مدير عام كرة القدم
- Mount hurt by Amorim’s ‘worst in history’ remark
- Man متحد aiming to bounce back from heartbreak
- Champions League qualification key goal for new season
مانشستر يونايتد finished all the way down in 15th place last season in the الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز and also added a Europa League final loss to cap off what was the Red Devils’ worst season in over half a century. Midway through the 2024/25 campaign, Amorim described his squad as ‘probably the worst in United history’. Mount has now opened up on the hurt that the Portuguese boss’ comments caused.
Speaking to The Athletic, Mount said: “As a player, you never want that. I can just speak for myself personally, going away in the summer, you’re always looking at what you can do better, how you can be better for your teammates and perform as a group, how we can all perform better.
“Last season, it wasn’t good enough. We know that, but we’re kicking on now. We’re ready to put that right. And from the first game of the season, it starts off pretty good (at home to Arsenal). A top first game, so we’ll be ready for that when that comes around now.
“I think it’s always difficult, a manager coming in halfway through a season. There were so many games, and we didn’t have a pre-season to work on things and look at the shape. We obviously changed shape halfway through a season.
“It’s difficult to adapt sometimes to those situations, and I think that could have played a part in that. With the games, we didn’t have loads of training time. We play a game and the next day is a recovery day. And then you build up to the next game.
“We haven’t done loads of analysis of last season. We looked at a few areas that we can improve on, but this is a new season. It’s like wiping the slate clean. Coming into this season with a different kind of attitude and a feeling about it and we’re ready to go.”
Despite a break in Ibiza and some time away from football, Mount admits the disappointment lingered and pushed him to reflect on his own performances. He believes that a proper pre-season under Amorim will help Manchester United next season.
Mount added: “From day one of pre-season, it’s about standards and details within training, obviously on the pitch and off the pitch, and really focusing on us as a group and what we need to do to be better and to perform.
“He (Amorim) is massive on details, the small improvements on the pitch or off the pitch, and he’s been really, really big on that. As a group, we know what we need to do in those areas because we need to be performing to the best of our ability.
“It’s important with any new season to set new goals, especially coming off last season. As I said before, it’s the details. I think that in some of the games, that kind of let us down where we conceded some goals and weren’t creating enough chances.”
With no European football this year, Mount sees Champions League qualification as the top target and says the team is mentally reset for the challenge ahead. He continued: “We obviously want to be back in Europe. I think that is a massive, massive thing for the club. I think that’s the focus. The Champions League would be amazing for us, and as a group, we want to be playing in that competition.
“We know how difficult that is now in the Premier League. There are so many teams that are obviously investing and playing very good football at the moment. And as I’ve said many times, it’s the small details here and there that really affect that at the top of the league.”
