United boss Amorim gives stunning interview after cup exit: “My players spoke loud to me today” | OneFootball

Grimsby Town 2-2 Manchester United (Grimsby win 12-11 on penalties)

Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United have been thrown into early-season turmoil after being knocked out of the League Cup by 4th tier side Grimsby Town on penalties.

United fought back from two goals down to send the tie to spot-kicks, but a prolonged shootout ended with new signing Bryan Mbuemo striking the crossbar to send the home fans into raptures. For United, it was a deserved defeat following a largely insipid display, coming amid a winless start to the new campaign.

United were lacklustre from the start, but going 2-0 down in the first half to the League Two side was nevertheless a shocking turn of events. Amorim shifted his pack with several attack-minded substitutions – including Bruno Fernandes emerging at the break - but it took Mbuemo’s 75th-minute goal to half the deficit, before Harry Maguire nodded home on 89 minutes to set up the shootout.

United missed the chance to win the shootout when new arrival Matheus Cunha fluffed his kick, before a long exchange of converted kicks led to the running order of takers re-starting. During the early stages of the second round of penalties, Mbeumo saw his effort hit the underside of the woodwork to consign United to an embarrassing early exit.

Amorim anger

Perhaps even more shocking than the result were Ruben Amorim’s post-match press interviews, which have spread across the world since the end of the match. Usually such a calm and measured speaker, Amorim appeared flustered during his media duties, leading some to even suspect he could soon depart the club.

“In the end, it doesn’t matter if we recovered or not,” Amorim told Sky Sports. “It’s the signs that the team gave, in the beginning of the game. I think, no I know, that the best team won. The only team that was on the pitch. The best players lost. I think that the team and the players spoke really loud today. So that’s it….and the best team won.

“What do I mean that the team spoke loud?  And I think it’s really clear for everybody what happened today.  It’s not just the space, but the way we start the game without any intensity, all the idea of the pressure, we were completely lost and it’s hard to explain. That’s why I think they spoke really well.

“Did I see many of the same mistakes from last season? Yes, I think that is a problem. When you lose but you see something new, it’s different. When you see something like today, it’s hard to talk about. I just want to say that I’m really sorry for the fans. The support they gave me, with all the defeats they helped the team. Today, I have nothing to say. I’m really sorry.

“What can I do differently? I think they gave the response on the pitch today, so I don’t need to talk about that. We have a game at the weekend, then we have two weeks and we will sort things out.

“Onana? When you play, with all due respect, against a 4th division team, it’s not the goalkeeper. It’s everything. It’s the environment, it’s the way we approach the competition. We know that we’re in a moment where people will pay attention to everything, every detail is going to be massive….and we show that performance today. My players spoke for me, really loud.”

"Something has to change"

Amorim gave quotes to various outlets after the defeat, with his general theme continuing throughout. When speaking to ITV, Amorim insisted his now infamous 3-4-2-1 system is not the cause of the team’s problems, alluding further to deep issues within the way the team approached the cup tie.

“It’s not about the result. During the penalties I was not thinking about going to the next stage [of the competition] because I think the was we played, the way we approached the competition, in a moment when everything is so important, I think the players spoke really loud about what they want today.

“We need to be proud to go to the pitch. We know that every draw in the Premier League is going to be a huge problem. We came from playing quite well in  both games in the Premier League [but] we know that people will see everything in our club. And we come to the game with a fourth division team and we play like that. Again, the players clearly show what they want.

“It’s not about the formation. We played against Arsenal and we played [in] the formation really well, against Liverpool. We go to the Europa League final in a disaster season with the same system. The system is not important. We can play with three defenders, four defenders, five defenders. That doesn’t matter. What matters is we need to be different. And that is the job of the coach. You can see that nothing changed.

“Me not watching the penalty shootout? The penalty shootout is not important. If I’m there trying to see if we win the game, it doesn’t matter. The signs, the beginning of the game, during the game – that matters. [Not] to go to the next [stage]… if we won this game would be so unfair for the opponent. Today the football was really fair. Congratulations to them. We move to the next game, then we have time to decide things.

“Shocked by what I’ve seen tonight? Who isn’t! I’m shocked. We are in a moment where we’ve made a lot of changes, we tried to fight a lot of things. But when we have these moments, we need to show up. If we don’t show up, you can feel that something has to change. And you’re not going to change 22 players again.”

Amorim faces a potentially defining match against Burnley at Old Trafford on Saturday. The clash not only offers better insight into the team’s morale, but also comes amid the final few days of the transfer window, where the former Sporting boss will be hoping for his squad to be strengthened further under the demands of an improved season.