Ruben Amorim kept his focus firmly on the Europa League despite Manchester United losing their 16th Premier League match of the season in being beaten 4-3 by Brentford.
“I think it’s stressful to lose games – when we’re fighting for a title it’s not stressful,” Amorim said in reference to United’s midweek need to defend their 3-0 lead against Athletic Club to reach the Europa League final. He made eight changes here, for the third youngest Premier League starting XI on record.
He defended his callow selection, saying: “We as a club we need to understand in this moment we have a big responsibility. We have to prepare a squad for different competitions.”
Despite that heavy rotation, United suffered the first-half loss of defender Matthijs de Ligt to what appeared a serious injury. “I don’t know,” said his manager of the extent of the issue, which forced a rejig to the team, with Harry Maguire coming on and Luke Shaw going off with the Athletic tie in mind. “We will see. I hope it’s nothing serious. We took a risk with Maguire. Shaw had to go out because we need players for Thursday.”
And despite defeat and being outplayed by Brentford, Amorim said United’s youngsters should have taken plenty from the experience: “You can train a lot with the first team but to have that feeling playing with the players, feeling the players, the speed of the game, I think is the best thing.”
A delighted Thomas Frank saw his team revive their hopes of playing European football next season by climbing to ninth. “I think we definitely have momentum,” he said. “The last 13 we’ve had a really good run of games, there’s a flow of playing well. We need to keep that up. The next one is the most important game and that’s Ipswich away. It’s already a good season, let’s see if it can be a good or incredible season.”
