Comfortable Man United slammed by Amorim after 2-2 draw, says ‘We have a lot of problems, we’re just in the beginning’.
Amorim lays into ‘too comfortable’ Manchester United after seesaw draw at Spurs.
After Manchester United saved a draw from the jaws of loss at Tottenham in a match they had led for extended stretches of time, Ruben Amorim criticised the team of being overconfident.
United had won five straight games thanks to a header from Matthijs de Ligt in the 96th minute, although their performance fluctuated greatly in a game they dominated following a goal from Bryan Mbeumo in the first half. Before the final act of rescue, they were overwhelmed by strikes from Mathys Tel and Richarlison, and Amorim voiced concern that they had drifted through periods of the game when ahead.
“We have a lot of problems, we are just in the beginning,” he said. “I know sometimes the results show people that we are improving: we are improving but we have a lot to do. We were comfortable in the game but I think we should do better, be more aggressive, feeling the environment in the stadium and that the three points were there, the space was there.
“I think we felt too comfortable during the game. We need to expect that in one play anything can happen and change the mood of the stadium, and today was that. We need to do better because the game was there to take.”
Benjamin Sesko, who replaced him in the second half, appeared to have a knee injury. Amorim stated, “We believe he has a problem, but let’s see.”
Following a hostile reaction from the home crowd when he substituted Tel for Xavi Simons in the 79th minute, Amorim’s counterpart, Thomas Frank, defended his substitutions. Five minutes later, Tel duly equalised, and Wilson Odobert and Destiny Ugodie both made significant contributions from the bench with assists.
“Sometimes you’re lucky,” he said. “But I would say that every single time I take a decision to sub a player it’s with one aim: try to win the game. And no doubt [Tel] did well, got the goal, a great moment.”