Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim hopes goalkeeper Altay Bayindir can be his answer to club great Edwin van der Sar when his side take on Manchester City this Sunday, live on Sky Sports.
Amorim confirmed the Turkey international will keep his place between the sticks when United travel to the Etihad this weekend.
The showing of faith from Amorim comes after Andre Onana’s season-long loan move to Trabzonspor was confirmed and the club completed a deadline-day move for Senne Lammens.
Sunday 14th September 4:00pm
Kick off 4:30pm
Bayindir has started each of United’s Premier League fixtures so far this season; however, he has been heavily scrutinised for his performances.
The 27-year-old was easily barged out of the way of the ball as Ricardo Calafiori scored the only goal in Arsenal’s 1-0 victory at Old Trafford, despite a dominant United display on the opening day. Bayindir was also flung into the spotlight when he parried the ball into the path of Jaidon Anthony during United’s 3-2 win over Burnley last time out.
His performances led to some calls from fans to see Lammens given the nod for the derby; however, Amorim maintains that the club will be feeding players in differently to ensure players thrive at the club.
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Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim confirms that Altay Bayindir will start the derby against Manchester City; plus he gives an injury update, the reasons behind Andre Onana leaving on loan and the club bringing in Senne Lammens
“It’s not just the pressure of Manchester United, but it’s a different club,” Amorim said.
“We are building stability at the club to make new players better. If you go back into the past, this club had a really good base with Roy Keane, Gary Neville, all of these types of guys, but I remember world-class players like [Juan-Sebastián] Veron had problems.
“We had a situation in the past with goalkeepers where we spent a lot of time trying to get a goalkeeper and then Edwin van der Sar came and was like a different player in that position.
“It’s not something that is happening now. It’s happening now because we cannot win a lot of titles and that adds more pressure to every player, but we’ve had these kind of moments at this kind of club.
“We will try to build stability and a base to help all of these players and we are building that. So in this moment, it’s really hard for different players to adapt to this club.”
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Could Altay Bayindir have done better with Burnley’s second goal at Old Trafford?
Asked who the club’s next Van der Sar is, Amorim said:
“This week I hope to see Altay Bayindir doing well like Van der Sar. Then in the future, they have to fight for the places. We as a team can help the goalkeepers be better. We are doing that.”
‘It was the right time to make goalkeeper change’
Amorim says it was the right time for both the club and Onana to part ways.
Onana, like Bayindir, was beaten to the ball easily as Grimsby doubled their lead over Man Utd in normal time before United fought back to reach a penalty shootout.
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Speaking on Super Sunday, Roy Keane and Micah Richards row about Altay Bayindir’s involvement in Arsenal’s winning goal against Manchester United
United ultimately lost that game, but Amorim denies the notion that the game influenced Onana’s loan departure.
“Onana showed in Inter that he is a top goalkeeper,” Amorim told Sky Sports.
“Sometimes things are not working in some environments, some moments.
“I think we, as a club, and Andre felt it was a moment to do a little change. We don’t know the future, but it was time to change Onana.
“You look at the moment and the performance, it’s not about Onana’s last game, but you can feel the environment. We felt it was a good moment to make a change in that position.”
‘I can see more things in the team that I like’
Amorim also believes that after the transfer window, he can see more things in the team that he likes. United signed the likes of Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko, who helped take Man Utd’s spending to £232.4m.
Outgoings included Marcus Rashford, Rasmus Hojlund and Jadon Sancho, who secured loan moves elsewhere and permanent departures for Antony and Alejandro Garnacho. Amorim believes his side are better and that owes to losing the Europa League final, which means fewer games and more time on the training pitch.
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Manchester United midfield legends Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt have their say on the club under Ruben Amorim this season and agree that a return to their halcyon days are a long way off
“It’s going to take time, but we are better,” Amorim said.
“I can see more things in my team that I like. More of the things I don’t like in my [current] team are more mental because I know the quality is there. We proved in different weekends.”
“I think it’s hard for the fans, people and some pundits to understand because the Europa League win would have brought us more money to spend and change a lot of things in the team and more games to rotate the team for more players to be happy, but I think we need time.
“So for me it was the best thing about losing the final, if there can be a best thing. It was time to improve not just the team but also the club.
“We’ve shown that a little bit in the games, we play better, we are more dominant, we create more chances, we avoid more chances from the opponent. We are going to use every minute to improve our base. To have our way of playing to be ready for the adaptation, for them to understand every detail of their positions.
Now we have a full week to have a schedule and show the mistakes and now you are showing what you did well in the last game. Now we have more days to focus on the strategy for the next game.”
Watch Manchester City vs Manchester United live on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event on Sunday from 4pm; kick-off 4.30pm.
