Ruben Amorim has hit back at the criticism that he does not take enough risks with Manchester United by saying they are one of the most attacking teams in Premier League.
The Portuguese coach has seen his tactics criticized by Gary Neville and Paul Scholes in recent weeks while fans have issues with his substitutions.
Amorim is feeling the heat as Man United continue to sit outside the Champions League spots, having missed the chance to overtake Chelsea in fifth after drawing at home to winless Wolves.
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The manager has been often criticised for bringing on defenders rather than attackers in the team’s last two games against Newcastle and Wolves, while supporters also booed his substitutions.
Amorim claimed United have the third highest amount of goals in the league, only trailing Manchester City and Arsenal, as well as having the most shots.
“The first thing is that we are creating and scoring more than most of the teams,” Amorim told a press conference.
“That is a point. Then I understand the team better than anyone. And sometimes you have the supporters on [questioning] your decisions. Sometimes you have to do what you think and sometimes it’s hard for them to understand. But I know when I look at the pitch, I can understand which player is tired, which player is going to struggle a lot if there is one against one all the time. And I just try to protect the team and just try to win games.
“And sometimes it’s the best substitution, sometimes it’s the wrong substitution. But I just try to do my best. I think there is one team [sic] that scores more goals than us. We create a lot. We have more shots than anyone. So if we have something here completely different from last year, it’s the way we attack. I think we need to improve the way we defend.”
Amorim did not want to blame United’s poor performance against Wolves on the number of players he was missing although he said it was unfortunate that Bruno Fernandes’ longest injury spell in his six years at the club fell at the same period with Amad Diallo and Bryan Mbeumo being at the Africa Cup of Nations.
He said: “I don’t like to talk about that. But it sounds like an excuse. It was bad luck to lose Amad, Bryan, especially, and Bruno at the same time. They had more creation in the opportunities than the rest of the team. If you lose the three of them at the same time, any team in the world will struggle. And now Mount.
“But I’m not talking about everyone. I’m just focusing on the three guys that we have all the data, you have all the data, and you can sense that three guys create most of the chances for us.
“And if you lose not one, but all three at the same time, of course we are going to struggle. Then you have to put set pieces in that. Who is kicking the set pieces? Amad, Bryan and Bruno.
“So everything is combined and we just need to acknowledge it. And it’s getting closer to have all these three players [back]. The important thing is to understand why we struggled in the last three games in creation and quality in the game. So I think it’s clear.”
He added: “We could be better with the squad that we have defending and not suffering goals like we suffered in the last minute of the first half against Wolves. That can change the dynamic of the game.
“Of course we are scoring more because we have different characteristics. It helps us to be more creative. But if you look at the way we defend, it’s not just the defenders. It’s defending as a team. It’s an urgency. I know that we could be better in that department without any investment.”
