Amorim says Amad return is ‘massive’ and claims it is ‘hard to take Casemiro out of the team’ after recent improvement | OneFootball

Ruben Amorim says Amad’s return to the Man Utd team is “massive” for his side.

The winger returned to action as a late substitute in Man Utd’s 3-0 Europa League semi-final first-leg win over Athletic Club on Thursday night.

He had been out since February after suffering an ankle ligament injury and Amorim admits losing him for so long was tough on the team.

“It was really tough for us because in that moment he was the player who created all the situations,” Amorim said ahead of the game against Brentford.

“And then that passed a little bit onto Bruno (Fernandes).

“So for a player like that in that moment with a lot of games was really hard for us and especially for Amad because he was living a good moment.

“But now he’s returning. You can feel that he’s not so explosive in this moment but he’s a player with the left foot, different from Garnacho, that can go one against one and we don’t have many players to do that so it’s massive for us.

“He’s one more option to play.”

Amorim also lauded the improvement of midfielder Casemiro, who scored his side’s opener and impressed in the win over Athletic Club.

“You can see not the way he plays but the way he runs,” Amorim said on Casemiro’s improved form. “You can see it, we have the data to show him where he worked really hard. He is a very good example.

“Even Toby sometimes was playing in front of him and now it is hard to take Casemiro [out of the team]. So it is a lesson for all the players in Manchester United.

“No matter what is the past or the last month, everything can change in one moment.

“Then we understood that he cannot jump all the time pressing high. We need to let him understand and sometimes it is better to put three defenders and let him be the fourth defender and put the wing-backs pressing high.

“These are all things we are understanding and trying to cope with all the criticisms of the team. But the credit is for Casemiro.”