Ruben Amorim admits he would have won more games playing 4-4-2 | OneFootball

Ruben Amorim says he might have won more matches for Manchester United had he played a 4-4-2 system.

Amorim was speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s Premier League match with Nottingham Forest at the City ground and was asked about Sean Dyche’s comment that he would have won more games than the Portuguese had he been appointed manager of United.

“First of all, maybe it’s true if we play 4-4-2 we win more, but I always said that I have a way of playing that is going to take a while,” Amorim said. “But in the future it’s going to be better. So we don’t know that. Then I can look at Sean Dyche as a manager and then as a pundit.

“If you are a pundit and you don’t say very strong things, I don’t want to watch you! I’m the same. So I can understand that it’s a completely different job. I know that Sean Dyche is really smart and he knows how to play the game.

“And he also understands that one thing is when we are seeing the game and talking about the game, the other thing is to coach a team. So I understand that, I have nothing to say, I just want to win the next game.”

Amorim was also asked about the progress of Lisandro Martinez as he continues his recovery from knee surgery.

“He wants to go to this one [Forest], he isn’t going to this one. He’s going to need time. He has started training with us. Slowly he is going to get better.

“It’s really good. He gives use that edge in every training session, that is also really good for us. The rest of the guys, we have one day. I don’t know about Harry Maguire, the rest are fit.”

Reflecting on the anniversary of his becoming head coach of United, the boss said:

“It was a journey, it was a big journey. It was tough, it was really tough. I learned a lot. Today the answer is different from three weeks ago, so it’s important to understand that. The biggest honour. It’s only been two matches so far from that.”

Speaking about Saturday’s opponents, Amorim observed:

“I watched the last game, it was one of the first ones here that we won, we were so lucky in that game. I watched against Porto, I watched against Bournemouth, the style of play is similar, with different characteristics. I watched one game that we did in pre-season with Sporting, so to try to understand how he played in that game. It’s similar, he can change some characteristics of the players with the talent that they have, especially with Gibbs-White, Anderson, Hudson-Odoi, very good players.

“So we need to be prepared for a different game against Brighton. We had space to play. We are not going to have that space. You need to understand that we are not being the same team away and at home, so we need to improve the way we control the environment. Every tackle is a big moment for the opponent’s fans, so we need to play better away.

“We are prepared for a very tough match.”

Finally Amorim was asked about how Amad and Bryan Mbeumo will be missed when they go to play in AFCON.

“We will have time to suffer. We are going to struggle a little bit, but we already knew it’s going to be an opportunity. When I watch the training, there are players that should be playing, but it’s hard with one game to take some players from the team, because they are doing well also during the training in games. So other players are going to have the opportunity to help us.

“They are understanding the way we want to play, so if we are improving on that, the change of characteristics is not going to change the idea or the momentum of the team. But let’s use Amad and Bryan in these games and we will see in general.”

The embargoed section of the presser will be available here from around 10.30pm tomorrow.

Featured image Alex Livesey via Getty Images

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