Every word of Ruben Amorim’s Everton pre-match press conference | OneFootball

Ruben Amorim has confirmed Benjamin Sesko will be out of action for a few weeks.

The Manchester United head coach was speaking to the press ahead of Monday evening’s Premier League clash with Everton at Old Trafford.

“He’s going to stay a few weeks out;” Amroim said. “I don’t know how long, but he’s not that serious. We have to be careful with him. He’s going to recover. He’s doing the recover. He’s feeling better. In a few weeks, I expect to [see him].”

Asked about Kobbie Mainoo, the boss replied “He’s not ready. Kobbie didn’t train today, but I think tomorrow we could see Kobbie, so we’ll see.”

The BBC’s Simon Stone then asked roughly how long Sesko will be out of action and whether it will “cut across when Amad and Bryan [Mbeumo] go to the African Cup of Nations”.

“I think it’s going to be more or less at the same time,” Amorim answered. “I don’t want to say for sure, but when they are going to the Cup, I expect to have Ben back.”

He was then asked if he knows when the three African players, Amad, Mbeumo and Mazraoui, will leave for their continental tournament.

“No, we have the rules. When we have to release the players, we will see. We are doing our job to try to maintain the players a little bit longer, but it’s not just in our hands. We need to respect that, but we will try to to do everything to protect the club, protect the player, and protect the national team.”

Asked when it is supposed to be, he replied “I think it’s two weeks before the start. We’ll try to arrange something with the federations, but we need to respect their wheels in this case.”

He was then asked if he is concerned that he won’t have everyone available for the Wolves match on the 8th December.

He replied:

“It’s a concern, but we already knew. It’s an opportunity for other players. We have also the Under-21s. We need to send also a message in that time, so we’ll see. But of course, it’s not ideal because they are so important in our team and we don’t have a long squad. But again, our academy is for this moment and we’ll be ready.”

The next question was about the fixtures to come. “Three top 10 teams in the next 10 games, how much of an opportunity is this run of games for you?”

“It doesn’t matter;” said the Portuguese. “In our league, it doesn’t matter. The table, it doesn’t matter. Everything is so tight that is irrelevant. If you know the history of our team, you never know where is the difficult game. That is completely relevant in Premier League.”

The subject shifted to Lisandro Martinez, when he will be ready to return to action and whether he might be considered as a midfield option.

“I can see. I think a smart, intelligent football player can play in a lot of positions, but it’s not the right position for him. He needs more time to work there. He’s not working there. But in one emergency, he can play. But I’m not thinking about that.

“I feel that Licha is becoming close to be ready to play. Of course, we need to be careful. He’s going to struggle in the first minutes, but he’s clearly in the better position if you compare two weeks ago.”

The head coach was then asked if Luke Shaw might switch to the left wing-back role (from left centre-back) when Mazaroui and Amad go away for Afcon.

“He can play there,” Amorim replied. “Of course, the load that the player does in that position is a little bit different. If you are doing that in a daily basis, it is more prepared to do that position, but of course, he can play there. He’s a smart player and he’s fit in the moment, so I think he’s an option.”

Amorim was then asked to reminisce about his first match in charge of United, a year ago.

He replied “yeah, there was everything really fast. The first thinking was like the first game, the environment is completely different of Premier League, and I was excited with that. Right away, I knew that we will struggle in some things, but was that feeling of, yes, it’s the best league in the world, it’s maybe the best club in the world, but at the same time, it’s a big job and it’s going to require a lot of work.”

The next question was “When you look back at what you saw on the pitch at Portman Road a year ago, compared to what you would expect to see at Old Trafford on Monday, There must be massive differences in how the team are playing, the way they behave?”

Amorim answered:

“I think we are showing that. But the important thing is that doesn’t matter what we did in the recent games. We cannot forget that we start in that point. We suffered a lot last year, so we have to take that into account and to play every game like it’s the last one or the first one. But of course, if you ask me, I expect a team with more control, more dominance, playing a better football. The most important thing, more competitive in every way.”

The embargoed section of the press conference will be released at 10.30pm on Sunday and will be available in full here at The Peoples Person.

Featured image Matt McNulty via Getty Images

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