Ruben Amorim confessed Manchester United “lack a lot” following Wolves’ 1-0 victory at Old Trafford, which revealed the faults in his struggling team.
United’s stunning comeback to win 5-4 in the Europa League quarter-final second leg against Lyon on Thursday had covered over the team’s myriad flaws, which left it in 14th position in the Premier League.
But United manager Amorim is fully aware of the problems that have plagued them during a disastrous domestic season.
Their biggest issue has been a lack of cutting edge in league games, and Danish striker Rasmus Hojlund and his teammate forward were unable to hit the net until Pablo Sarabia’s free-kick won the points for Wolves.
Wolves celebrated a fifth consecutive top-flight victory for the first time since 1970.
In stark contrast, Amorim has only won six of his 22 league matches since arriving from Sporting Lisbon to replace the sacked Erik ten Hag in November.
The Portuguese coach’s frustration was palpable after United’s 15th loss of the season — a club record in the Premier League era.
“If you look at the game, we were the better team but in the end it doesn’t matter,” he said.
“If we don’t score goals, nothing matters because in the end it is the result that counts, especially in these kinds of moments.
“We create a lot of chances, we controlled the game. We blocked some good players from the opponent and then one set-piece changes the game and that’s it. It’s really frustrating to end the game like this.
“We say to the fans the truth: that we lack a lot of things in our team, that we miss chances, that if we don’t score goals we are not going to win.
“We have a lot to do and to focus on in improving the team step by step and understanding that until the end of the league it’s going to be like this and then we need to do something.”
United, who face Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League semi-finals, desperately need Hojlund to end a miserable run of one goal in his last 28 games.
Asked if he could take him out of the spotlight, even with Joshua Zirkzee’s season-ending injury, Amorim said: “No. I think if you look at the games, we have several players that miss big chances, not just Rasmus.
“But of course, Rasmus, the aim is to score goals because he’s a striker, but it’s a team thing. I already said that. Our team should score more goals and it’s not just Rasmus missing chances.
“The only way I know is to work on him, show him the videos. Like you said, he needs to score a goal – he will not score if he is out (of the team) so I try to manage that during games. But he needs to score one. Maybe that’s all a striker needs.”
