Ruben Amorim admitted Manchester United don’t have the secret formula that’s allowed Scott McTominay to thrive at Napoli.
The Scotland superstar is on track for the best season of his career since swapping the Premier League for Serie A in the summer. He’s netted seven and assisted four to become a key player for Antonio Conte and looks well placed to win his first league title with Napoli a point ahead of Inter at the top of the division.
Back at United, meanwhile, it’s not going so well. The decision to part with McTominay looks stranger by the minute as they sit 13th in the table and in desperate need of points when they face fellow strugglers Tottenham on Sunday. Amorim was asked ahead of that one why stars like McTominay and Antony, who is also thriving out on loan at Real Betis, have looked better since leaving Old Trafford. And boss Amorim was under no illusions.
“Sometimes it’s like that,” he said. “It can happen in any club. This is a club with a lot of pressure. At this kind of club you have to have a base of a team to put the younger players, talented players that came from abroad, that come to a team that has one strong base that can help them to cope with that pressure.
“We don’t have that in this moment so it’s really hard on them. You feel it on Patrick Dorgu, he was a little bit nervous in the first moment. But if you are playing better as a team, you have a strong core that can cope with this, are winning games and are really strong in the games like it’s supposed to be at this kind of club, it will be more easy for these kind of players to be free to play their football.
“Football is like that. When you reach that level you need to be able to cope with the pressure. Sometimes they go to other clubs and they are more free without pressure and they play better.”