Ruben Amorim finds ‘no comfort’ in Manchester United’s current situation

By Simon Peach, PA Chief Football Writer

Ruben Amorim says it is currently “impossible” for Manchester United to feel comfortable about Premier League safety, given their results and performances.

This has been a miserable season to date for the 20-time league champions, who stumble into the weekend 13th in the Premier League standings.

United face fellow underperformers Tottenham on Sunday looking to bounce back from a 2-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace in their last top-flight match and cool any talk of the drop.

Amorim warned at the end of last year that relegation was “a possibility” and underlined the need to kick on as they enter the weekend just 12 points above the bottom three.

“If you see the table, it is impossible to feel any type of comfort in this moment,” the United head coach said.

“We just want to win, to improve our performance because we are Manchester United.

“We are always talking about the same thing. It doesn’t matter the reason for up and down, we need to win the next game and we need to improve and we need to perform better.

“So, there is no comfort in any situation in this club.”

Amorim revealed United have been dealing with injuries and illness to unnamed players ahead of Sunday’s trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

 

The Portuguese also indicated Mason Mount, Luke Shaw, Jonny Evans and Altay Bayindir remain absent, along with Lisandro Martinez, at a key stage of the campaign for the club.

“Every game now, every game until the end of the season, is a big game for us,” Amorim said. “We need to improve the way we play football, but especially we need to win.

“No matter what, we need to win and for that we need to improve the way we play football.”

Spurs have not won a league game on home soil since November 3 but they overcame United 4-3 in the Carabao Cup in mid-December.

Postecoglou’s side also thrashed Erik ten Hag’s Red Devils 3-0 at Old Trafford back in September, one of seven Premier League defeats that United have tasted at home this term.

United’s away form is hardly spectacular but Amorim has overseen a 2-1 comeback victory at Manchester City and 2-2 draw at leaders Liverpool.

Put to Amorim that United’s players appear to play with more freedom on the road, he said: “I feel it in the game, the performance, because you see it, I see it. I see the same thing.

“Especially in the big games when you are like a little bit the underdog – and that is a thing that we should not feel in any in any game because we are Manchester United – I feel the players are more free.

“But then when you have to win the game, you have to be more dominant in every aspect of the game.

“I feel that we are not quite there, so I feel (with) the team sometimes the feeling is different when we play away.”