RUBEN AMORIM no longer heads into Manchester United games gripped by fear.
The Red Devils boss admitted in the summer he dreaded attending matches — as he was convinced they would lose before he had even got off the team coach.
United head to Brentford today aiming to win back-to-back Premier League matches for the first time in over a year, having beaten Chelsea at Old Trafford last week.
Although United have won two and lost two from their opening five Prem games, Amorim stressed he is no longer in charge of a condemned side.
He said: “No, completely different now. I always have the feeling that we can win the next game and we can be dominant. I have that feeling now.
“Sometimes in the small things in that urgency — if you compare the way we start against Chelsea to how we started against City — it’s completely different.
“I am not certain all the time what is going to happen — and I am really clear on that with you and with the players — but the feeling is completely different.
“I look at my team and I am going to play against City, Arsenal and I am feeling we can score goals, we can be dominant, we can control the game in certain moments — so it is a feeling completely different from last year.
“No (fear), no, no. I know that is going to be tough but it is more excitement than fear this year.”
Portuguese chief Amorim has yet to guide United to successive league victories, ten months into his time at Old Trafford.
He steered his side to three consecutive wins in January — against Rangers and Steaua Bucharest in the Europa League either side of Fulham in the Prem — but that run came to a crashing halt with a 2-0 reverse to Crystal Palace back on domestic duty.
Amorim acknowledged United have a “big problem” if they cannot capitalise on the momentum of the win against ten-man Chelsea.
He added: “If we as a team, if we don’t understand the momentum now, we have a big problem.
“Anything could happen in a game, especially in the Premier League.
“You can see in every game but the feeling in the first minutes, it’s really important. So for me, since we start the first training, we start talking about that.
“We need to understand the momentum of the club, the opportunity that we have to win the next game. So it’s on us and the responsibility is on us.
“It’s in our hands to change things. We just need to win the next one, and to do everything to win the next one.”
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