Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim spoke about a number of topics in his pre-match press conference, including Lisandro Martinez’s fitness and Nottingham Forest’s form.
Ruben Amorim revealed why he had to say ‘no’ to Lisandro Martinez ahead of Manchester United’s Premier League trip to Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
After defeating Sunderland, Liverpool and Brighton, the Reds will take on Forest looking to make it four wins in a row in the top flight. A win at the City Ground would see Amorim’s team move up to second place in the table for at least a few hours.
At the press conference, Amorim was asked about the injury situation at the club, including Martinez’s fitness, Forest’s form since Sean Dyche replaced Ange Postecoglou, and how United will cope without Amad Diallo and Brian Mbeumo during the AFCON. So, with that in mind, the Mirror picked out the best of the conversations the Portuguese had with the media on Thursday.
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Martinez injury update
Amorim reminded Martinez of his shot after the defender revealed he was keen to play against Nottingham Forest. However, the Argentine is said to have to wait until his return.
Martinez has been out of action since February after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) against Crystal Palace, but returned to training with his United teammates earlier this week.
Asked for an update on Martinez and whether he could return for the game against Forest, Amorim said: “He wants to go here (Forest) but he won’t go here. He will need time.”
“He started training with us and slowly he will get better.
“It’s been really good. He’s brought that edge to every training session. That’s really good for us as well, and the rest of the players we have at some point. I don’t know about Harry Maguire, but the rest of the players are healthy.”
Three Forest players selected
Amorim has praised three Nottingham Forest players ahead of Manchester United’s trip to the East Midlands. United’s head coach named England stars Morgan Gibbs-White, Elliott Anderson and Callum Hudson-Odoi as the main dangers.
The United manager also revealed that Dyche has been keeping a close eye on Forest since he took over. The former Burnley and Everton boss has won one and lost one time at Forest since replacing Ange Postecoglou earlier this month, beating Porto in the Europa League but losing 2-0 to Bournemouth.
“I watched the games against Porto and Bournemouth, and the style of play is similar, but the characteristics are different,” Amorim said. “I watched a non-preseason game with Sporting and I tried to understand how he played in that game. In the same way, he can change the characteristics of very good players with their talent, especially Gibbs-White, Anderson and Hudson-Odoi.”
“So we need to prepare for another game against Brighton. We had space to play, but that space is gone. We need to understand that we are not the same team away and at home, so we need to improve the way we control the environment. We need to play better away, because every tackle is an important moment for the opposition fans. We are ready for a very tough game.”
Amado and Mbeumo’s absence will be sorely missed.
Amad Diallo and Brian Mbeumo will not feature in December and January due to the African Cup of Nations (AFCON), but Amorim believes the Reds will “struggling” without them.
The tournament begins on Sunday 21st December and will run from Christmas to New Year, with the final to be held on Sunday 18th January.
“We will have time to suffer,” Amorim said when asked about the expected absences of Amadou and Mbeumo. “We were going to struggle a little bit, but we already knew it was going to be an opportunity.
“Watching practice, we have players who should play, but they are also performing well during match practice, so it’s difficult to take some players out of the team for one game. So there will be opportunities for other players to help us.”
“They understand how we want to play, so if we’re improving on that, changing the characteristics won’t change the idea or the momentum of the team. But let’s use Amad and Brian in these games and we’ll see overall.”
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