The 27-year-old England winger Marcus Rashford, who was part of the team's pre-Europa League open training session on Wednesday, appeared to be in high spirits and was often photographed smiling. According to British media, this is the first time he has participated in training after publicly announcing that he is considering a transfer, and he has been training on his own and expressed his willingness to continue playing for the Red Devils to Amorim.
Marcus Rashford has missed nine games and United have lost five of them, and now that Antony has confirmed a loan out of La Liga side Real Betis, Rashford is willing to play and is committed to doing his best 100 per cent as long as the boss chooses him. Of course, Antony is yet to leave the club and was involved in training with United on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Rashford's agent brother Dwayne Maynard continued to meet with Barcelona on Wednesday. He prefers to join Camp Nou on loan in the winter transfer window in January, perhaps due to the excitement over the fact that negotiations are going well on the deal!
United's return to training includes Swedish centre-back Victor Lindelof, who picked up an injury in the Carabao Cup against Tottenham Hotspur and is now back in training, while Mason Mount, Luke Shaw and Evans remain sidelined.
After Manchester United's 3-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion, Amorim was revealed to have been furious and smashed the big screen TV in the dressing room to vent his frustration on his players. In the press conference afterward, he publicly criticized Manchester United, which is the worst team in more than 100 years, and the league needs to be relegated.
In this regard, the 39-year-old Portuguese young marshal admitted that it was his own mistake. "I didn't think about it, that's why, I'm also a young coach and sometimes I make mistakes." "So I usually don't talk after the game to avoid impulse. However, I felt like I needed to talk about that game, and maybe it was the wrong choice. Then I got more nervous and said something at the press conference that I shouldn't have said."
However, Amorim said he might do it again in the future, as he still says the truth. "I don't promise I won't do it again, I don't know, but I'll try to improve." He then corrected, "I'm not saying I'm nervous, it's that the team is nervous and I'm disappointed. Frustration is not the same as nervousness, and for the players, it's good to see the manager disappointed, maybe not, but I didn't say I was nervous. As a team, we will always advance and retreat together. What I'm saying is obvious, but you can also say it's my delusion. What I said was what I saw, and I told the players that being honest is a good thing. If I see it and don't say it, I can do that, it's easier."
Amorim has stressed that he does not intend to take the blame for the Manchester United players. "I want to say this: first of all, I am judging myself more than my players. You see, you have a coach who lost seven of his first 10 games." "So I'm talking about myself first and foremost, and I'm saying that I'm not helping my players, and I'm not blaming my players when I say players aren't good enough. Maybe I shouldn't have said that, but sometimes I'm disappointed and sometimes it's hard to hide. Thankfully, five minutes ago I expressed the same point in the dressing room in a different way, I was very upfront with the players. I'm not letting them take the blame, I'm going to say it's my responsibility, the same players are doing worse under the new manager, that's what I'm worried about."
On how to improve the team's performance, Amorim said: "We have to improve in the details, we are too nervous and anxious when we play and we have limited player experience, which is more difficult in a big environment. We played badly and we had a bad result, which is the responsibility of the players, the coach, the staff, and I am the most responsible because I am the manager."
Manchester United's Europa League group stage against Rangers and Steaua Bucharest only need four points to secure a top-eight finish and a direct qualification to the round of 16. However, United have conceded in the first five minutes three of their last five home games, and Amorim reminded his players: "We have the support, but we are more nervous at home than on the road. We've lost four of our five games and now we can't let the opponent score first. In that case, it's hard for the team to calm down and if we open the scoring it will change and maybe the team can improve. The players are training well and they are ready for this game, so let's see tomorrow."
Manchester United centre-back Harry Maguire was joined by Amorim at the pre-match press conference, meaning the 31-year-old England international will start. Although no longer the captain, Maguire says he is willing to take responsibility: "Whether I'm captain or not, I see myself as the leader of the players. I've had a lot of experience and I've had my ups and downs playing for Manchester United. It's part of playing for the club and I look at the players before you, like Wayne Rooney and David Beckham, who are also in the spotlight and are world-class players. After the game against Newcastle, I sent a message to Joshua [Zilkze] and told him that he was a good player and the fans were great and that they were with the team, not personally."