Manchester United will still be without Matheus Cunha, Harry Maguire and Benjamin Sesko for their next game against Crystal Palace as they look to respond to their chastening defeat against 10-man Everton. Cunha sustained a knock in training before the Everton game and Amorim has confirmed that while he will not be back to face Oliver Glasner's side, he could return to face West Ham on Thursday.
Cunha, Maguire and Sesko still out
United missed Cunha and Sesko badly as they failed to break down Everton despite Idrissa Gueye being sent off in the 13th minute at Old Trafford as the Red Devils lost a home game against 10 men for the first time in Premier League history. Sesko was ruled out for up to a month following his injury against Tottenham just before the international break and Amorim has confirmed that the £74m striker is still recovering and has stressed that the club will handle the injury carefully. United are also without Harry Maguire for Sunday's trip to Selhurst Park, where they have not won a game in more than five years.
"Sesko is going to take a little bit more time, Harry the same," Amorim told a press conference. "I expect to have Matheus back in the next one, not this one."
AdvertisementGetty Images'Tough' week after Everton loss
Amorim admitted that spirits have been low after the Everton game and reflected that United should be in a much better position than 10th in the Premier League 12 games into the season.
He said: "In our club it is the same thing because last year we had to win every game all the time and we took a lot of criticism because we are not winning. So in our club there is no excuses. About Europe, I have already talked about Europe and I said the same thing last year when we were in Europe, and I say the same thing this year, the advantage and disadvantage of being in Europe so there is no excuses. Last year or this year it is always to win games.
"If I look at the games we should have more points because we had control of some games, we had the advantage in some games and we lost that control. So if I look at our games we should have more points and that is really disappointing and really frustrating especially in the last game. In our club it is the same thing because last year we had to win every game all the time and we took a lot of criticism because we are not winning. So in our club there is no excuses.
"It [the aim] is to start again and it was really tough the week as it should be. It was hard after this result, this defeat. But the process needs to continue and we need to go for the next game and we have to understand, especially in our league this year, everything can change really fast so let's go again and focus on the next one."
Palace doing better than United with same formation
Palace coach Oliver Glasner uses the same 3-4-3 formation as Amorim but has had more success than the Portuguese since arriving in England in February 2024. He led the Eagles to win the FA Cup last season, their first ever major trophy, while they are fifth in the table heading into Sunday's game. Their spirits could be a little deflated though following defeat to Strasbourg in the Europa Conference League.
Amorim admitted that Palace are in better shape than United but stressed that they are different clubs with different levels of expectation. He said: "We play a different way and you can understand that by data but it is hard to explain everything. It is a different club and they are doing better than us so that is quite simple but you don't say all 3-4-3s play in the same way. We play in a different moment, we defend in different space and we try to attack in a different way and they are just doing things better than us.
"I take inspiration from everyone. When I have two weeks for national teams, I watch all the managers and try to take all the inspiration that I can take. I have six years as a manager and I am always trying to learn to improve my team."
Getty Images SportAmorim hoping to improve on poor away record
United have won just one of their seven away games this season in all competitions, with champions Liverpool being the only team they have beaten on their travels. That momentous victory looks less impressive now though given the fact that Palace, Nottingham Forest and PSV Eindhoven have all since won at Anfield.
Amorim could not give a clear answer on why his side have struggled so much away from home and stressed the importance of learning to cling on to their leads after throwing away advanages in their last two outings at Nottingham Forest and Tottenham.
"We need to do to show to the players why we lost control of Forest why we lost control against Tottenham. And if you look at those games they were there to win," he said.
"Sometimes a small detail can change everything. Then I felt this year when we play at home the intensity is higher and I felt in this game at home the intensity was not at the same level so I think it is something that we need to work on. It is hard to point at one thing why we are not winning away. There is a lot of issues that we are improving. Like I say, we have advantage in the away games but we need to know how to finish the games in order to win."