Ruben Amorim is looking forward to his first experience of the Manchester derby
Ruben Amorim wants his Manchester United players to repeat their first-half performance at Arsenal for 90 minutes at the Etihad on Sunday as he targets victory in his first derby.
The head coach faces Manchester City in his seventh game in charge, having picked up three wins, a draw and two defeats. Those defeats have come in successive Premier League fixtures, and United head to the Etihad still 13th in the table.
City are on a dire run of their own, with just one win in 10 games, and it makes it a difficult game to call on Sunday. Amorim is aware of the significance of the fixture but is still focused on seeing incremental improvements from his team, who returned to winning ways on Thursday when they came from behind to beat Viktoria Plzen 2-1 in the Czech Republic
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The 39-year-old was pleased with his team's performance in the first 45 minutes at the Emirates, when they nullified Arsenal, only to fall to a 2-0 defeat thanks to two goals from corners after the break.
“I am always looking forward to coaching Manchester United, especially in the derby, but we have so much to focus (on),” head coach Amorim told MUTV
“We are focused on to improve day by day, and we want to see different things. I think we did a good job in the first half against Arsenal (in an eventual 2-0 loss), so we have that ability, we have players to do it, and we will try to do it again and try to win the game.”
Amorim's start at Old Trafford has been inconsistent. The defeat at Arsenal was followed by a 3-2 loss to Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford, and they made hard work of beating Plzen on Thursday night.
For now, the former Sporting boss knows things need to improve, but he is promising his side will fight for victory on derby day.
“You don’t (get) carried away about the winning – we should win this type of game that we had Thursday – so now we’re going to another game, we need to win," he said.
“We lost the other two in the Premier League. We have to have this feeling of winning these kind of games, and we will be ready.
“Of course, we know that we have a lot to improve, a lot of things are changing here, but we will fight for the game.”
Amorim knows how to get the better of City and Pep Guardiola, having beaten them with Sporting 4-1 last month in his penultimate game as manager before moving to Manchester.
“I have a huge respect for Manchester City, but I’m just focused on Manchester United,” he said. “We have so much to do here, in my mind only (this) exists.
“Of course we need to have a strategy, we need to understand the opponent, but my focus is just Manchester United. We just want to improve and to win games.”
For all that the derby will bring a buzz to the City, Amorim has felt the excitement across his reign so far.
“I’ve felt that every day,” he added. “Every day, where I go in Manchester, I felt that that electricity, not just in the derby day.
“I felt in Bodo/Glimt, the first game (in charge at Old Trafford), so, for me, it’s always the maximum. So, I think I will not feel the difference. Every game for this club I feel that. So, for me, it’s another game.”