Ruben Amorim praised his hat-trick hero captain Bruno Fernandes after his starring role in Manchester United’s win over Real Sociedad – but said frustrations from his desire to win stopped him from trusting his team-mates more.
Fernandes was the United lynchpin in the deeper role he has taken on under Amorim in their 4-1 second-leg win to seal a spot in the Europa League quarter-finals.
Beyond his second United hat-trick, the skipper drove his side on from midfield and could have easily had at least one assist to add to his goals with a number of fine chances created for his team-mates.
Sky Sports’ Adam Bate reflects on a successful evening for Manchester United as they comfortably progressed past Real Sociedad to book their place in the Europa League quarter-finals.
Amorim has previously said he needs his other players to show the same attitude as the captain but issued some gentle criticism after their European win, suggesting the 30-year-old must continue to trust his colleagues more even when he becomes frustrated with the team’s performances.
“We know that he’s frustrated. We know that he wants to win so bad. Sometimes, when we’re not playing well, he changes position and goes after the ball,” said Amorim.
“Sometimes, he needs to trust a little bit more in his team-mates to allow them to do their job and help him to play better.
“When we need him, he’s always there. He can change position. He can bring the ball forward. He can score goals. He can make transitions like he showed today.
“In the last 10 minutes of the game, he can defend. He’s a perfect captain for our team. We need to help him to win titles because he’s a legend.”
Bruno Fernandes scored a hat-trick to help confirm Man Utd’s place in the Europa League quarter-finals
As well as turning Fernandes into a No 8, Amorim has recently begun to give more game time to veteran midfielder Casemiro – partly through necessity with other midfield options unavailable – as well as moving Alejandro Garnacho to a right-sided No 10.
The United boss admitted he is still learning about how to best utilise both players after the Sociedad victory, during which Casemiro enjoyed perhaps his best performance of the season and was handed a standing ovation when substituted late on.
“I’m learning how to use players like Casemiro,” he told TNT Sports. “Without a lot of options, we’re trying to put them in the best positions, and that helps us a lot.
“You can feel they have more freedom. In Spain we tried to use the pace of Garnacho on the right, he showed me so many good things on that wing – maybe better than the left.
“It’s about trying to find the best solutions from the team, and it helps to play with the same team. It’s hard, we lost some pace in the end of the game but we are happy.”
Amorim could ‘feel’ confidence growing ahead of second leg
Man Utd are now unbeaten across 90 minutes in their last seven games, including this aggregate win over Real Sociedad and Sunday’s deserved Premier League draw with Arsenal.
Amorim identified the confidence three strong performances in succession had brought to his side, and how their second-half showing against the Gunners on Sunday had aided their preparation ahead of Thursday’s victory.
“The small things are really important,” he said. “We played in Spain, and [Sociedad] felt that they could go to the next stage.
“Then we came here with two days to prepare against Arsenal, and that small feeling of the second half that we were there, the players started to believe.
“I felt during the week I felt the players thought they could do this. Even without the red card, I think we would have won.”
