His double save to deny first Krejci and then Mosquera, scooping the ball away from the defender just as he was about to tap it in, was critical. Patrick Dorgu had the ball in the net late on but was correctly ruled offside.
This was not the way Amorim would have wanted to bring in the new year.
Amorim frustrated by ‘lack of fluidity and quality’
Ruben Amorim bemoaned Man Utd’s lack of creativity and quality after being booed off at Old Trafford.
Boos greeted the half-time and full-time whistles and Amorim’s second half substitutions were jeered as Wolves ended a run of 11 successive defeats with a deserved point.
“We struggled in all the game,” said Amorim, who was missing eight senior players due to injury and the Africa Cup of Nations. “We had lack of fluidity and then a lack of quality and then a lack of creation of chances. And then we suffered a goal with set-pieces – and we are [a] tall [team] in this moment. So these details are important to win these games in difficult moments.”
Amorim reverted to his usual 3-4-2-1 formation against Wolves, having beaten Newcastle on Boxing Day, deploying a 4-2-3-1, but United lacked energy and ideas throughout the game. The United manager admitted the absence of key players – including captain Bruno Fernandes, top scorer Bryan Mbeumo, Mason Mount and Amad Diallo – was hurting his team, but refused to blame it for the result.
“We didn’t use that excuse against Newcastle. We are not going to use it today, but of course, if you see the game, I understand why we play the way we play today, the lack of fluidity, lack of one-against-one,” he said.
“We knew that it would be a completely different game compared to Newcastle because in Newcastle, we have more space to play. We didn’t have to work the play so much and today we have difficulties in that aspect and that is clear. I think we are in one situation that you have a lot of players out at the same time. Of course, when you play Casemiro and [Manuel] Ugarte in the middle, you know that is different when you have Kobbie Mainoo, Mason Mount or Bruno, that is normal. So we just need to recover our players, the players from Afcon to return, and then the fluidity is going to be different.”
United have won just one of their last five home matches after a series of missed opportunities but Amorim remains confident that his side can qualify for Europe.
“I’m really confident. We just need to recover all the players,” he said. “I don’t know what is going to happen until the end of the season but I’m really confident when we recover all the players that we are going to be a strong team, that there is no doubt in my mind.”