Ruben Amorim has warned he will “learn more” about his Manchester United players during Thursday’s visit to relegated Southampton rather than two spirited games against Liverpool and Arsenal.
United had lost four consecutive matches before that travels to Anfield for their first game in 2025. Despite fears of a fierce strike, Amorim’s improved side fought back to draw 2-2 and might have beaten the Premier League leaders had Harry Maguire not struck from the top of the penalty area with the last kick of the game.
A week later, United they tied another one of their historic rivals in enemy territory. The Red Devils managed to hold on to a 1-1 draw despite playing with ten men for over an hour at the Emirates Stadium, then elbowed their way into the fourth round of the FA Cup after triumphant performance of penalties.
Amorim welcomed United’s “a different spirit” in that cup match and challenged his players to maintain that level of enthusiasm and fight for Thursday’s game, which – theoretically at least – would be expected to be won by the home team.
“This next game will teach me more from my players than the last two,” Amorim told the assembled media on Wednesday, “so I’m really focused on seeing what kind of game we play tomorrow, so I’ll learn more tomorrow.”
As an explanation, Amorim pointed out: “Because there are no expectations from us in the last two games. Nobody believed that we can make a great performance or win the game, but now they expect us to win and play well, so I will learn more about this game.”
Southampton sit at the bottom Premier League tablewith only six points in the first 20 league games this season. Counterintuitively, Saints’ struggles could make it difficult for United. “People expect us to win and that changes things,” warned Amorim.
“When you have pressure to win, that’s the pressure we want, and sometimes it’s harder to deal with that pressure because against Arsenal and Liverpool nobody expected us to beat those teams, but now it’s different. We have to be ready for that pressure, we need that pressure to improve as a team and we have to face the game in the right way.”
United’s captain Bruno Fernandes sent the same message right after the euphoria of winning the cup on Sunday. “Big games against Liverpool [and] Arsenal, everyone is stepping up because it’s a big game,” explained the captain. “We have to give it back to the club. We have to do it every week, every game.”
READ THE LATEST MAN UTD NEWS, TRANSFER RUMORS AND GOSSIP
