Dec 15,2024
Ruben Amorim wants to see improvements and a fighting spirit as his evolving Manchester United side head to rivals Manchester City in Sunday's derby.
The recently appointed 39-year-old head coach is looking for a statement performance as the Red Devils travel to the Etihad Stadium for his first all-Manchester clash in the hot seat.
Sunday’s match is intriguingly poised, given reigning Premier League champions City have won just one of their last 10 games in all competitions, losing seven of those matches.
Meanwhile, United may be buoyed by Thursday’s 2-1 Europa League comeback win at Viktoria Plzen but losses to Arsenal and Nottingham Forest have left them with their lowest points tally at this stage of a season since 1986.
"I am always looking forward to coaching Manchester United, especially in the derby, but we have so much to focus (on)," head coach Amorim told MUTV.
"We are focused on to improve day by day, and we want to see different things.
"I think we did a good job in the first half against Arsenal (in an eventual 2-0 loss), so we have that ability, we have players to do it, and we will try to do it again and try to win the game."
Asked how much the late victory in Czechia boosts United, he said: "It’s so important when you go to prepare the next game you have the feeling of winning.
"You don’t (get) carried away about the winning – we should win this type of game that we had Thursday – so now we’re going to another game, we need to win.
"We lost the other two in the Premier League. We have to have this feeling of winning these kind of games, and we will be ready.
"Of course, we know that we have a lot to improve, a lot of things are changing here, but we will fight for the game."
United have endured a difficult time at the Etihad Stadium in recent years, with 4-1, 6-3 and 3-1 defeats following their last win there in March 2021.
But Amorim is leading his side across the city at a different time under Pep Guardiola, who is enduring his toughest spell since taking charge in 2016.
"I have a huge respect for Manchester City, but I’m just focused on Manchester United," said the Portuguese, who inflicted a 4-1 defeat on City last month in his penultimate match as Sporting Lisbon boss.
"We have so much to do here, in my mind only (this) exists.
"Of course we need to have a strategy, we need to understand the opponent, but my focus is just Manchester United. We just want to improve and to win games."
Amorim kept a lid on his emotions ahead of the derby but knows just how much football means to the city of Manchester.
"I’ve felt that every day," the United head coach added. "Every day, where I go in Manchester, I felt that that electricity, not just in the derby day.
"I felt in Bodo/Glimt, the first game (in charge at Old Trafford), so, for me, it’s always the maximum.
"So, I think I will not feel the difference. Every game for this club I feel that. So, for me, it’s another game."
"It doesn't change anything for us, how they are in this moment" - Bruno Fernandes
Bruno Fernandes says United must focus on fixing their own problems ahead of the derby rather than thinking about Manchester City's miserable recent form.
"It doesn’t change anything for us, how they are in this moment, because we have to think about ourselves," the United skipper said.
"We all know that this is a huge game and they have huge players. They’re probably not winning as much as everyone would expect them to do.
"But we have to focus on ourselves because we’re not being at the level we want to be also, so we can’t think about the momentum of the others.
"We just have to think about ourselves and do the job we have to do to get in better positions and we need points in the league, so it doesn’t matter who we play against.
"We know it’s City, a huge derby. We know what it means for the fans and it means a lot for us too, so we just have to go to the game and win without thinking who we have ahead."
Amorim’s changes helped overcome a poor start in the Czech Republic but a giant step-up is needed if United are to seal a first win at the Etihad Stadium in three years.
"It’s not to get the results at the Etihad, it is to try to win games," Fernandes said. "That’s what we want to improve.
"Obviously we play City and we want to win the game and it doesn’t matter if it was another game, we will try to win in the same way. We know, as I said, they have great players.
"It doesn’t matter the momentum they are in. We have to think about ourselves, what we can do to hurt them to win the game, and that’s all."
Fernandes says beating City "wouldn’t change anything" at United beyond securing a much-needed three points as they seek to climb the standings.
"You always make progress and then you can watch that on the results," Fernandes said.
"Obviously we want to get results and I think for the outside world, the results are the ones that show that if you improve or not.
"But we have to think about what we want to do as a team, what we want to have as a system, the impact that we want to have in games, the way we want to play, and that has to be the main thing in our minds and obviously you play for a club that has to win every game."
