Ruben Amorim wants actions rather than words after Mason Mount said Manchester United’s players were “100 per cent behind the gaffer” following the much-needed win against Sunderland.
Last weekend’s bruising 3-1 loss at Brentford intensified scrutiny on the Portuguese head coach’s position heading into his 50th match at the Old Trafford helm.
United responded well to that setback as a fine Mount opener and first home goal from summer signing Benjamin Sesko secured a 2-0 victory against promoted Sunderland.
The result helps alleviate the pressure before the international break on under-fire Amorim, whose squad are “100 per cent behind the gaffer” according to Mount.
When the United boss was told about the midfielder’s comment, he said: “I saw (that) today and I know they want to do their best – and I know they don’t want to change the coach all the time.
“But, like I said during this week, to be with the manager is ‘I will kill myself to go in every transition’. We need to show with actions.
“And sometimes when we look at our team I know for sure that when we see the games in the end they know that sometimes we can do better.
“So, I feel that during the week but we need to show that on the pitch, not just at home but also away.”
Amorim made five changes from last weekend’s loss in west London, including handing summer signing Senne Lammens his debut.
The 23-year-old goalkeeper arrived on deadline day from Antwerp and helped United keep their first clean sheet of the season, producing a couple of important saves and showing confidence between the sticks.
Amorim continued: “I think he looks confident in the first game. But the important thing is that the team-mates help Senne to have a good game because everyone was focused, not a lot of mistakes, against a team that was really comfortable playing football.
“When Senne arrived here first of all Altay (Bayindir) was playing and then you can feel that he needs to adapt – new country, new training, the pressure you guys put on the goalkeeper is massive.
“It was a little preparation for the guy to be ready to start his first game.
“But now is just one game and he needs to work because he needs to be prepared that in our club things are really hard.”
United head to rivals Liverpool after the international break, when Sunderland host Wolves looking to bounce back from only their second Premier League loss since promotion.
Black Cats boss Regis Le Bris said: “I think it’s really positive. Even if we struggled today, we reacted.
“For a young squad like ours, after 2-0 many teams can just stop and wait for the last minute with four, five, six, seven goals. It was possible, so we reacted well.
“I think it’s part of the process. The start to the season is really positive with 11 points, which probably was not expected by many people – and the dynamic is positive.
“It’s part of the process to lose games, to have tough moments, but we have to learn quickly.”
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