Man United produced another solid home performance to earn a draw against Manchester City having picked up a point against Arsenal last month.
Ruben Amorim is hopeful that next season could be “so much different” and insisted Manchester United must show improvement within the next 12 months after all the changes that have taken place this year.
The United head coach believes he is starting to see his ideas get across to his players after taking over mid-season and is confident they will kick off next term with a better idea of his plans.
But the reality for this season remains that United sit 13th in the Premier League and although they shaded the Manchester derby in terms of chances, neither side did enough to win an uninspiring contest.
“In the moment it’s still really hard every day, but of course you can imagine that the next season is going to be so much different,” said Amorim.
“That’s why I’m always saying that I’m in a rush, because we are suffering a lot. Everybody here is suffering a lot with all these changes and we have to show something in the next year, so right away. If not, I have the feeling that all this that is happening in this moment, we are not taking advantage, so I think that is an important thing.
“In the good days you think like that, it was important to come middle of the season, to work with the players, to improve the players as soon as possible, to start the next season with the better idea of what we want.
“Today was that day that we played well. Of course you can feel it in the game, it’s not there, in the top level, the intensity, but you can also understand the context of both teams in this moment.”
Amorim’s side have started to show improvement in recent weeks and they have now enjoyed successive Old Trafford draws with Arsenal and Manchester City, having had spells in both games when they have gone toe-to-toe with higher quality opposition.
“Every game has its story. We need to sometimes give time to the team to understand the game and then to face the game,” said Amorim.
“If you remember the first games at home we suffered a goal in the first 10 minutes and that can change the momentum, can change the way we face the game.
“The strategy is we have to forget the strategy because we are 1-0 down in the first minutes. I think these players proved not just this season but in the seasons before that when they are like this really focused they can win any game.”
Amorim’s biggest challenge will be to change United from a team that thrives on transitions. Their best moments against Arsenal and City came on the break and Pep Guardiola said United had always been a counter-attacking team during his time at the Etihad.
“We want to be competitive in the short space of time, but to do that, to be really dominant against any opponent is going to take a lot of time,” he said.
“So we have to use different weapons of playing a different style when we face different opponents. In that way of playing, City is maybe the best team in the world.
“But the important thing is that if you compare this game against Arsenal, we had some moments that we did the same, a little bit, to City. And against Arsenal, we didn’t do. It was clearly transitions. Today was a little bit different. So we are improving. But to play in this way that they played for many years is going to take a long time.”
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