Ruben Amorim lamented a lack of control, composure and character from his Manchester United team at both ends of the pitch as they fell to the latest defeat of his troubled tenure, going down 3-1 at Brentford.
Bruno Fernandes missed a 76th-minute penalty at 2-1 after the Brentford defender, Nathan Collins, avoided a red card for his last-man foul on Bryan Mbeumo in front of goal. But it was not a day for Amorim to point the finger at the officials, rather to reflect on how his players had failed to carry out his instructions from the training ground – particularly in terms of defending against quick long balls on transitions.
Brentford were 2-0 up inside 20 minutes from that route, Igor Thiago providing both of the finishes, with Amorim unhappy Matheus Cunha was not given a free-kick on the edge of the opposing area before the first. It would have been a soft decision.
Amorim was troubled by his players’ inability to handle setbacks. “We can settle down the game,” he said. “That is something that I know this team can do. But when everything … the moments, the penalty [miss]the foul before the first goal … all these things are against us, we need to have more personality to control the games, calm down the games and then play back. I feel that sometimes when things are really hard, they are not the same. But that is the pressure of the club.”
Amorim made attacking substitutions, introducing Kobbie Mainoo, Mason Mount and Joshua Zirkzee but remaining true to his 3-4-2-1 system. He ended up with Mbeumo at right wing-back and Mount at left wing-back. He has previously said that not even the pope could make him change his system.
“When we win it’s not the system; when we lose it’s the system,” Amorim said. “I understand that. It’s more that we play this game like Brentford wants us to play this game. We never play our game. We never push the opponent.
“We knew that every time they recover the ball, they will make a run and they will fight for the ball. We suffered two goals like that. We suffered goals in transition that we knew during the week and we worked on that. The frustration is that every goal, the goals today, we work on that during the week.
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“We can do better with the ball. We can have more control. My biggest concern is we didn’t settle down the game. In the final third, we missed a lot of crosses. I think it’s clear that we can create more chances. We had a little bit of a lack of quality in the final third.”
On the possible red card for Collins, who did not appear to attempt to play the ball, Amorim said: “The referee told me Bryan was not in control of the ball. I think he was not in control of the ball because he was pulled. I want, especially in these kind of moments, not focus on the referee.”
Amorim insisted once again that he could turn around United’s fortunes. He has taken 34 points from 33 Premier League games since his appointment last November.
“We can play better and we need to play better,” he said. “It’s ups and downs. When you win, you feel that everything … the momentum is here. When you lose, you go back to the same place and you fight again for one win that can help you to create the momentum. If I win, I’m in a different state of mind. That is normal, but I’m always confident because I know what to do. So guys, I’m always doing my job.”
