Ruben Amorim has sent a clear-cut message to his Manchester United players ahead of Nottingham Forest’s Premier League visit to Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon.
The 39-year-old Portuguese manager has won two matches and picked up one draw and one defeat since his arrival at Old Trafford from Sporting CP in November.
The Red Devils thumped Everton 4-0 at Old Trafford last Sunday before Ruben Amorim tasted his first defeat as Manchester United manager on Wednesday.
United travelled to the Emirates on Wednesday evening and Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side inflicted a 2-0 Premier League defeat on Amorim’s men.
Jurrien Timber broke the deadlock in the second half for Arsenal before William Saliba netted the Gunners’ second of the contest against United.
United have dropped to 13th place in the Premier League table and the Red Devils are seven points off from the top four after 14 league matches played.
Amorim wants to deliver for Man Utd fans
Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Friday, Ruben Amorim revealed the “key point” he wants to show Manchester United fans since he became manager.
The United head coach has wasted no time implementing his 3-4-2-1 formation on the Red Devils and he hasn’t been afraid to experiment with his players.
Amorim oversaw a 1-1 draw in his first match as United manager after their trip to Portman Road against Premier League side Ipswich Town last month.
The former Sporting CP boss then oversaw a 3-2 comeback win against Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League, despite United initially taking an early lead at Old Trafford.
Amorim insisted that he wants “full effort” to be visible for United fans based on the performances of players in matches, with the Red Devils boss placing “focus” on it.
“I think that is a key point for us,” he said, as per the Manchester Evening News.
“In two weeks and four matches, you can understand that they just want to see effort. In the first moment, they just want to see effort. Then they want to win games.
“After a while, in winning games, they will want to see a very dominant team and then these are the stages we have to follow.
“This one is the easy one, full effort. Full sprint back and full sprint forward. That is a key point for us, so a lot of our focus is on that.”
Amorim on Man Utd in Premier League table
Amorim is well aware that he faces an uphill battle in securing a top-four finish for United and a return to Champions League football next season.
The United manager insisted that the Red Devils must “remain calm” after dropping places in the league table and focus on the task at hand ahead of them.
“It’s sad because it’s a very competitive league, it can change with just one result,” he said.
“We have to pass this phase, so I feel the same way because before the Arsenal game, you guys were asking about the top four and now we return to this position [13th].
“We have to remain calm and keep on doing the job we’re doing.”
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