Ruben Amorim has made a surprise revelation that Manchester United’s players are struggling to cope with anxiety and fear while on the pitch in anticipation of his side’s crucial clash with Liverpool on Sunday.
Desperate for a win after suffering three consecutive league defeats, the Red Devils sit 14th in the Premier League table, and Amorim added that United’s form is taking its toll on him as well.
Ruben Amorim believes Manchester United’s players are undergoing anxiety and are afraid to step foot on the pitch ahead of their clash with Liverpool on Sunday. The Red Devils are 14th in the Premier League, just seven points clear of the relegation zone after suffering three crushing defeats in a row.
Amorim’s side have won just two league matches since the Portuguese coach replaced Erik ten Hag as manager in November.
The former Sporting CP boss revealed that the pressure of playing for United is getting to some of his stars ahead of a crucial trip to Anfield.
“They are anxious, sometimes afraid on the pitch,” he told the BBC. “We have to cope with that.
“We need the leaders to step up to help the other guys, and I’m the most responsible person here to improve the performances.
“You can see the players are trying, sometimes too anxious, too afraid to play football because this is a difficult moment, and we will help the players to be better.”
United have not won a game since their stunning 2-1 victory over Manchester City on December 15. They have since fallen to defeats against Bournemouth, Wolves and Newcastle in the league as well as a 4-3 loss against Tottenham in the Carabao Cup.
Amorim admits that he is himself feeling the impact of a difficult start at Old Trafford.
“You can see in my face, you can compare it to the way when I arrived and now,” he said. “Of course, there is a lot of pressure.
“For me, it’s the pride and also the performance.
“It’s harder when we don’t perform well.”
Amorim said that the club would attempt to bring in players during January, but did not reveal who he had his eyes on.
“When the window is open, we can try to do something, and we will try to do something,” he added.
“But I think, in the next weeks, we are going to have more time to train, and we can improve. That’s the only way.
“We had a lot of games without training, now we will have more space to grow.
“You can see that the context is worse in this moment, as we had a lot of losses, so we have to manage everything.
“I will keep that to myself [who he wants to sign], but we’ll try to do something.”