Amorim: Set-pieces changed the game

Wednesday 04 December 2024 23:27

Ruben Amorim says Arsenal's danger from set-pieces made it difficult for his Manchester United side to develop any momentum in the second half of our defeat to the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium.

Mikel Arteta's team have become a regular threat from attacking corners in recent seasons under and that proved to be the route to both of their goals after half-time of our 2-0 loss on Wednesday.

Amorim's United had kept the home crowd quiet with some encouraging defensive play in the first half, but the hosts eventually found a way through and went on to inflict our new head coach's first defeat as Reds boss.

The 39-year-old has since been reacting to the contest in north London, via interviews with the official television broadcasters, and you can read a round-up of his thoughts below...

Amorim: Don't just look at the result Video

Ruben Amorim says the Reds must assess what was lacking in our defeat at Arsenal, and apply it moving forward...

SET-PIECES CHANGED THE GAME

“We already knew that it would be a tough game. I think the corners changed the game, the set-pieces. Then we lost the momentum, we tried everything then to control the game again. You feel it in the first half, in the environment of the stadium, that we were causing problems. We need to improve in a lot of areas of our game, but we were controlling the game.”

ARSENAL'S PROWESS AT CORNERS

“They are very good because they have a lot of time working on that. Especially on that, they have big players for that, so it is a strategy, and we had two weeks to work on that. We tried to do it but we know every team in the Premier League is suffering with set-pieces. It was a shame because we were not playing very well but also Arsenal was not playing very well.”

RESPONSE TO GOING BEHIND

“We were competing during the game. If Matthijs [de Ligt] can score at that moment [with a header saved by David Raya when we were 1-0 down], the momentum would be different, but we tried to play. They are a very organised team and it is very hard to score when they have the advantage.”

EXPECT MORE ROTATION

“In this moment, it is impossible to play with the same team. They [the players] have to feel they are part of the team, but we are changing the methodology, we are changing a lot of things. We are changing the way we play, the way we press, so we have to have all the players fit. We cannot have injuries in this moment because it will be tough to cope with all the games so we will manage the way we feel is the better way for the team.”

WE HAVE TO AVOID INJURIES

“It’s not that I like to change [the line-up] all the time but if you see the game, Mason Mount cannot do the full game because we have to be careful in this stage. Harry Maguire has to leave the pitch no matter what. Leny Yoro, we have to control the time he plays. We did the same with Luke Shaw, we did the same with Ty Malacia. We have to control the time, manage a new idea, win games and try to maintain all the players’ fitness. It’s a difficult period but let’s focus on the performance and then think about the next game.”

TAKE THE POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES

“You learn all the time, it’s not a good thing or a good feeling, it’s really hard. But you have to take the positives and the negatives like in ever other game. So, let’s focus on everything we are doing, recover all the players to be fresh on the next game and go again. Full stadium with our fans and we are going to succeed. We need a little bit of time.”

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