‘He’s doing a great job’ – Amorim praises Man Utd star amid Newcastle team selection admission
Ruben Amorim was quick to heap praise on Man United forward Joshua Zirkzee in Friday’s press conference, also revealing that Bruno Fernandes may be afforded a rest when they play Newcastle United in the Premier League on Sunday.
Dutchman Zirzkee looked to have secured United a huge first-leg victory with a late goal in Lyon on Thursday before another costly Andre Onana error forced them to settle for a 2-2 draw.
Amorim was keen to reflect on Zirkzee’s journey since their last encounter against Newcastle, in which they suffered a 2-0 defeat as the young forward was withdrawn at half time.
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 its 50-50 – 50 per cent the fans and 50 per cent on the part of Josh.”
He also touched on what he’s done personally to help him through tough periods, likening his efforts to that of the Man United fans.
“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.
“And then work with him, all the work that all the staff is doing with him and he is improving, and then put it into play. This is the only way to show confidence in him.”
Zirkzee has managed just six goals in 44 appearances across all competitions, but his goal in France is expected to earn him a start ahead of Rasmus Hojlund on Sunday.
Speaking on the subject of team news, Amorim admitted he may need to ring the changes to prioritise the Europa League second-leg clash against Lyon.
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“We will make this evaluation with all the staff and all the data that we have, because we know already the players, we will try to protect the ones that it will be hard to play a lot of games.
“Bruno Fernandes is playing all the time, and he is playing better all the time. Sometimes, this kind of player doesn’t play in every match, but we will address that.
“There is a great responsibility. We don’t have a team that is really big, and then we have players that I know cannot make 90 minutes in this moment; we have to be really careful.
“So we will try to address all these subjects in the game against Newcastle. But we have a great responsibility when we play any games. I will try to look at that, that is for sure. 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 am going to be careful with some players, but again, we need to be competitive.
“When you are playing for Manchester United, you cannot go to the game thinking about the next one. So we are going to face this one, and then we have three days.
“We are going to prepare for the next one without a lot of running and a lot of training. It’s just recovering, and then we will be fine on Thursday with our fans. But we need to face Newcastle in a way that we can win.”
