Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim believed his team didn’t deserve to lose 1-0 to Arsenal in their opening Premier League clash at Old Trafford, stating it was ‘completely different’ to performances last season.
The Red Devils played well for large portions of the clash, and it was ultimately a mistake from Altay Bayindir that led to Arsenal’s goal.
The Turkish goalkeeper failed to deal with a Declan Rice corner despite attempting to punch it away, before Riccardo Calafiori headed home from close range to give the Gunners a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute.
United created some half-chances, and new signing Bryan Mbeumo was impressive. The team as a whole certainly didn’t disgrace themselves, and there were positives to take.
“I’m really proud of the guys,” Amorim said in a post-match interview.
“They were really brave in everything they did during the game. Congratulations for the performance. We deserved a different result and we need to move forward to the next one.
“We were more aggressive than last year. We went one against one all the game and we pressed high. We had quality with the ball. Even when the stadium made some sounds, we continued to play the way we play…”
“…You always feel in the game they can do something not just with the ball but without the ball. I am proud of the game we played. We lost and have things to work on.
“We need to win games but that was completely different to last season.”
On the Arsenal’s goal and Bayindir’s error, Amorim admitted that his team need to be ‘stronger’ at defending set-pieces.
“Sometimes it happened last year. It’s not playing the ball. I understand we want goals but when you are touching the goalkeeper. Sometimes you are pushing and you don’t have more hands to go for the ball,” Amorim said.
“We need to be stronger. We are not changing the rules, we have to adapt to the rules. Today I think we are the better team.
“We have players to win any game of the Premier League. We need to focus and forget about the noise. It doesn’t matter who is playing, we want to win games.”
Man Utd eyeing new goalkeeper as Andre Onana left out
Andre Onana, who was United’s first-choice goalkeeper for the majority of last season, was left out of the squad for the Arsenal clash.
Amorim said prior to the fixture thiat this was because other stoppers Bayindir and Tom Heaton ‘did so well’ in pre-season, rather than an injury to Onana.
United have been linked with several goalkeepers over the summer, suggesting that Amorim is keen to strengthen in the position.
Paris Saint-Germain’s Gianluigi Donnarumma, who is free to leave the French giants, is the biggest name to have been linked, though rivals Manchester City are reportedly keen on him.
United have reportedly held talks with Royal Antwerp over a deal for Senne Lammens, who is widely regarded as one o to iiiiuif you iithe best young goalkeepers in the world.
It will be interesting to see whether United submit a concrete bid for a new goalkeeper as the transfer window draws to a close.