Amorim: Everything feels different this season, I’m excited

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With Manchester United, there is hardly ever a middle ground but instead an ever expanding extremes of a scale

Let me explain.

Last season, United had a clear problem with their goalscoring and build-up play – that was simply highlighted by their 44 goals scored in the Premier League, only three teams scored fewer.

So what did United do in this window? They spent around £200m on addressing that problem with the signings of Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo.

After a positive first performance of the season in their defeat to Arsenal – much of the conversation has now been centred around the opposite end of the pitch with the goalkeeping department the latest area to be under focus after what seemed to be a mistake by Altay Bayindir against Mikel Arteta’s side.

Ruben Amorim admitted in his first news conference of the season that he learned a lot last season. This included realising just how much he needs to protect his side from the amount of noise around the club on a weekly basis.

When I sat down with the United boss ahead of Sunday’s trip to Fulham, live on Sky Sports, it was an easy question – how did you go about protecting the under-fire goalkeeping department this week?

“The first thing I’ve already said to my players is when you see so many critics, you get upset and that is normal,” Amorim explained to Sky Sports News.

“For me, the only way to protect myself and my players it to tell them not to see anything.

“You have to be like a monk, especially when you have problems and then I try to present the facts because sometimes there is a narrative that is not true.

“Altay made one mistake, but last year he had very good performances, so I try to tell that to the players and then try to battle that narrative.

“But in the end, it’s with the players, they have to enjoy their life, go to work, enjoy their family and try not to see anything on the TV or on the internet.”

Suffering, new signings and freedom – they are linked

Many of the players have highlighted that they feel the vibe and bond around the team has been different.

Yes, there is some hesitancy to believe that after previous managers and false dawns, but there does seem to be genuine optimism after the re-opening of their training ground, new and exciting players joining the club and a positive first performance against Arsenal.

Amorim said: “Last year, sometimes I was worried going to the games, but now I’m excited, it is completely different.”

“We suffered together so much (last season) and that can bond people – the spirit is really good.”

“When you feel the team is playing well, you get confident and you feel more free to play and if you feel more free to play, you are happier.

“If you are happier, your day-to-day is better and it’s like a snowball.”

Amorim’s attacking options have been bolstered with Premier League tried and tested Mbeumo and Cunha – both who can play as No 10s or as the main striker to share the load alongside the young Sesko.

The threat they showed against Arsenal, whether it was Cunha’s mazy runs or Mbeumo’s movements in behind, left fans at Old Trafford with a renewed sense of optimism and Amorim feels the same.

“We have different options this year, but sometimes football is more than just on the pitch,” Amorim said.

“They [Mbeumo and Cunha] are coming in at a moment where the spirit is different, the place is different – sometimes we have a lot of very good players but the scars were there and that influenced the dynamic of the team.

“They can help us, not just on the pitch but off the pitch too, I feel the guys are more free because they were not here in the very, very difficult moments – they are seeing a different thing.”

A big component of whether Amorim’s United will truly be a “different thing” this season could be the young Slovenian Sesko – who Amorim had called ‘football obsessed’.

He had already spoken about the potential of Sesko, 22, but I wondered – how exciting can it be for Amorim himself to work and develop a young player like the Slovenian?

Amorim explained: “When you are in a club like this, you want to have the best players but you also have to imagine the future.

“That is so exciting – I like to know the players, I like to see the videos of the players and to try to get all the information, but you want that confirmation and I felt Sesko was even better than what I was thinking.

“I have to be careful, Sesko is going to be our striker for many, many years so we need to put that in his head and let him settle down, to stay calm and enjoy his day because he’s really like you said, obsessed.

“I’m really happy – not just with him but with Cunha, Diego (Leon), and Mbeumo – we know that we have the players and we know that in our future we are going to have that base and that is really important for us.”

What is success this season?

We are only one game into the season, but if United can replicate their performance against Arsenal most weeks, especially without the distraction of European football, it could present a promising opportunity for United to improve on last season’s 15th-place finish.

However, United need to earn that optimism from those outside the gates of Carrington and, as Amorim said previously, it is only up to them to fight and change their own narrative.

They will only do that by showing up on the journey rather than focusing on the destination.

“Success is to win titles, and we don’t know if we are going to achieve that (this season),” Amorim said.

“We are not in the moment that we can say we are clearly fighting for the league – we just need to get the small steps and the small steps is to prepare every game like it’s a final.

“We want to be really competitive, trying to dominate games, trying to score goals and not get our fans bored to see our games… so if we have the small things and we put check, check, check – in the end, it’s going to be better.

“I think everyone knows that we have a goal – not for this season but in three years to win the Premier League title.

“We are going to do these steps to reach that goal, but in this club, you know that every week the narrative is going to be different so we need to be prepared for that, block the noise, do the job and try to win games.”

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