Manager Amorim expects to be judged by position on points table after comprehensive 4-0 drubbing of Everton at home.
Manager Amorim has said he will be judged on Manchester United’s finishing position after Sunday’s 4-0 defeat of Everton lifted them to 19 points.
After the Portuguese won their first home league game thanks to two goals apiece from Marcus Rashford and Joshua Zirkzee, he was questioned about the viability of qualifying for the Champions League.
“I will be judged [on] the place that we finish. If I said no you will say that I cannot be a Manchester United manager,” said the 39-year-old. “I want to be honest with our fans – so let’s focus on the performance, not the results. Let’s focus just on the next game and look at the performance. Thursday [against Bodø/Glimt] it was 3-2, but I think we deserved more. Today was 4-0 – but I think Everton deserved [more]. So let’s focus on the performance.”
On Friday Amorim said that Rashford has to really want to improve. He was asked if the display against Everton was an example. “Yeah. He can do so much,” said the manager. “He has to continue to improve, he has the ability to do it and he has already proved that. But he can play so much better, like the other guys, so it was a good performance. Tomorrow he has to recover and start thinking about Arsenal [on Wednesday].”
Amorim also explained why Zirkzee was preferred ahead of Rasmus Højlund, who scored twice against Bodø/Glimt. “It would have been really hard for Rasmus to fight with the two centre-backs of Everton so we tried to push them to a position they are not so comfortable with,” he said. “Josh did a great job, scored two goals which is always important for the confidence, and more important than that is the performance and how he fought in every situation. It was a good day for him and our team.”