Ruben Amorim Challenges Manchester United To Show More Consistency

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has challenged his squad to show more consistency in their forthcoming fixtures.

In their last two fixtures United have secured an impressive 2-2 draw with the Premier League leaders Liverpool at Anfield and on Sunday knocked Arsenal out of the FA Cup with a dramatic penalty shoot-out win at the Emirates Stadium.

These results have infused the club with some much needed optimism after they had lost four consecutive games over the Christmas period, which saw them knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Tottenham before suffering Premier League defeats to Bournemouth, Wolves and Newcastle.

"I’m always concerned because we didn’t have, during these games, the consistency in performance or results, so I’m always worried. It’s my job to be worried,” Amorim said at a press conference on Wednesday ahead of Southampton’s visit to Old Trafford on Thursday.

“We have to face Southampton in the same way that we faced Liverpool or Arsenal. That is the goal. Not more, not less. Understanding that they are different games and people expect us to win, and that changes things.”

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“When you have the pressure to win, that is the pressure that we want and sometimes it’s harder to cope with that pressure because against Arsenal and Liverpool, no one was expecting us to beat these teams. But now it’s different. We have to be prepared for that pressure, we need that pressure to improve as a team, and we need to face the game in the right way."

Southampton currently sit bottom of the Premier League having won just one of their first 20 games while amassing 6 points, conceding 44 goals and having a goal difference of -32.

"I think this next game will teach me more from my players than the last two,” Amorim said. “I’m really focused to see what kind of game we are going to play tomorrow. So I will learn more tomorrow. Like I said, because there is no expectation in the last two games. No one believed that we could do a great performance or winning a game. But now they are expecting us to win and to play well, so I will learn more in this game."

Amorim acknowledged his players would need to change their approach against Southampton and show more attacking initiative and be more clinical in front of goal.

"It’s different because I think the most difficult thing to train in one team is the way you build with the ball. And in the final third, the way you play, the way you create situations, that is what a big team should do very well but we also need time to train.”

“We have had a lack of goals for a long time and because we don’t spend a lot of times with the ball in the last third during games. We did it against Nottingham Forest and also Bournemouth, we had situations, but we need to improve in that part of the game.”

“And I understand that in this moment it’s okay to play like that... we divided the game against Liverpool but against Arsenal, we waited for the opportunity, but in the future we cannot play like that, and I know that.”

“We need time to build a different way of playing. Now we are focused on different things and then in the future we are going to focus on that. But this game, the fans will expect more from us and we have to deliver. Or try. But the most important thing is to fight in the game and to play the game, and in the end, win the game."

Amorim was asked if Marcus Rashford, who has not played in the Premier League since the start of December, could feature against Southampton. "I just want to win tomorrow,” he replied. “My focus is to win tomorrow. I will choose the players who I think are the best to win tomorrow, so I’m just focused on that."

"A lot of players I had to think about this week. Toby Collyer is training really well, he has a lot of pace, he likes to learn, so it’s one more option."

The Portuguese coach was also asked if United had turned the corner this season. "We’ll see tomorrow. I think tomorrow will tell us more from our team than the last two games, so let’s wait until tomorrow."