ahead of a crunch meeting in San Sebastian.
The United boss says that the reasoning behind Chido Obi's omission from the squad is that when making the call, there was Rashford and Zirkzee who were playing in that position. "The context was completely different and we choose different players."
With all of the injuries, United's squad for this trip is very young especially when looking at who will be on the bench. Amorim though, feels that there is still enough experience in the team and despite this believes that "we are ready."
Speaking of injuries, there are two more to add to the ever-growing list of absentees as both Manuel Ugarte and Harry Maguire will miss the game tonight due to "small things" after they had problems in Sunday's loss to Fulham.
While it will not be long layoffs on the sidelines, Amorim says that "we cannot allow us to lose more players for a long time" explaining why he didn't risk the duo for Sociedad.
In an interview with Sky Sports, Amorim said that the club had more important things to worry about rather than just winning any cup. Considering what lifting the Europa League can do, this was seen as odd to say and he was asked about whether he understands the significance of how triumph in this competition will be beneficial to helping United build for that future he was talking about.
However, the manager still believes that winning the tournament is "not the crucial thing for the club" but understands that winning it will make a "massive difference" to their season.
Amorim says that "it's a team thing" when it comes to lack of chances being created for the forwards. He also believes that maybe it's to do with a bit of luck that his team are just not getting things exactly right in order to create these goal scoring opportunities.
Matthijs De Ligt said that he wouldn't call it a 'shock' to see where United are but everyone would've "expected a little bit better" and that looking at the league position, even if you play at 99%, you can still lose.
The defender mentions how it's important to improve both as a team and as an individual because they haven't been good enough this season.
De Ligt says that the main goal is to get a good result and win the game against Sociedad which for the moment, is where the focus is on rather than trying to win the competition as a whole.
Amorim had hinted that maybe he won't be here to help get the club back to where it belongs because this is a long term project and not something that can be solved now. He adds that "problems continue here even with the Champions League." This was after he said that even if United win the Europa League, that doesn't mean all the problems will go away although it can provide some help.
He does believe in the long term goals of the club and with his recent comments, Amorim says that he's just trying to explain to the fans the bigger picture at United. Amorim also feels he is the man to get United back to the top, "that is clear, I know what to do."
He was asked another question on whether he is still going to stick with his system even though it isn't working at the moment.
"I think the system is not the problem." He acknowledges that every system needs different characteristics and that they are trying to solve the many problems they have in the team but as ever when asked this question, Ruben Amorim remains defiant on his style of play as "I will not change that."
Final Thoughts
This Chido Obi omission looks very silly now. I guess back then it was a different context and we did have others available when the selections were made but I feel like he should've been included anyway just because.
It's always great to have these youngsters in the squad and even if they don't play, the experience for them will be something that helps them out in the future. Obi is also a great talent who probably would've had a decent chance of game time even had we had a full squad because of how good he is.
We should've just included him in my opinion.
That squad is made up of experienced internationals but also the academy, there's no in-between. I know I said that it's a good experience for the youngsters to go on these European trips but that is for one or two not all of them.
The matchday squad includes Mee, Harrison, Amass, Heaven and Collyer, all players from the academy who've hardly played any first team football. This could be a problem should the need arise to look to the bench. I guess if you're good enough, you're old enough but this is taking it to the extreme.
Of course these drastic measures have to be taken because we're missing so many regulars with Ugarte and Maguire now being added to that list. While it's great that it's not serious, we really didn't want them to be missing this match which is one of the biggest this season. No Ugarte means Casemiro will have to fill in at CDM and we know he hasn't been at his best for quite some time with his South American counterpart being one of our more important players who makes such a difference to our team.
We do at least have cover in defense without Maguire but the former catain has been playing some of his best football under Amorim and we do need him at the back.
These are big blows and I completely understand why Amorim hasn't risked them although not having them at all is a risk as well.
I had my say here about him thinking it's not vital to win this competition but the fact that he still thinks not winning this Europa League is important for the future is concerning because if anything, you'd say that it is very important. It could help us in so many ways so for him to sit there and say that is not something I want to hear.
We know that chance creation for the forwards has been an issue for quite some time. Our team can be very frustrating in that final third which for me is the reason why we don't create a lot of chances.
I believe that when we do work the ball well, we waste the opportunity by playing a stupid pass or making the wrong decision or cutting inside and going backwards. We do these things far too often even though the pass is on.
On the other hand, I don't think the forwards are helping the rest of the team out with their movement, position and decision-making. Hojlund has been poor (I don't need to tell you that) but so has Garnacho and while Zirkzee has looked good as a number 10, he still doesn't show anything needed of a striker which is what we actually require.
Hojlund's last 18 games has seen him have just 15 shots at goal, 6 on target, 4 big chances missed and of course 0 goals.
Even though we don't create much, this is just horrific.
De Ligt spoken like a true captain.
I guess he isn't going to come out and say 'yeah, we've been shit' even though I think we all think that. So to say it's not a shock to be where we are but he would've expected better is kind of a nicer way of saying that we have been shit, at least to me. If he was that blunt though, nobody would've disagreed.
When he says that even if we play at 99% in the league there's a chance we could lose, that is true but we haven't played at 99% in fact, most would say that we've played at 9%. The performances for majority of the season has been pathetic with one being able to name the good performances on one hand.
I believe that we do have a squad that is good enough to beat most teams even if we don't play our best but that it depends on how much the players want it. If we show that we do care, are getting to grips with the new system and play as well as we know we can, then we should be winning more games than not.
But that hasn't been the case as we may not even show up in matches which is a problem in itself.
I like that De Ligt compared to Amorim, didn't say that a cup isn't that important but rather said that the focus is on tomorrow before anything else. I think that is probably a better answer if I'm honest because when he said this, I do believe that De Ligt knows how important lifting this trophy is and as a winner himself, he would want to win it just because.
Really good answer 👏.
However, now that I think about it, maybe it isn't a good thing for the manager and one of his senior players to be thinking differently about the future 😬.
Considering that the project is long term and there's even a name for it ('Project 150) for United to win the league again on the 150th anniversary of the club's inception in 2028, perhaps Amorim will not be here. Managers only last around 2 years at a club nowadays so that will take Ruben to 2027 should he not be sacked by then, which is a possibility as well given our current state on the field.
But I do love the fact that he said that even should we win this competition and get into the CL, it will still not solve all the problems. This tells us what we already know that there are sooooooooo many issues to resolve at United that while something like lifting a European trophy will be great and can help relieve some pressure, it still won't be enough to truly sort out what is going on at United.
It's really great to hear this from the manager. Maybe this explains why he says that it's not so important to win a cup 🤷♂️.
I also believe in him as a coach. Having seen what he did at Sporting, if we give him the right players, there's no reason why Amorim can't be the guy to lift that 14th PL title. He's more than capable but he has been dealt such a difficult hand with the situation of the club.
Hopefully he is given what he needs in order to be a success otherwise he will suffer the same fate as previous managers.
I'm tired of this whole system thing. Every time he's asked about it, he gives the same answer that he won't change so why keep asking him?
And what system do they want him to play? He's never played with four at the back despite his short managerial career. These players were also crap in a system they were familiar with (4-2-3-1) as we were in 13th under Erik ten Hag playing terrible football.
It is new and different which will take time for people to get used to but it isn't the system, it really isn't. If it was, why did it work for him at Sporting? And is it a system issue when players make wrong decisions all the time, when they can't pass the ball properly or can't control it, are too slow and lack focus?
This is all football basics which we've known these players struggle with from a long time ago. They were making these stupid errors well before Amorim. The goal we conceded to Fulham was so similar to a goal we conceded to Fulham 2 years ago!
If anything, what this new system has done has made it even clearer that these lot are not fit to wear the United shirt. The principles of the football remain the same but it's about whether the players are capable of doing what the manager wants.
Which they aren't.
When ten Hag changed his philosophy to suit these players, everyone was on his back because he needed to stick with it. Amorim sticks with it, everyone is on his back as he has to change it.
People don't know what they want. I love that he's sticking to his philosophy no matter what. That is who he is as a manager and he will stand by that to the end.
Background Image: Ruben Amorim and Matthijs De Ligt | Creator: Shaun Botterill | Credit: Getty Images Copyright: 2024 Getty Images via Goal