Ruben Amorim admits he went too far with ‘worst Manchester United team’ comments

Amorim had described his squad as the worst in the club’s history after a 3-1 defeat to Brighton

Ian Parker
Wednesday 22 January 2025 11:51 EST
Ruben Amorim says current Manchester United team is 'worst in history'

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Ruben Amorim admitted frustration got the better of him when he described his Manchester United side as perhaps the worst in the club’s history in the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s 3-1 home defeat by Brighton.

Amorim knew he was making headlines when he said during his post-match press conference at Old Trafford that his side are “the worst team maybe in the history of Manchester United”, having just watched them suffer a sixth home defeat of the season to remain stuck in 13th in the Premier League.

The 39-year-old’s frustration was such that he reportedly broke a television in the home dressing room.

Asked how his players have responded to his comments, Amorim said: “I was talking more for myself than for my players, because you have to find a coach that starts a job and loses (seven) games… it was more for me… I was talking more about me than the players…

“So I understand I gave you that headline and I’m frustrated sometimes and sometimes I should not say that in those terms. But it is what it is and that’s it. Sometimes it’s really hard to hide the frustration in some moments.

“But the good thing is that I said the same things in a different way in the dressing room five minutes before. The response was quite normal because I’m really blunt with my players.”

He later added: “Sometimes you are a young guy and you do mistakes and then you improve. I don’t promise to you I will not do it again, I don’t know, I try to improve.”

Amorim has been brutally honest about the size of the challenge he faces at United since he first arrived. He said early in his tenure that a “storm will come” and, as the losses started mounting up, said his players were “too anxious and too afraid to play football”.

As he sat alongside former captain Harry Maguire in Wednesday’s press conference ahead of the Europa League clash with Rangers, Amorim was asked if it was helpful to say publicly that his players are nervous.

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim cut a frustrated figure during the Brighton defeat
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim cut a frustrated figure during the Brighton defeat (PA Wire)

“If you want I can be delusional and say different things,” he said. “I say it as I see it. I said it to the players and I said it to you – I think it’s a good thing to be really honest.”

Maguire said he had no complaints regarding his manager’s approach, and said it was on the squad to take responsibility for United’s situation.

There is no shortage of experience or calibre in the United squad, but that is not showing in a team struggling to adapt to Amorim’s system.

There was a sense they were making progress after a 2-2 draw away to Liverpool and the FA Cup penalty shootout win away to Arsenal, but that has largely disappeared after a poor performance at home to Southampton – rescued by Amad Diallo’s late hat-trick – before the loss to Brighton.

“If I could explain it, I think we change it straight away,” Maguire said of United’s woes. “We’ve got players who have played numerous games internationally, won lots of trophies in club football.

“But at the moment we we’re not playing well enough as a team and the league table shows it.
So I can only keep going on about it. We’ve got to take responsibility on as players.”

But notably, when discussing why United have conceded the first goal so often at home, the 31-year-old said: “You’ve got to go into the game and be focused and mentally ready to go and win a football match.

“Football matches are sometimes defined on small margins and at the moment we’re not getting those small margins because we’re not mentally focused enough to to make sure that they go out our way.”

PA

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in