Diogo Dalot insists there’s no place at Man United for players who are not willing to ‘suffer’ after Ruben Amorim ruthlessly cut Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho from his derby squad before winning at Man City
Diogo Dalot insists that the resilience Manchester United showed to come from behind to beat Manchester City came from Ruben Amorim and that ‘there is no room’ at the club for anyone who is not prepared to suffer.
‘The message was clear from the start [with Amorim] – if you want to succeed and prosper, you have to work hard and suffer,” Dalot said.
‘If you want to succeed at this club you have to suffer and if you are ready to do that with us, we will be a good team. If you’re not, there’s no room for you.’
Amorim made the brutal decision on Sunday to drop both Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho from the squad, calling it an “easy selection” and saying after the match that “the team has proven that we can leave anyone out of the squad and win if you playing together.’
And Dalot praised United’s character despite trailing until the 88th minute, before Bruno Fernandes and Amad Diallo scored to complete a stunning comeback to leave Pep Guardiola’s City side with just one win in their last 11 games.
Diogo Dalot pictured (centre) celebrating after Manchester United won 2-1 at Manchester City
Dalot played the full 90 minutes at the Etihad Stadium, as United scored two late goals
“Over the last few years we’ve had some crazy games like this where we fought until the end and I think that’s the DNA of this club,” Dalot said.
“We showed character and even when we lost the game we kept our emotions under control, which I think is an improvement over recent years.
“When we were behind, we could have lost our heads a little bit. We showed a lot of character and I really liked the way we responded, even after the first goal.
‘You could feel the energy coming between us and it was really good. And all credit to the players who came on, because I think they gave us the energy.’
Dalot described the victory as a ‘very special’ moment for him personally and, like his compatriot Amorim, stressed that progress under the new manager will come with time.
Sunday’s match saw new United manager Ruben Amorim win his first ever Manchester derby
Amorim opted not to select Marcus Rashford (right) or Alejandro Garnacho (left) on Sunday
He added: “I played here [at Man City] a few times since I arrived. It was probably the first time we were emotionally in control. We felt like we could win the game at any moment.
‘It was the first time for me personally that I felt able to do that, so that shows some progress.
‘I don’t want to keep having the cliché conversation that ‘we need time’. Believe me, I’ve been here for almost seven years, I agree with the fans. We have to win tomorrow and yesterday. But the reality is that this happens step by step.
‘We are making progress with the new manager. If you want to analyze, we are taking very good steps towards where we want to go, but it will take time.”
But Dalot said it was ‘three points and nothing more’, even though it was United’s first win over City since 2021 when they won behind closed doors.
He concluded: ‘It’s clearly the biggest [win] in terms of exposure [under Amorim].
‘It’s a derby and we always want to win, but it’s three points and nothing more.
‘We still have to go higher and it is games like these that we have to keep winning.
‘It doesn’t matter if you win this and not the next match. Football is so cruel, but we have to keep going.’
United, who are 13th in the Premier League, visit Tottenham in the EFL Cup on Thursday before welcoming Bournemouth to Old Trafford in the competition on Sunday.
