Performance in Sunderland game shows players still want me in charge, insists manager
Manchester United players are “100% behind” head coach Ruben Amorim, according to Mason Mount.
The English midfielder opened the scoring at Old Trafford on Saturday as United secured a comfortable victory and a clean sheet against Sunderland.
Amorim has been under pressure as many pundits and fans have criticised his 3-4-3 system following a run of abysmal results, with some suggesting his players have grown disillusioned.
“We’re 100% behind the gaffer,” Mount told BBC Sport. “We’ve had some results that hurt us – the team, the staff and the fans – but that was important today.
“We thought after Chelsea it would be the start of something and then we go to Brentford and have a disappointing result.
“It starts today and we’ll be working hard over the break. We want to get back-to-back wins, then three in a row and push on for the top four.”
Amorim also had a few complimentary words for his players, who impressed him with their consistent hard work against the Black Cats. United have often started games well and then lost their intensity as the minutes rolled by.
“I saw today that I know the players want to do their best and I know they don’t want to change the coach,” Amorim said. “But like I said to them, they need to show that with their actions.
“Sometimes when we look at our team I know for sure that when we see the games in the end they know sometimes we can do better. I feel it during the week but we need to show it on the pitch.”
The win eased scrutiny on the Portuguese, whose side had lost three times in six games already this season, leaving them hovering around the same 15th position they finished last season.
Victory over Sunderland lifted United to the top end of the Premier League table ahead of a trip to Liverpool after the international break.
Amorim refused to overstate the importance of the result against the newly promoted team, warning that the challenge for them was to keep putting out the same positive display week in, week out.
“There is no momentum with our team,” said Amorim. “We know what happens when we win one game, the frustration is not to see the same team at home and away.
“If we cannot play well, we must stop the opposition playing well and that’s the way a big team plays during the season, so that is the big frustration.”
