The Japan Times - Amorim pleads for 'calm' as Man Utd face Brighton

Harry Maguire's late header sealed a memorable 2-1 victory against United's bitter rivals -- their first Anfield triumph since 2016 securing back-to-back Premier League wins for Amorim for the first time.

"We use the good spirit of winning games," the United boss told reporters on Friday. "We know that was a good weekend for us, but our focus is on the next game."

The Portuguese stressed the fine margins involved, referring to a Cody Gakpo header that flashed wide in the closing minutes at Anfield.

"If Gakpo shot 20 centimetres here, the narrative would be completely different," said Amorim, demonstrating with his hands how close the Premier League champions came to an equaliser.

"So, I just want to maintain some calm, some direction in what we are doing, that's what I mean.

"There are doubts if you are a manager in this kind of club -- you don't win a lot of games, people are going to doubt you.

"My point of view is that we need to be clear on our path and not changing so much because we win one game."

United are far from certain to maintain their revival against Brighton, who have six wins from eight matches in all competitions against the Red Devils, including three successive victories at Old Trafford.

"They are a team that is really complete, and we need to be really smart, and to face that game with a real focus on everything that we do," said Amorim, whose ninth-placed team are one place and one point above the visitors.

United captain Bruno Fernandes is expected to make his 300th appearance for the club on Saturday and Amorim said the midfielder had surprised him during their time working together.

"It's a little bit different (from) what I was expecting," he said. "Everything you read about the players, sometimes it's not that. You can understand sometimes, and I already spoke about that.

"The frustration that he feels is because he wants to help a lot, the teammates, sometimes it's not the best way, but it comes from a good place, and you don't know that when you are not here.

"He wants the responsibility all the time. He suffered a lot with the losses. Every time we don't win a game, you can feel it that he takes it personally, as you should be, as a captain. He's a great leader, a great footballer."

S.Yamamoto--JT