Man United don't have big enough squad to rotate, says Amorim
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Man United don't have big enough squad to rotate, says Amorim
(Reuters) - The Premier League may have little left to offer Manchester United this season, while they are still involved in Europe, but they do not have a big enough squad to make wholesale changes, manager Ruben Amorim said on Friday.
United's Europa League quarter-final tie is still very much in the balance after Thursday's first leg 2-2 draw away to Olympique Lyonnais, but they are 13th in the league standings ahead of Sunday's game at Newcastle United.
In 2017, Jose Mourinho went for heavy rotation in the Premier League when United went on to win the Europa League, and Amorim was asked if he planned on doing the same.
"We don't have a team that is really big to do that and then we have some players that I know cannot make 90 minutes," Amorim told reporters.
"In this moment, we still have to be careful so we will try to address all these subjects in the game against Newcastle but we have a great responsibility when we play any game.
"Sometimes, winning games is the best way of preparing the next one. I'm going to be careful with some players but we need to be competitive and when you are playing for Manchester United you cannot go into the game thinking about the next one."
Captain Bruno Fernandes has played every minute of the last 20 games for United, and could be one player that Amorim decides to rest at Newcastle.
"We will make this evaluation with all the data that we have," Amorim said.
"But Bruno Fernandes is playing all the time and is playing better all the time, sometimes this kind of player has to play in every match."
In December's reverse fixture with Newcastle, forward Joshua Zirkzee was taken off after 33 minutes of the 2-0 loss to a chorus of boos from the United supporters.
"He's doing a great job but also a very important thing was the way the fans reacted after that incident," Amorim said.
