Ruben Amorim refuses to pin blame on goalkeeper Andre Onana for Brighton blunder
By Ian Parker, PA
Ruben Amorim refused to single out goalkeeper Andre Onana for blame after his error led to Brighton’s decisive third goal in Manchester United’s 3-1 home to defeat.
Onana failed to deal with what should have been a routine cross from Yasin Ayari and Georginio Rutter gleefully took the ball around the stricken keeper to score his fourth goal in three games.
Brighton were already in front, with Kaoru Mitoma having restored their lead on the hour mark after Bruno Fernandes’s penalty cancelled out an early goal from Yankuba Minteh.
Amorim said his side were the “worst team maybe in the history of Manchester United” after watching them to slump to a sixth home league defeat in 12 this season, and his focus was squarely on the collective rather than individuals.
On Thursday night Onana kept United in the game before a stunning late hat-trick from Amad Diallo secured a 3-1 win over Southampton, but his error on Sunday made sure there would be no repeat as Brighton got all the buffer they needed.
Asked about Onana’s mistake, Amorim said: “It’s like the team, ups and downs, really up sometimes and really down sometimes. We have to maintain the focus during all the game to try to win the games. That is the only way we can turn things around.”
A defeat that leaves United 13th in the table will have United fans wondering how much longer it might take for them to see the benefits of the system Amorim is trying to install, with United’s players still looking deeply uncertain in several areas.
Amorim said before the game against Liverpool at the start of the month that his players were playing with fear.
The 2-2 draw at Anfield and the penalty shootout win over Arsenal in the FA Cup that followed should have boosted confidence, but instead Amorim said his players were still “really nervous”.
“They are used to different things,” he said. “Sometimes you have that team that almost wins the league and then the next season is really bad without confidence. Our players are really nervous in actions.
“When you go on the pitch you remember the last games here. If I feel it, the players feel it a lot. The only way is to continue to do the same and to win games, that’s the only way to fix this.”
Brighton had made the trip north having only ended a run of eight league games without a win by beating struggling Ipswich 2-0 on Thursday night, but Fabian Hurzeler said his players had taken confidence from their recent performances, even if they did not have the results to show for them.
That confidence showed in an industrious display in which they repeatedly beat United to 50-50 balls and showed the greater endeavour going forward.
“We should always go to an away stadium with the mindset we can win it because we have the skill, we have the potential in the squad,” he said. “If you come here and you don’t have the belief in yourself, it won’t work. If you have doubts you have the wrong mindset, you have negative energy.
“We were positive. We had self-belief because of the performances in the last weeks. We need to have the right mindset besides the tactics and therefore I think the guys were quite confident on the pitch. You need this self-confidence, especially here at Old Trafford.”
