Senne Lammens has made a huge impact in just two games at Man Utd.
Senne Lammens has received high praise(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA, Getty Images)
Ruben Amorim has been “surprised” by the impact Senne Lammens has made at Manchester United.
Lammens made his debut against Sunderland before the October international break and he built on that impressive display by delivering another strong performance against Liverpool.
The 23-year-old’s long goal kicks were hugely effective in both of those United wins. Lammens made an important save to deny Alexander Isak during the first half at Anfield and received plaudits after the game.
Speaking at Carrington on Friday, Amorim was asked whether Lammens’ impact had surprised him. “I think a little bit because it’s hard in the moment of our club, all the speculation around the goalkeepers, he’s not a young kid but he’s still young,” the United boss said.
“He coped really well with the pressure, he’s really composed, he’s defending really well. The importance of playing with both feet to kick the ball is so important nowadays, especially when you have to play against Liverpool in a more direct style. I’m a little bit surprised, but I was expecting a talented guy. But yes, a little bit surprised.”
Amorim discussed the direct approach, adding: “I think you can see [progress] if you watch all the games. That game was different. If you have to point at a team who can control games with the ball, it is City or against Arsenal at the end of the game. Every team has to adapt and we adapt.
“We struggled to have long possessions against Liverpool, but if you go to the Arsenal game, it was completely different. Sometimes it is the environment, which is the first part we miss.
“Some players who are in different positions, who can give us more direct play than playing with the ball. We want to play a different style. Our style is a different style but I’m really pleased for the adaptation of winning games. Sometimes we are struggling but we can manage some things to win games and that is really important. If you judge our eight games, you know clearly what game we want to play.”
Arne Slot complained about United’s approach, but Amorim refused to respond to the comments from the Liverpool manager. “Liverpool is in the past, I don’t want to comment,” he said.
“It is not important, it is important what Fabian [Hurzeler] said – to try to understand what is going to happen (against Brighton). I understand everything, I am really pleased that the team can play different games.
“It was an important win but I was the first one to say we need to play better with the ball. I don’t care what Slot is saying, what people are saying about our team.
“I can watch the game and say we can do better and we need to do better in the future but sometimes you need to adapt to the game. So I don’t need anyone to evaluate my team. I can evaluate my team and I am really clear that we should play better with the ball and we are going to try to do that in this game.”
Amorim continued: “We are always talking about that [a turning point], but that connects with the other question about how we face competition. If you just think about that – that we are going to try to perform and put everything on the field – that is the most important thing.
“Sometimes when you talk too much about turning points, it is worse. Let’s take it naturally. We have won two games, it is no big deal, it should have come sooner. Let’s go for the next game and it is going to be really, really hard to play against Brighton. Let’s try to perform better than we did against Liverpool.
“Let’s wait for the game. If you look at our wins, especially this year, it has to be a lot with attitude. I’m not saying that players don’t want to win or to run, sometimes it’s getting harder but sometimes we need to force ourselves to do the basics.
“If we do that, we are near to winning more football games but if you look at Brighton and you see the way they play, every team that presses a little bit higher struggles with them and they won those games.
“So all those things we need to be prepared for – not just against the top teams like you call it: Chelsea, Liverpool, but against these opponents that are really good, and we need to be really focused and really smart to play this kind of game.”
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