Ruben Amorim says it’s important Manchester United immediately focus on their upcoming Europa League last 16 clash with Real Sociedad.
The Red Devils crashed out of the FA Cup on Sunday afternoon, losing their fifth round clash with Fulham on penalties after shootout misses from Victor Lindelof and Joshua Zirkzee.
United fell behind at Old Trafford, allowing Calvin Bassey to head home from a corner, but drew level through Bruno Fernandes’ excellent low finish. Chances came and went for Amorim’s side and they were made to pay for their inability to fashion clear-cut openings as Bernd Leno’s heroics sent Fulham through.
It’s another desperately disappointing result for Amorim and his side, who can now only qualify for European competition next season by winning this season’s Europa League – doing so would catapult the club into the Champions League despite their disastrous domestic form.
“It’s really important [to focus on the upcoming clash with Real Sociedad]. We have to recover the players and push the other players that are out,” Amorim said post-match. “Like you saw today, they were really tired. We have a lot of recovery to be ready for the game.
“I think we are improving. I feel the players are more confident with the ball and the positioning. But I can see we need to win games in the end. Winning can help give confidence to the team but to maintain the idea, we show it every day in video an, in training, we use every little bit of training and the games to improve. It’s just to focus on what we have to do.
“The only way I know how to help my players is not trying to push them up with kind words. It’s just to focus on the next game, the characteristics of the opponents. Evaluate this game and it’s the only wait to gain confidence because I don’t know how to teach my players to be more confident. If we win, we’ll be more confident so let’s focus on the next game.”
United travel to San Sebastian for the first leg on Thursday before welcoming Sociedad to Old Trafford a week later, four days after Arsenal visit Manchester for a heavyweight Premier League clash.
