**Man United**had to react to the mess from midweek against Grimsby Town and got a win by the skin of their teeth. It has been a wildly frustrating month for the fanbase, but the boss believes that his players have been "more consistent" despite taking only four points in the last fortnight.
‘The effort was always there’
**Man United**pulled out a winner at the death. A tug from Jaiden Anthony on Amad Diallo ended up with a penalty, and Bruno Fernandes fired home from twelve yards. Amorim was happy with the first **Premier League**victory of the campaign, and he felt that the three points were merited.
“It ended well. I think we deserve in the end to win the game. We create a lot of chances. We should go to half time with a bigger advantage. Everything in this moment, every possession near our box, they can score and we are in that moment.
“We were always chasing a lot of things. We deserve and we try until the last minute to score goals. We have our chances and in the end we deserve the win.”
That flashpoint from Amad meant he was back in the manager's good books after a first half miss.
“When they put the effort, I always love him. Even when Amad misses the goal, I love Amad. if he's giving everything and we need to understand that we need we should have always be on this level.”
Amorim acknowledged how the **Old Trafford**faithful created a distinct buzz around this game. They have played their part in pushing the players to react to the humiliation from Wednesday evening.
“You can see the first minutes of the game you can understand you can compare this to Wednesday and you can feel it. The sound of the fans when we are pressing and winning balls, corners and you sprint to get a corner, you sprint to get a throw in is nothing to do with a tactical or technical aspect.”
Despite his outburst at the midweek Carabao Cup exit to Grimsby Town, the manager has mostly been happier this season. He sees the standards set through training translating into the performances.
“The important thing for me is that if you take away Wednesday, we were more consistent in the performance compared to last year. That is a good thing, but I'm not thinking about turning point.”
The Portuguese praised the commitment of the camp to trying to execute his vision on the field.
“The effort was always there. We try to put the ball in the box we are put we put more people inside the box, not just around the box to play the ball. So some things we worked during the during the week and spoke about they were doing that they were focusing the game. That is the most important thing.”
He does not believe that there will be a drastic turning point for the team. Rather, changes will take place on a daily and weekly basis through increasing familiarity with what he is demanding.
“It's day by day. I'm happy we return sometimes playing well or not so well. We return a little bit the team that we should be competitive and creating chances. We need to score. Sometimes we block the opponent in their half. We press high. We have a lot to do but we return a little bit to our level today.”
‘It's not just the goalkeepers’
Matheus Cunha came off after half an hour with an injury. Mason Mount also suffered a niggle that forced him to make way for Kobbie Mainoo at half time. It is unclear how long both will be absent.
“I don't know. We'll check them. We need that guys really bad to be really competitive.”
Benjamin Sesko stayed on the bench until the final 20 minutes of the match. The Slovenian has still not started for the Red Devils in the Premier League, and he also took the tenth penalty in the shootout in midweek. Amorim attempted to explain why he has been keeping the striker in reserve.
“Everything’s connected. He finished with cramps really in the limit. That's why we protected Ben from penalties and today was reason also because Josh is also a striker. He is international striker.”
Even **Joshua Zirkzee**stepped in for Cunha instead of Sesko. If Amorim's angle is correct, the 22-year-old will be in the running for the lineup when the fitness of other forwards becomes clearer.
*“With the problem of Cunha, you don't know if that play that full game in the middle of the week has something to do with the with the injury today with the problem with Mason Mount.*
“I was not risking another player not knowing if they are able to play so many minutes. So everything was connected, the penalty, game on Wednesday, and the number of minutes that I was thinking to put Ben today.”
Altay Bayindir was a talking point, but Amorim refused to blame him for the **Burnley**fightback.
“Guys! They are humans and at Manchester United everything is the news it everybody talk about the goalkeeper and you can see I can change the goalkeepers in the situations happen we are in that moment I think it is hard to be a Manchester United goalkeeper in this this moment.”
The Portuguese saw similarities between the Lyle Foster header this weekend and the equaliser from Emile Smith Rowe last week at Craven Cottage as crosses needlessly drifted into the six yard box.
“If you look the first goal we can defend the better the box. We suffered quite similar goal against Fulham because we don't do the full rotation of the team when the ball is in the other side.”
He is calling on all the players within the group to get better, and not only the two shot stoppers.
“All these small things has nothing to do with the goalkeeper. Players are struggling a bit with all the things that around the club. That is normal. It's not just the goalkeepers. Everybody has to improve.”
Two of the summer signings have significantly raised the level in the final third already. **Bryan Mbeumo**got his second goal in a week and his first **Premier League**strike for the Red Devils. But it is not only the final action that attracted the club to courting his signature from **Brentford**in July.
“The way the quality that he has in the first touch, you can feel we are a different team because when we win the ball we have one guy stretching the team. Last season we struggle a little bit with that.”