Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim warned “we are fighting for our jobs” as he switched attention away from the Marcus Rashford saga that embroiled the club in January.
Rashford left United, who sit 13th in the Premier League table having suffered seven defeats at Old Trafford this term, joining Aston Villa on loan until the end of the season.
During his press conference on Thursday afternoon, ahead of Friday night’s FA Cup fourth-round tie against Leicester at Old Trafford, Amorim was asked about the conclusion of the deal.
“We are fighting for our jobs until the summer. I’m just focusing on these games,” he said.
“Thankfully about Marcus, he is in Birmingham now, with Unai [Emery] so you can take the questions for these months to another coach.
“We are focused just on our players at the moment.
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Paul Merson believes Amorim’s job is on the line if Marcus Rashford succeeds at Aston Villa
“I knew when I chose this profession that you have the risk of the results and I already knew when I came here.
“I looked at the schedule, I looked at the team and I understood that my decision of changing everything, taking these hard decisions in the middle of the season – without new signings – is a danger for a coach.
“But since day one, with good results or bad results, I have a clear idea what I want to do and I take these risks because, in the end, I think it is going to pay off.
“But I’m not naïve; I already said many times that this is a sport of results and we are in a difficult situation.”
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Amorim talks about Marcus Rashford’s loan move where he expects him to ‘play and improve’
United allowed Antony, Tyrell Malacia and Marcus to depart the club on loan, with young defenders Ayden Heaven and Patrick Dorgu the only incomings.
The club had appeared close to signing Mathys Tel from Bayern Munich, but the 19-year-old forward instead joined Tottenham on loan until the end of the season.
Analysing the window, Amorim alluded to the idea United are experiencing short-term pain for long-term gain.
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Highlights from the Premier League match between Manchester United and Crystal Palace
“What I feel is that the club is taking its time,” he said. “We know the urgency of the team at the moment, but I think everybody here doesn’t want to make the same mistakes we did in the past.
“We have to improve the players that we have, win some games and then, in the summer, we will see. We are being really careful with transfers because we made some mistakes in the past.
“It’s a moment that it’s hard to turn things around in a few games. It’s going to be like that – really hard – until the end of the season.
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Gary Neville believes there will be a lot more pain at Manchester United under Amorim this season and it will be damaging
“We want a different thing in our team, we want profiles and that is my area, so it was my decision to do that [not make wholesale changes in January].
“We are taking some risks, but it’s the way we want to proceed. We can improve our team. We will have time to train because I’m always complaining about not having time to train.
“Now we have time to train, we are going to improve the team, the players. I want a certain type of player, a different profile and we are changing right away.”
