Amorim's men are off to a bumpy startplaceholder image
Amorim's men are off to a bumpy start | Getty Images
Manchester United will be sweating over the fitness of a defender ahead of their upcoming clash with Chelsea.
Manchester United will be sweating over the fitness of one of their players as they start to think about facing Chelsea in just a couple of weeks. The Red Devils are set to face the Blues at Old Trafford on September 20, facing Manchester City in the Manchester derby next weekend.
It has been a very mixed start for Ruben Amorim’s side, who have won once, lost once and drawn once so far, while they also lost a Carabao Cup clash with lower-league Grimsby Town.
Amorim is going to have to get more of a tune out of his men over the coming weeks if he wants to avoid more pressure building early in the season, but things get no easier. His side will have to produce a big performance to beat Manchester City away, albeit Pep Guardiola’s men have not started well, and then they face a Chelsea side that has had the second-best start in the league to this point, winning twice and drawing the other.
United will also be concerned about an injury that has surfaced during the international break, with Diogo Dalot picking up what has been described as a muscular injury before Portugal’s first qualifier of this window, which turned out to be a 5-0 win over Armenia.
Dalot was sent back to Carrington for further assessment, playing no further part in this international window. It’s not yet known how serious the injury is, but any muscular injury is going to put a player at risk for a couple of weeks, and especially a full-back who typically does plenty of high speed running.
Amorim’s critical assessment
Man Utd boss Amorim recently scolded his team in an almost too honest interview he gave after their cup upset defeat to Grimsby. He said: “Sometimes I want to quit, sometimes I want to be here for 20 years. Sometimes I love to be with my players. Sometimes I don't want to be with my players. I need to improve on that. It is going to be hard.
“I know that when I speak these things, to be really honest, every time that we have a defeat like that, I will be like that. Sometimes I hate my players, sometimes I love my players - this is my way of doing things. I am going to be like that. In that moment, I was so frustrated.
"You have experienced people talking about the way I should perform with the media, to be more calm. I am not going to be like that. I am trying to accept that and I am going to be who I am, that's why I have the passion I have. In that moment I was disappointed. We had a good pre-season and were playing better. That kind of performance, I was really disappointed with everything. But now it is a new game."
United’s next three games could go a long way to setting the tone for the season, and the pressure is on after some big spending in the summer.
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