Ruben Amorim has warned that he will “learn more” about his Manchester United players during Thursday's visit of Southampton, instead of two strong performances against Liverpool and Arsenal.
United had previously lost four games in a row traveling to Anfield for their opening game of 2025. Despite fears of a blowout, Amorim's improved outfit fought back to a 2-2 draw and could have beaten the Premier League leaders had Harry Maguire not scooped in from the top box with the last kick of the match. game.
A week later, united held another of their historic rivals to a draw in enemy territory. The Red Devils managed to hold on to a 1-1 draw despite playing with ten men for over an hour at the Emirates Stadium and then reached the fourth round of the FA Cup after a the triumphant penalty shootout.
Amorim greeted United “different soul” in that cup tie and challenged his players to maintain those levels of enthusiasm and fight for Thursday's game, which – in theory, at least – the hosts would be expected to win.
“This next game will teach me more from my players than the last two,” Amorim told the assembled media on Wednesday, “so I'm really focused to see what kind of game we play tomorrow, so I will learn more tomorrow.”
As an explanation, Amorimi pointed out: “Because there are no expectations for us in the last two games. Nobody believed that we could make a good performance or win a game, but now they expect us to win and play well like this that I will learn more of this game.”
Southampton sits at the feet of Premier League tableboasting just six points from their first 20 league games. Counterintuitively, the Saints' struggles could make it more difficult for United. “People expect us to win and that changes things,” Amorim warned.
“When you have pressure to win, that's the pressure we want and sometimes it's harder to handle that pressure because against Arsenal and Liverpool nobody expected us to beat those teams but now it's different. We have to prepare for that pressure, we need that pressure to improve as a team and we have to face the game in the right way.”
United Captain Bruno Fernandes sent the same message immediately after the euphoria of Sunday's cup win. “The big games against Liverpool (and) Arsenal, they all step up because it's a big game,” the captain explained. “We have to give back to the club. We have to do it every week, every game.”