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Ruben Amorim says Harry Maguire will stay at the club another season ahead of Manchester United’s trip to Anfield to face league leaders Liverpool on Sunday.
Amorim was speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of the game and confirmed that good progress is also being made on Amad’s new contract.
The boss said: “”Amad is near, Harry Maguire we are going to trigger our option.
“I spoke with him this morning, I told him he has to improve on the pitch, we need him a lot. Also, he has to improve as a leader. We all know situation he had here but we need him a lot in this moment, but we are going to trigger the option for him.
“We are starving for leaders on the pitch. He is a leader.. We need him a lot in this moment.”
Amorim also said Marcus Rashford is ill and will not be available to play against Arne Slot’s men.
“At the moment he is ill, he is not training. I think he is going to be out this week. We will see.”
Asked if anything has changed in regard to the England man, he replied “It’s the same, he’s not trained because he’s ill, but he’s like every other player.”
Speaking about United’s current predicament, Amorim said:
“The only solution is to work hard. We cannot change the last game.”
Asked in what areas he is focussing training, he replied “Everything!”
In regard to possible transfers in the January window, Amorim commented: “I will keep that to myself, but we will try and do something.”
The coach was also asked once again about the tactical setup and said:
“We play most of the games with three. Sometimes, Bruno [Fernandes] was in a different position, the midfield. I know people look for the three defenders but I don’t see the game like that. We will adapt for every opponent. We need time.”
Amorim was then asked about Sunday’s opponents, Liverpool.
“I am just focused on the performance. I am not focused on losing and what could happen. We know what we are going to face. My focus is to prepare the team. I want to improve that [the first 15 minutes vs Newcastle]. Our focus is not thinking about any bad result.”
“We are in different contexts,” he added. “They’re a strong team, but like I said we’ll do what we can to win the game.”
The boss also said it is important for his team to have leaders.
“I think it is not one thing of our team; it is all the teams,” he said.
“If you want to be a top, top team you have to have leaders. We have that in the dressing room but they have to step up, because we have a lot of kids as well. We need the guys that are more experienced to help the younger players.”
Featured image Alex Livesey via Getty Images
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