Watching his Manchester United beat Arsenal away from home in the FA Cup clearly makes it a tough assignment to wipe off that smile of his.
Tribalfootball has no desire to do so, as we’d much rather get his insight on the United performance.
“I thought the whole team was terrific. I thought they scrapped and fought, you know, all the things we've been asking of this United team for a while now. We’ve been looking for a bit of togetherness and for them to show some team spirit and I think we saw that in abundance in the last two games.
“To get a draw at Liverpool, to win at Arsenal in the FA Cup when everybody thought it was a foregone conclusion. It speaks volumes for the team. Hopefully Ruben Amorim's style of management is having its effect. Players are understanding the way he wants to play and he's getting it across to them that the least we can expect is that you put in 100%, you don't give up, you fight for each other and you become a team,” says Pallister, who managed more than 300 games for the Red Devils during a 9-year stint.
“It's been a good week for Manchester United Football Club and hopefully we can build on that. They've now got Southampton at home on Thursday, where everybody's expecting them to go out now and destroy a team that can't seem to get a result. That's a different kind of pressure for United, so let's see how they perform on Thursday.”
Amorim reminiscent of Sir Alex
Against Arsenal, the central defence of Manchester United were once again made up of Harry Maguire, Matthijs De Ligt and Lisandro Martinez. The former was replaced by Leny Yoro after 104 minutes and Pallister hopes to see the young Frenchman fighting for a place in the starting line-up.
“The way the other three are performing right now it will be difficult, but he's getting minutes on the pitch, so we're only going to see him improve, hopefully. He's a young lad and he's learning his way in English football. He's come with a big reputation but he’s played in a different league. This league will be a lot more physical and robust. But De Ligt was outstanding on Sunday and Maguire and Martinez were solid, committed and tough.
“We stood up to most of what Arsenal threw at them. So, he might have to be patient, but that's what you want at these clubs. You need people challenging for your place. It keeps you on your toes, it keeps you focused, you know you've got to be playing well every week to keep your place. Hopefully he rises to that challenge.”
While results have been great for Manchester United in the past two games, Ruben Amorim has already seen the other side of the coin as well during his time at Old Trafford. He nevertheless sounds full of confidence, which is a rhetoric Gary Pallister recognizes from his former boss, Sir Alex Ferguson. His start to life at Old Trafford wasn’t all rosy either but in front of the players he never wavered.
“I remember that sign at Old Trafford, saying ‘3 years of excuses and still c**p’, it’s not good seeing that from your own supporters so I'm sure he must have felt the pressure at the time. But he's been through a lot as a manager and a player. So, it didn't actually shine through, he kept that away from the players.
“He had that bunker mentality of, ‘everybody hates us, but we don't care’. He would take a lot of the pressure off the players and put it onto himself, which was a great thing to do from him. But you learn a lot from adversity, don't you? It tells you more about your character and Fergie certainly never took a backward step.”
- Gary Pallister was talking to Tribalfootball on behalf of Betano