Ruben Amorim speaking at a Europa League press conference. (Image: Getty.)
called out his players for being “nervous” on several occasions after describing them as the “worst in the club’s history” before a tie with .
While , who joined Amorim for the pre-match press conference, revealed that the dressing room is “frustrated and disappointed” but they need to take responsibility.
The Portuguese coach , insisting:”First of all, I want to talk about that. I was talking more about myself than for my players. It’s more for me, talking more about me than the players.
“If you look around when I speak, every time you push about the players not being good enough, I take the spotlight away from my players. I understand I gave you that headline but I get frustrated sometimes.”
Amorim then repeatedly called United “nervous” and pointed out that they felt more anxiety while playing at rather than away from home, before hosting Rangers on Thursday evening.
“I could say different things and say no, no, but we are more nervous playing at home than away,” he said. “We lost four games in five, so it’s getting harder, but we can improve. We need the first thing in my mind, they cannot score. We need to score the first goal.
Harry Maguire believes that the Rangers match is an opportunity to resurrect United’s form. (Image: Getty)
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“The most important thing is to think we can improve right away in the next match. Imagine tomorrow we don’t suffer a goal at the start, we score and play well, it will change the environment here and everything. We are going to suffer and for me, that was really clear. It’s getting really hard.”
Maguire, who was brought back into the team to face , did not disagree with his head coach and shared how the dressing room reacted to Amorim describing the club as in its “worst” state in history.
“I think as players, we were frustrated and disappointed, coming on the back of a good away performance and beating ,” he said. “We have to look at ourselves and take responsibility.”
When asked if Amorim’s description of “nervous” was proving detrimental to the players, Maguire replied: “No, we spoke about the first goal at Old Trafford and it’s not teams are coming and opening us up and breaking us down.
“The game against Brighton was 50/50, it could have gone either way and we need to stop giving away the first goal. Football games are defined by small margins. We know things can turn, and tomorrow is a chance to go out there and put on a performance.”
Amorim also denied the chance to speak publicly about the prospect of leaving the club in January, with .
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