Ruben Amorim: Man Utd boss says his players are ‘too anxious, too afraid’

“They are anxious, sometimes afraid on the pitch,” Amorim said of his players. “We have to cope with that.”

On Friday, United’s Portuguese boss said “we are starving for leaders on the pitch” as he praised defender Harry Maguire for bouncing back from difficult times.

“We need the leaders to step up to help the other guys and I’m the most responsible person here to improve the performances,” he added.

“You can see the players are trying, sometimes too anxious, too afraid to play football because this is a difficult moment and we will help the players to be better.”

United, who are 23 points behind Liverpool having played one game more, have not won at Anfield since January 2016 when Wayne Rooney scored the only goal of the game.

Meanwhile, United have failed to score on the past five visits, with their last goal at the venue coming in December 2018.

Despite his team’s worrying form, Amorim said better times were coming for United and their fans.

“I will do my best,” he said. “I am giving everything to help the club and we are going to succeed. I know it is hard to understand that in this moment, but we are going to succeed.”