Manchester United’s “embarrassed” head coach Ruben Amorim has questioned his tenure and suggested he might leave if he cannot alter the “culture” within a team that is undermining the club’s illustrious legacy.
United reached new lows with a 2-0 loss at home against West Ham on Sunday afternoon. Amorim implemented six alterations from the team that advanced to the Europa League finals next week, yet still included players like Leny Yoro, Bruno Fernandes, and Amad Diallo.
Despite this, the disjointed group collectively registered their 17th league defeat of the season, marking the highest number of losses since United were relegated from the First Division in the 1973/74 season.
“I don’t want to talk about players,” Amorim sighed with his team sat 16th in the Premier League table. “I’m talking about myself and the culture in the club and the culture in the team. I have that feeling, we need to change that and we need to be really strong in the summer and to be brave because we will not have a next season like this.
“If we start like this, or if the feeling is still here, we should give the space to different persons.”
Ex-United full-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka played a key role in both of West Ham’s goals, yet came under little pressure from any of his former teammates as Tomas Soucek and Jarrod Bowen gratefully gobbled up two clear chances.
“For me the biggest concern is that feeling that ‘it’s OK’, and ‘we cannot change our position so much so it’s OK’,” Amorim explained. “That is the biggest problem in our club in this moment because we are losing the feeling of we are a massive club and it’s the end of the world to lose a game at home. I think that is the biggest concern in our club.”
Amorim didn’t disagree with the suggestion that many of United’s players already have their focus set on the upcoming Europa League final against Tottenham Hotspur. The performance in that showpiece fixture is Amorim’s “smallest problem”, by his own admission. Climbing higher than 16th is a far bigger concern for the Portuguese coach.
“How a manager of Manchester United is supposed to feel in that position – embarrassed, and it’s hard to accept,” he fumed. “I think everybody has to think seriously about a lot of things here. Everybody is thinking about the final. The final is not an issue in this moment in our club.
“We have bigger things to think and we have to change a lot of things in the end of the season.”
Not content with lambasting the conclusion to this dire campaign – which is on course to be the club’s lowest average of points since 1930/31 – Amorim fretted about the challenges that await next season. “Playing Premier League and Champions League for us is the moon,” he warned, thinking ahead to the competition they will qualify for by winning the Europa League. “I’m not concerned about the final. They [the players] will be focused and I don’t know what is best, if it’s playing Champions League or not.”
If United’s trigger-happy hierarchy listen to Amorim’s advice, that may not be concern for much longer.
