Diogo Dalot: I do not want to be part of Manchester United’s ‘worst-ever team’

Diogo Dalot has made clear his desire not to be part of Manchester United’s worst-ever team.

Ruben Amorim described United’s current side as such following last month’s 3-1 defeat by Brighton at Old Trafford. “I don’t want to hear it,” said Dalot following United’s 2-0 victory over FCSB in the Europa League on Thursday. “So the message for me is that the next training session I have to show that I don’t want to belong to the worse Manchester United team in history.

“You can analyse it as something negative: I analyse it as something positive because I want to change the situation. My teammates also, and we show [against FCSB] we want to change this. So hopefully on Sunday [against Crystal Palace] we can do it again.”

Dalot was asked if Amorim can be fiery. It was reported that the Portuguese smashed a television in the Old Trafford dressing room after the defeat by Brighton. “Obviously he is a passionate guy,” the 25-year-old said. “He was as a player and now he’s as a manager, and I think it’s what this club needs. Speak to all the fans they always show this desire of wanting the best for the club. That’s what he wants. So if we want to win, if we want to go to where this club belongs, we need to be there.”

If Palace are beaten at Old Trafford, Amorim will have guided United to back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time this season. Dalot was cautious when asked if the team appear to finally be clicking under their new head coach.

“Football is always unpredictable but what you can see is that we are trying to be more consistent about it, trying to win more games, and that’s the part that we want to keep,” he said. “It doesn’t mean that things will be lovely until the end of the season, but that’s where we want to go. We are really positive about it. We know that this storm that everybody is talking about – it will go away, but we need to suffer as a team, as a club, fans have to be together with us and I’m sure that [we] will rise again.”

United have won their past three games in all competitions. “It’s massive not just for us but for the fans,” said Dalot. “Obviously you go to Old Trafford on Sunday, the atmosphere is already different because you feel that we are winning games. It’s much easier to work, to train when you are winning, and that’s where we want to go.

“We know that what happened this season it’s been really tough, not just for us but for all the people involved at the club. But we want to change it and we want to start, step by step, and the first step is to win games, clean sheets.”

Earlier on Saturday, United completed the signing of the England youth international Ayden Heaven from Arsenal. The 18-year-old has signed a deal until 2029, with the option of a further year, after the clubs reached an undisclosed compensation agreement. Heaven made his debut for Arsenal earlier in the season and United say he will be “immediately” linking up with Amorim’s “first-team squad”.