Ruben Amorim insists he has full faith in Bruno Fernandes as Manchester United’s penalty taker.
The Portuguese has been reliable from the spot throughout his Red Devils career until this season, when he has missed two out of his three penalties – in a draw with Fulham and defeat by Brentford.
“I know that is not easy for him, but I think he has 70 penalties, and he misses like nine, two with me, so I’m really annoyed with that,” said Amorim with a chuckle.
“But he’s really confident. He’s training the penalties, he’s trying to understand that people are watching the way he scores the penalties, so he will be ready. We have more guys also to score a penalty if he needs.”
United signed forwards Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko in the summer, who could all step in, but, pressed on whether Fernandes would keep the responsibility, Amorim said: “Yes he’s the main taker.
“He scores a lot of goals, penalties, he’s passing this moment. We have other options. Again, if we need, we can change, but I’m fully confident that Bruno will sort that out.”
Amorim, meanwhile, singled out Fernandes as unusual among his players in watching a lot of matches.
The 40-year-old believes other distractions have taken over, saying: “I think that is normal.
“Everything now is different, with a lot of distractions. I think they don’t watch a lot of games. You have guys like Bruno, Bruno is watching his team-mates, he watches every game that is on TV.
“But then you have some guys that play really well – if they want to do something different, that’s OK.”
United will look to do something they have not yet managed under Amorim and win back-to-back Premier League matches when they take on Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.
Arne Slot’s side are also desperate for a good result after going into the international break on a three-match losing streak, and the home fans will try to play their part in unsettling the visitors.
Amorim, who oversaw a 2-2 draw at Anfield last season, backed his side to handle the noise.
He said: “We showed last year (we could), and I think the way we start the game is more important than the environment.
“Of course if they win a corner, an opportunity, the environment is going to be loud, but we are ready to play with that and, if you look last year, not this year, but last year, sometimes we play better in that kind of environment than the pressure at home, so we never know what is going to happen.
“It’s really important to start the game well, to do a really good warm-up, to have a feeling, to understand that it’s going to be tough in the first moments. So I think, I know, they are ready, but we need to prepare for the impact, especially for the beginning of the game.”
