Ruben Amorim’s attempts to convince Man Utd’s players: Short team talk, big target and open about his future

Ruben Amorim has tried many methods to get through to his players since arriving in November and in the tight confines of Goodison Park his choice was to be short and sharp.

Manchester United were 2-0 down against Everton and playing some of their worst football of the campaign, but Amorim elected against a lengthy exposition.

Instead, he made his points in a few minutes, emphasising to his team to remember what they had drilled at Carrington and to carry out those instructions in the second half. He left the dressing room and could be seen wearing a look of deep concentration as he paced the corridors for the remainder of the interval.

United’s players emerged early for the restart, and though their comeback did not spark immediately, they were eventually able to claw back a draw, showing spirit in the process.

But Amorim getting buy-in and understanding from his players remains a work in progress.

United’s performances have been an illustration that while these players may lack the required quality, there is some level of disconnect between them and their head coach’s demands. The control Amorim likes has been largely absent — even if that is an issue that predates his arrival — and chance creation is inexact and infrequent. There is little sign of the mad-dog running he asked for early in his tenure, nor wing-backs attacking into the opposition box.

Bruno Fernandes hinted at that struggle after the Ipswich Town victory when he spoke on the pitch about the doubts that players have during games, naturally, when it feels like plans are not working.

Before that match Amorim conceded the same thing. “Even the players we have we can improve a lot, I see that in trainings, we need to take that to the game,” he told Rio Ferdinand on TNT Sports. “The only way I know to help them is to give them solutions to play on the pitch. But then they have to believe it. And to believe it is that when we are losing or in a difficult situation, and you feel that you cannot even build up one play, they have to stick with that and to believe in that.

“And that is the hardest part, because when we suffer a goal or have a bad moment, you feel the connection is not there, we lose ourselves. You feel we get lost a little bit. Sometimes it is more than football, more than tactics, it is in the players’ minds.”

If Amorim’s cold shoulder treatment at Goodison was a way of sharpening those minds, then he will need all his powers of persuasion and motivation to ensure this season does not slide into irrelevance.

The FA Cup defeat by Fulham on Sunday was for large parts another abject performance carrying scant vitality, and after losing one of United’s two chances to add some sheen to this gloomiest of seasons, Amorim again raised the prospect of his future being away from Old Trafford.

“Our goal is to win the Premier League,” he said. “Maybe it is not with me. But our goal, as a club, the board, is to win the Premier League like we did in the past with all the great glories and legends of this club.”

He was, of course, being realistic. His contract is until 2027, with an optional extra to 2028. Most reasonable estimates would put United being champions again at longer than three years. But there is a question about whether raising that prospect dilutes his message to his team now.

He has already said that United executives would need to find themselves a new manager if they tried to steer him from his 3-4-2-1 system, as well as admitting that he is at risk if results do not improve.

Then there was the time he called this iteration of United maybe the worst team in the club’s history. That did not land well with some players, and it was notable Amorim tried to clarify at his next press conference that he meant in terms of his contribution.

Former colleagues say his honesty is what attracted players to him in Portugal and perhaps some of his comments are the product of him speaking in his second language. They believe he can show humility to his players regarding his (lack of) job security, but he is done with them as a coach if he changes his mind on his fundamental stylistic principles. It was how he lifted Sporting CP to heights not seen in a generation.

Amorim was given a rousing send-off after growing hugely popular in Lisbon (Photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Helping him instil those principles are his six staff members brought from Sporting, led by Carlos Fernandes, who is influential and takes the lead on set pieces — an aspect of the game that has become such a major strand of United matches.

Amorim’s close bond with Fernandes, and other first-team coaches Adelio Candido, Emanuel Ferro, goalkeeping coach Jorge Vital, physical performance coach Paulo Barreira, and analyst Eduardo Rosalino is clear at Carrington. They form a tight unit.

But on the eve of United travelling to Spain for their Europa League round of 16 tie against Real Sociedad, Amorim again brought up the possibility they could face the consequences of failure, within the context of long-term ambition.

“I don’t know if I’m going to be here, but the way we are thinking, we are going to return and we are going to win in the future,” he told Sky Sports. “But then it’s the risk. We are doing a lot of things, we are not winning games, and when you don’t win games sometimes you have to change people, and we know that.”

Should United somehow win the Europa League, qualification to the Champions League would follow — massively raising revenues and loosening the purse strings on transfers, as well as boosting belief in Amorim’s abilities and buying him more time.

But once more he has an unconventional take. “I know it’s strange to say but it’s something that we are trying to build here, that is going to be more important than winning a cup in this moment,” he told Sky Sports.

An unsaid acknowledgement that making it through to lift the trophy will be hard given United’s injuries that may be, but there is a danger that without hope the campaign loses meaning.

(Photo: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)