Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim joked he is already feeling the effects of managing the Red Devils – and revealed his relegation comments were a tactic to motivate his struggling players
Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim joked he is already feeling the effects of managing the Red Devils – and revealed his relegation comments were a tactic to motivate his struggling players Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim joked he is already feeling the effects of managing the Red Devils – and revealed his relegation comments were a tactic to motivate his struggling players
Ruben Amorim has joked that managing Manchester United has already started to seriously damage his good looks.
It has taken just nine weeks in the Old Trafford mad house for the 39-year-old to admit that he no longer recognises the man who arrived from Sporting Lisbon when he peers into the bathroom mirror every morning.
Amorim is hoping that the arrival of his family in Manchester over Christmas will help him deal with the unique pressures that come with being in charge of the biggest club in the Premier League.
The Portuguese accepts that he’s inherited a squad that is struggling to cope with the weight of the famous Red shirt so much that he felt compelled to issue a relegation warning after a defeat against Newcastle meant he became the first United manager in over a century to lose five of his first eight league matches.
There could not be a worse time for United to take on a rampant Liverpool team in front of an Anfield crowd that will have blood in its nostrils.
Amorim managed to chuckle as he said: “You can see in my face – you can compare the way I arrive to how I look now!”
But it was gallows humour, he added: “Of course when you are losing there is a lot of pressure, but for me it’s more about the pride and also the performance.
“It’s even harder when we don’t perform well because, when I arrived I explain everything. Even when you guys were talking after Everton about us finishing in the top four, I explained that I was expecting this.
“It is hard to cope with all the problems here and the bad performances and the losses. It is really hard – but it is supposed to be really hard. The only thing that can help me is the training with the players – and I also have my family now here so it’s so much different. It can help me. They came on the 27th – and it was a good day!”
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Amorim accepts it was a gamble to suggest that this current United team is now dicing with the bottom three. It is 51 years since United were last relegated, just six seasons after lifting the European Cup.
But he felt it necessary to give his players the harshest of reality checks in a bid to shake them into a response. Amorim said: “I know it is a problem here for the manager to say those kinds of things but, in this moment, in our club, everybody has to understand.
“So let’s focus on the reality. We know that we are Manchester United. I know I am not supposed to talk about these things. But I want to be very clear with the fans and the players. I think that is really important in this moment.
“Anything can happen, but we must be focussed on winning games and to improve our performance. Then it (relegation) won’t be an issue in the future. The players are anxious and sometimes afraid on the pitch. So we have to cope with that.
“We need the leaders to step up to help the other guys – and I’m the most responsible person here to improve the performances. You can see the players are trying. Sometimes they are too anxious and too afraid to play football because this is a difficult moment – so I will help the players to be better.”
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Amorim has gone back to basics on the training pitch. He insists that any improvement must start with improving his own team rather than worrying about Arne Slot ’s in-form Premier League leaders. He added: “Every team has their problems, even the best – and we will try to find them.
“But to be honest, I am more focused on our basics. So rather than trying to find things in Liverpool’s shape, I’m just really concentrating on the way are supposed to play our game.
“When you don’t have the basics, you can’t do it. We have one more training session and we will focus on the opponent then, but for two days we have just been doing the basics, focusing on our idea to play football and doing our thing.”
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