‘nervous’ atmosphere at Old Trafford contributed to Manchester United’s thrashing by Bournemouth, with goals from Dean Huijsen, Justin Kluivert, and Antoine Semenyo sealing the win for the Cherries.
The Red Devils conceded the first goal midway through the first half and allowed two more in quick succession around the hour mark, resulting in their lowest Christmas league position since 1989.
Amorim believes his players were ‘too nervous’ and should have tuned out the crowd, who have now seen United lose at home in the Premier League four times this season and expressed their frustration with boos at the final whistle.
“It’s hard to push for two, three wins and we are trying. This game was hard on us,” the Portuguese confessed post-match. “We suffered again on set-pieces and we were a bit nervous, I felt it in the stadium. The penalty and another goal are really hard here. We tried to score some goals but it was a tough match so let’s move on.
“If you look at the game, we were not conceding anything before the first goal, we had opportunities. If we manage to score the first goal then the game should be different.
“We want to score but we are too nervous. We have to fight this. After the penalty, we need to control the game better because we know this situation is really hard. We have to control better this moment.
“We have to focus on the job and not what you feel in the stadium. It’s the only way I know how to focus my players. We have to suffer again but we will try to win. We will do it until the end.”
Amorim did show sympathy for fans in his interview with Match of the Day, saying: “It’s really hard especially if you saw the game. We concede one foul and then a goal. We were winning second balls and creating chances. We conceded a penalty and then the third goal. It was really hard for the fans. We have to go again next game.
“We have a lot of situations where they managed to score a little bit similar to Tottenham. It’s really hard on everyone in the stadium. We have to fight this moment. We have to maintain the calm when you suffer a goal. It was similar in the last match.
“The players need to understand the game has different moments. I always expected [job to be tough], especially in these busy months. We are ready to face the challenge.”
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