Manchester United might feel the benefits of not playing in the Champions League next season, manager Ruben Amorim said on Tuesday (May 27), after the club failed to qualify for Europe's top club competition due to their defeat in the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur last week.
Amorim also confirmed his intention to keep captain Bruno Fernandes following speculation that the midfielder could be sold to Saudi Pro League team Al Hilal.
WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news
SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar
LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline
Amorim also confirmed his intention to keep captain Bruno Fernandes following speculation that the midfielder could be sold to Saudi Pro League team Al Hilal.
WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news
SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar
LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Good stuff.
00:01I'll go to the floor again.
00:02In recent years in the Premier League, teams who have not been in Europe have done very
00:09well, whether it's Newcastle qualifying for the Champions League, Chelsea and Leicester
00:13winning the league.
00:14I'm not suggesting that the title's got to be an objective for you next season, but do
00:18you think there can be an advantage of not having that European schedule and what is
00:22your target for next season?
00:23Would it be to qualify for the Champions League?
00:25No, the target I will not tell you now.
00:28The important thing is to focus on if you want a target is to win the first game, then
00:33we'll see.
00:34We have a lot to do during this summer, we have to prepare the team, but when you are, again,
00:40when you are in Manchester United, people are going to expect us to be on the top, but we
00:45have to understand the context, so I don't want the team to think about a big target.
00:50Just the small target is winning the first game and then we pass to the second game.
00:55I have to say that for us not to be in the Champions League could be an advantage to perform well,
01:02to perform better, to prepare better the games, to build that core that we need for the future.
01:11So I think it's a good thing for us to take advantage, not to have European games.
01:19Hi, Ruben. We spoke to Bruno after the final and he was very disappointed, obviously, as you all were.
01:25He said that he wants to stay, but he doesn't understand if the club would want to cash in.
01:30How important is it for you that he stays because he's been such an important player for you on and off the pitch?
01:36We already talked about that many times. You can see by the performance, you can see by the leadership,
01:44the passion that he has for the game, so it's really important, especially in these kind of moments.
01:48And you could see that in the last game I felt that the team was without pressure and they performed quite well,
01:57everybody wants the ball. But we had some difficult moments and in that difficult moments you can see that Bruno is the guy that takes that responsibility.
02:07It should be because he's the captain, his experience, so it's really important for us and really important for what we want to build with this team.
02:15I think we always prepared two plans, one with Champions League, one without Champions League.
02:21Without Champions League, we also don't need a big squad. We can control the squad in a better way.
02:34Then we have a plan that is to bring some new players, of course, but our big plan is to improve the team that we have.
02:45It's to improve our academy, because I think that is the future. It was the past, so it can be the future.
02:51So, it's not going to change so much because we have the fair play financial rules.
02:59We are not allowed to do much in this summer, even with Champions League, so we are prepared for that.
03:06The important thing is to stick together, like I said on Sunday. We are going to struggle, it's not going to be everything right away.
03:16But I have the feeling and I see the team improving, so that is the most important thing.
03:22I think the biggest positive is to, in the last game, in the really tough season, without trophies, in our position in the league.
03:32The feeling in the stadium is a club that is really alive and believes a lot that we can change things.
03:38That is the biggest positive. Then I think for some people it's hard to understand or to see.
03:46But I think we are improving as a team. We have that lack of goals that punishes in a lot of games, but we are improving in certain aspects of the game.
03:58But if I have to choose a positive, it's that feeling in the stadium with our fans that they believe that we can overcome everything.
04:08So that is the beginning of something.
04:11Go by the right side. Right side. So you guys will be here.
04:14One, one, center towards the end.
04:17So it's.
04:19You, you, you, you are you, you are you, you are you.
04:25You and me, you are you.
04:27You and me, you are you.
04:30You and me, you are you.