Manchester United must target trophy, says Ruben Amorim after reaching Europa League knockout phase

BUCHAREST – Ruben Amorim insisted that despite his difficult start as Manchester United manager, they must target winning the Europa League after booking their last-16 spot with a 2-0 victory over Romanian side FCSB on Jan 30.

Amorim became the first United manager to lose five of his first 10 games in all competitions since Walter Crickmer in 1932.

But a recent improvement – with their away win over FCSB, they have now three consecutive wins in all competitions for the first time this season – has helped him settle into life in Manchester.

“I don’t see a big difference in the way we play, but today we had more time to think and now you can see some movements, the idea is there because we have more time to play and understand the game,” the Portuguese told reporters.

“We can go game by game and we can win it. Then you have the responsibility, no matter the context, you are in Manchester United so you must fight for winning trophies.

“When you get to this stage of any competition, anything is possible and they can prove they can win against anybody.”

Diogo Dalot broke the deadlock on the hour with a close-range finish from Kobbie Mainoo’s cross and the provider turned scorer eight minutes later when the England midfielder tucked away Alejandro Garnacho’s pass.

“We controlled the game, but we have to score more goals because we had the opportunities. The opponent is not, with all due respect, the same level as the Premier League,” Amorim said.

“We want to improve a lot with the way we play. We want to play closer than today, but we need to play like this. We have to adapt to improve the team.”

United came third in the league phase on 18 points after going unbeaten in their eight matches.

Avoiding the play-off round – for the teams who finished ninth to 24th – is a major boost for Amorim.

Having bemoaned the lack of training opportunities because of United’s hectic schedule since his arrival from Sporting Lisbon in November, he will use the free time to drill his tactics and philosophy on the training ground.

“That is really important for us, to have time to train, create connection between everyone, the staff... know each other in the right environment,” said the 40-year-old.

“Then we have one week to prepare a game. The beginning of the week, you can work your idea and then have time to prepare the game and focus on the opponent. I can understand better my players.

“That is the biggest thing. More than the win is to have time to train and have time to recover the players.”

He highlighted his decision to give Mainoo a more attacking midfield role, instead of his usual holding position, as evidence that he can improve United’s stars once he gets time to understand their strengths.

Mainoo is the first player to score and assist on his first European start for United since Wayne Rooney in 2004.

“I put Kobbie Mainoo in that position. We need time to understand the players as he was struggling a lot defending as a midfielder,” Amorim said.

“As a 10, he was so free playing the ball near the box. He had more freedom with not much responsibility running back all the time.

“We need time to work with the players to understand what the best position is for them.”

Also progressing directly to the last 16 were Tottenham Hotspur, after their trio of youngsters scored to register a 3-0 win over Swedish outfit Elfsborg in north London.

Goals from 20-year-old Dane Scarlett, Damola Ajayi (19) and Mikey Moore (17) saw them comfortably finish fourth on 17 points.

“Made in Tottenham tonight,” Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou told broadcaster TNT Sports.

“Super pleased for the young boys, and we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that we had another couple of 18-year-olds out there as well, so yeah, it’s great. It’s great for the club.

“I’m sure those boys won’t sleep tonight, but we needed that. We needed some energy – we kind of designed the game today.

“We’re trying to protect some of our players. We’ve got a big week coming up, and we were going to need the young boys today, and they stood up.” REUTERS, AFP