The Red Devils manager has struggled to reverse the club’s domestic struggles, leaving them in a concerning 16th place in the standings. ..Continue Reading
With only Europa League finalists Tottenham keeping them above the bottom three, Amorim was once again forced to assess the challenges he has faced as United endured their longest winless run in the league.
Following the frustrating goalless draw, the Portuguese coach appeared willing to take responsibility for the team’s ongoing difficulties.
He said: “It’s not the players’ fault. It’s my fault, I’m responsible. If we cannot change that really fast, we should give our place to different persons”.
Even so, Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe appears to have some understanding of Amorim’s situation. His continued tenure doesn’t seem to be solely reliant on the club’s Europa League success.
Earlier this season, Ratcliffe acknowledged the challenging conditions Amorim has had to navigate, and despite the team’s struggles at the time, he expressed confidence that the head coach was handling the job well.
“I think he’s done a great job in the circumstances, frankly, with the squad that he’s had available, the fact he came in mid-season,” he explained in March.
“Everybody expects miracles overnight. It’s not the way, not real life in my view. I mean, you saw the performance yesterday (against Arsenal ).
“It was, I thought, a really impressive performance. They could not have worked harder. They couldn’t have been more committed.
“And if you looked at the names on the bench, there weren’t many you recognised, were there? Half the squad’s missing for Ruben.
“If you look at the top eight players in terms of salaries in Manchester United, 50 percent of those are not available to Ruben. You’ve got Mason Mount, you’ve got Luke Shaw, Marcus Rashford has gone, and Jadon Sancho (on loan at Chelsea ).
“And he’s got a bunch of other injuries as you know, so I think he’s done a fantastic job.”
Nevertheless, Amorim is not content and knows he must improve his team’s Premier League outings. The 40-year-old expressed his discontent on Sunday.
Amorim added: “I feel how a manager of Manchester United is supposed to feel in that position – embarrassed. It’s hard to accept. We need to be more aggressive, and we need to feel that it is the end of the world when we are not winning a game. Especially when we are not winning.
“So it’s a big problem that we have here at the club. It’s a decisive moment in the history of the club. We need to address that. It’s a big problem because it’s mentally. We are not scared of losing a game as Manchester United. We don’t have that fear anymore and that is the most dangerous thing that a big club can have.”
