Ruben Amorim called for patience from Manchester United fans as he warned that his team will ‘suffer for a long period’ as he gets them to understand his tactics.
United showed flashes of promise in their draw at Ipswich Town but also showed plenty of familiar bad habits that Amorim conceded will take a lot longer than a week or two to iron out.
‘It is a tough league. My players were thinking too much during the game. You can feel it. Not just on the ball but where they are supposed to be on the pitch,’ he said.
‘We lost some balls. When you start like this with one goal, you have to control the tempo. We cannot do it at the moment but they really tried.
‘You have to keep the ball and know the momentum. We are doing some things not in the right moment. We have to address this.
‘If you see the first half we were a little bit afraid. When we don’t have training, we had two days, they are confused a little bit. You feel that in the data.’
Ruben Amorim admitted that his Manchester United players were ‘confused’ and ‘afraid’
Amorim’s side were held to a 1-1 draw by Ipswich in his first match in charge of the club
Amorim also tried to temper expectations among fans after the clash at Portman Road.
‘It’s hard to expect anything now,’ he added.
‘It’s not a surprise [that players struggled] but you have to see it in game. That’s why I was a little bit anxious.
‘We have to find a way [to get ideas across quickly]. The only way to do it is that we have games and the guys that don’t play have to train.
‘Without time we have to find the time and that is the only way. Some of the guys will play and the next day some of the guys will work on our idea. And then they will change the position.
‘What I understood today is that they are trying, they stay in the positions and they received the information and they try to use it in the game. That is very important.
‘Even in difficult moments I felt they were doing the things we said for them to do. I know it is frustrating for the fans but we are changing so much in this moment with a lot of games.
‘We are going to suffer for a long period and we will try to win games. This will take time. I know we have to win games.’
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Amorim left Portman Road pragmatic if not cautiously optimistic about his players ahead of his Old Trafford unveiling on Thursday night in the Europa League.
It was a view that wasn’t shared by former Manchester United captain Roy Keane, who tore into Amorim’s stars after yet another dysfunctional display.
‘This team, for the last year or two, has been all about moments,’ he said.
‘United sat back and you’re thinking, ‘what are you waiting for? Go after them!’
‘They seemed fearful to go on and win the game. They lacked the confidence and belief.
‘Do I believe they have the quality to get them back to top four? Absolutely not. The evidence is not there. It’s the same old stuff. Predictable and a real lack of quality.’
One player who Amorim did single out for praise was United’s man of the match Andre Onana, who made two heroic saves to deny Liam Delap two sure-fire goals.
‘I think it is so clear for everyone, he saved us two times at least,’ he said.
‘One important thing was that he used to do so many long balls but he tried to connect with players and that was very good for me. He understood the idea, he did a great job.’
