Former Man United defender Gary Neville has revealed that Ruben Amorim, who led the Red Devils to three successive wins, has “another big job in the coming weeks”.
The Red Devils beat Liverpool last weekend to win their first consecutive Premier League games under Amorim, and extended their winning streak to three with a 4-2 win over Brighton on Saturday.
Amorim have spent much of this season under pressure, but these three wins have lifted them into fourth place, ahead of defending champions Liverpool.
And while Neville hailed Amorim’s “best week at work”, he warned the Manchester United head coach that he is “not out of the woods yet”.
Neville told Sky Sports:
“Given all of our experience, I don’t think we were surprised when he talked about losing his job. We knew he was under a lot of pressure after going into the international break in October and we felt that change was imminent.”
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“But the win at Anfield showed that things could turn around and obviously that was very important today.
“He’s not out of the woods yet and it’s definitely not his time to get going, but I think Manchester United are now where we probably expected them to be.
“After the rest of the teams play, they will drop a few places and end up in sixth or seventh place, which I think everyone expected.
“So, look, this was a hugely important week for the manager and for the club, and as you can see from the celebrations at the end, there was more than just a sense of relief that we really needed this.
“A few weeks ago I was a little worried that the players didn’t believe in Ruben Amorim’s system, that maybe there were elements that didn’t win games and that all of us, myself included, started having doubts after hearing the noise we were adding to it.
“But one thing that is absolutely indisputable when I talk to people inside and outside the club is that the players really like him as a person and that’s very important.
“Because I definitely think he’s unbeatable in the dressing room in terms of his mental strength and his energy and how they feel about him. They want to play for him, they want to win, and you saw that come together a little bit last week.”
“Winning at Anfield in any season is special, but for Ruben Amorim to win at Anfield when they least expected it gave them a lot of courage.
“I’m looking forward to playing Nottingham Forest next week and then away to Tottenham the following week. We still have a lot of work to do this month, but it felt like a month of reckoning for me. If we had gotten off to a bad start against Liverpool last week, things might have gone very differently.”
“It feels so different. I’ve got a little bit more momentum and my spirit is feeling good.”
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Neville believes Amorim will need to get the best out of Benjamin Sesko in the coming weeks after Mbeumo and Cunha have been let go.
The Manchester United legend added: “There’s a question mark with Sesco. I think he was the bigger risk as a contracted player. He hasn’t quite settled in yet. It would be great if we start to look like a front three. With him standing there, it still feels like a front two. I think that’s the big job for the next few weeks.”
“It’s not just about the goals, it’s about being part of the combination that you see from the rest of the squad. I see Bruno Fernandes and Mason Mount, who didn’t play today, linking up very well with Mbeumo and Cunha. I’m not sure yet that Sesco is part of that combination.”
“With the speed of each other’s play, he just hasn’t kept up with that pace. He’s got to adjust to the speed of his game, but that’s something that will figure out over time. Obviously, he’s still pretty young, but he just needs to get there.”
“He’s a big signing and if they can be a front three, that’s going to be huge. It still feels like two guys standing there and taking up space.”
