Ruben Amorim has made light of the deep criticism he has received in recent weeks amid Manchester United's dismal start to the season by insisting it is nothing like what he used to face back in Portugal. Wayne Rooney, Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher all took a swipe at the United boss in the aftermath of the 3-1 defeat at Brentford but he insists he takes it all in his stride.
AFPRooney, Carragher and Neville tear into Amorim
Former United captain Gary Neville said United's results were "catastrophic" and said the Portuguese is running out of excuses. He said on Sky Sports: "Ruben Amorim’s had a pre-season. He's had a week now in between each of his games nearly or most of the weeks because Manchester United aren't in Europe. Yet, the performances are as poor as ever."
United's all-time top scorer Wayne Rooney said he had "no faith" in Amorim's ability to turn the situation around, saying: I don't see players fighting, I don't see character, I don't see desire to win. I don’t see ability, I don’t see match-winners, nothing gets me off my feet. I go to a game watching, expecting, here we go again – expecting the team to lose or maybe pick up a point."
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher called Amorim's reign "a disaster" and urged United to sack the coach as soon as possible. He said: "I think he's still in a job because the powers-at-be have made so many mistakes that they almost don't want to admit right now they have made another. This has to end as quickly as possible."
AdvertisementAmorim 'doesn't listen' to everyone's opinion of him
But Amorim said he did not have time to listen to what people say about him. "There is no one in the world that can read everything and listen to everything," he told a press conference on Friday. "I try to see all the games because I know I see the game more than all those guys put together because they have to watch every game. I follow my job that way. It is impossible to survive in this job listening to all things."
He also said that the press are much harsher on coaches in Portugal. He added: "My family, we love to live in England, you have no idea what is abuse compared to in my country. You are so polite when we are losing."
Amorim reveals his biggest concern
Amorim reiterated that he has never been one to worry about getting sacked. He explained: "That is a decision of the board, I cannot do that. Sometimes I have that feeling that losing is hard, not to create the momentum is so frustrating. That feeling sometimes hurts you a lot. That is not my decision and would be really hard to leave if I don’t do everything to follow my career here."
Instead, he revealed that his biggest concern is that the constant scrutiny of his 3-4-3 formation and his insistence on sticking with it will filter through to his players. "I am not concerned about that [getting sacked] and nobody here is naïve," he said. "We need results to continue the project. The balance is really hard, I am not concerned about that, what I wanted to see my team winning or losing playing the same way. My biggest problem is my players believing you guys when you say the biggest problem is the system. We need to play the same way."
United coach calls his team 'soft' and 'not good'
The Portuguese also said that his team were just a few details away from clicking and had been unlucky in certain games, pointing to their impressive opening display against Arsenal and Bruno Fernandes' missed penalties against Fulham and Brentford. He said: "It is the results and imagine we won the first game against Arsenal, and then you don’t miss the penalty and win against Fulham, even without playing really well, the trust would be completely different. If you win everything would be okay."
The coach also said that his team do veer from their usual formation at times and was less than complimentary about his team's fighting spirit and ability. He said: "There is no back three, lately we play with Luke Shaw, two centre-backs and a right-back. It is not three centre-backs. Against Brentford the second half was like a 442. The problem is we're not good with the ball, we are soft without the ball.
"The media cannot dictate what I am going to do. It is not a 343 all the time, I think we need to look to all of the parts of the game, this team play in a different system for many years, and you are talking about a lack of identity. What could this team be like in a different system, maybe this team can win more games but if we don’t change certain things we will not win titles."