Manchester United head coach says his team generally controls the game but then falls apart in key moments
Ruben Amorim didn’t hold back in his assessment of his side’s performance against Brentford, saying that the 4-2 defeat summed up the problems that have haunted them all season.
Manchester United had a frustrating afternoon in West London, showing early composure and control, and taking the lead via a well-worked goal with Alejandro Garnacho delivering a sumptuous square pass for Mason Mount to finish. But Amorim’s side soon fell apart and Brentford scored four goals to lead 4-1. United’s vulnerability in set-pieces and general fragility all over the pitch once again proved costly.
“I think it’s a little bit of a reflection of our season,” Amorim said. “We start quite well, controlling the game, not creating big chances but controlling the pace of the game.
“We suffer a lot with the throw-ins and set-pieces, but we already knew that our team would struggle against this team because we didn’t have the height [that] will be necessary for this kind of game.”
“They score twice in these kind of moments, even with Matta [Matthijs de Ligt] on the floor.”
Brentford’s second goal came after an unfortunate scene where De Ligt lay injured on the ground and the home side elected to play on. However, United are not entirely blameless, as they could have worked harder to keep Brentford out, but were instead distracted as they appealed to the referee.
The home side also scored two goals after that, which all came from sluggishness in defence on the part of United. Amorim was particularly disappointed with the second-half unravelling.
“In the second half, I felt that we were near the draw, and then we suffered a goal and, like some other times, we disconnect,” said the 40-year-old.
“And then another goal a few minutes later. And then we push forward, try to score, we scored twice, but we didn’t have the time to do better.”
