8 hours ago
6
Ruben Amorim has indicated that the Europa League final defeat by Tottenham was among the moments that made him fear he would not last a year at Manchester United.
The head coach admitted he has wondered more than once whether it was “meant to be” for him in the job he was appointed to a year ago on Saturday. He has lost 19 of his 52 games since signing a two-and-a-half-year contract and last season took United to 15th, their lowest Premier League finish. The Portuguese was asked whether he had worried about completing 12 months in charge.
“To lose so many games, that was so hard for me,” he said, “because this is Manchester United. Putting all the attention on the Europa League and not winning, that was massive. So I had some moments where I struggled a lot, and I was thinking: ‘Maybe it’s not meant to be.’ Today is the opposite … Today I feel that it was the best decision in my life [to join], and I want to be here.”
Amorim has drawn scrutiny for his 3-4-3 formation and refusal to change it. The 40-year-old outlined why he trusts it. “When I started thinking about the system, nobody was playing 3-4-3, so I can understand how to rotate players,” he said.
“Even in the way we buy players, if you have a clear idea how to play, it’s easy for you to [say]: ‘This is the guy that I want.’ And that can help you. When [today] is 4-3-3 and tomorrow is a 4-4-2, it’s harder to make the characteristics right for the players, so I try to use all this knowledge to search for the right players.”
Amorim was asked whether he would like to sign a midfielder in January. “A lot of things can happen. We have the World Cup, some players who are not playing, they will ask to leave, so I have to manage everything,” he said. “And then we want to bring players that we can see have a big future in Manchester United.
after newsletter promotion
“We are not just buying one guy because we feel in December that we need this kind of player now. But we think about how we can improve the team and in January we can [maybe] do something.”
