Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim spoke to the media after his team’s Europa League draw away to Lyon and praised the character of one of his big players
Ruben Amorim has praised Manchester United striker Joshua Zirkzee for the mental resolve he has shown after being booed by his own fans. Zirkzee was booed off by United fans on December 30 when he was subbed after just 33 minutes in a chastening 2-0 defeat to Newcastle at Old Trafford.
His substitution was also greeted with sarcastic cheers from sections of United’s support, with a visibly upset Zirkzee close to tears as he headed straight down the tunnel. But Zirkzee has proved his worth ahead of United’s trip to Newcastle tomorrow, with two goals in his last seven games, including one in Thursday’s 2-2 Europa League draw at Lyon.
Asked about the strength of character shown by Zirkzee since being jeered off by his own fans, United boss Ruben Amorim said: “Yes, he’s doing a great job. But also a very important thing was the way the fans reacted after that incident.
“Even if Josh is not playing, if you see every time he gets on the pitch or is just warming up, our fans sing the Josh song. That is massive for the boy. So it’s 50-50. 50 per cent the fans and 50 per cent on the part of Josh.”
Asked how he helped Zirkzee overcome the difficult episode, Amorim said: “The same thing. I explained the situation. As a former player, I wanted to hear some explanation from the coaches on that. I just want to help the team.
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“Then to work with him, all the work that all the staff are doing with him and he’s improving, then put it into play. This is the only way to show confidence in him.”
With United in no man’s land in 13th place in the Premier League, Amorim admitted he may now choose to prioritise the Europa League and rest players ahead of Thursday’s return leg. “There is a great responsibility,” said Amorim. “We don’t have a team that is really big and then we have players I know who cannot make 90 minutes in this moment, so we have to be really careful.
“We will try to address all these subjects in the game against Newcastle. But we have a great responsibility when we play any games. We have to face Newcastle with a team that we can be competitive to win the game.
“Sometimes, winning games is the best way of preparing for the next one. Of course I’m going to be careful with some players, but when you’re playing for Manchester United, you cannot go into the game thinking about the next one. So we’re going to face this one and then we have three days to prepare for the next one, without a lot of running and a lot of training.”
Asked if he could rest skipper Bruno Fernandes against Newcastle, Amorim said: “We will make this evaluation with all the staff and all the data that we have.
“Bruno is playing all the time and playing better all the time. Sometimes this kind of player doesn’t play in every match, but we will address that.”
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