Ruben Amorim is adamant he will stick with his beliefs at Manchester United despite admitting his ‘job is so, so hard’ at Old Trafford.
Amorim’s side lost 1-0 at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday with James Maddison scoring the decisive goal for the North Londoners. The defeat was United’s 12th of the Premier League campaign and leaves them 15th in the table.
It’s been a torrid start for Amorim since his arrival from Sporting Lisbon in November. The 40-year-old has won just four of his 14 league games in charge of the Red Devils, with his 29% win rate comfortable the lowest of any of the club’s managers in the Premier League era.
Ruben Amorim’s win rate in the Premier League compared to Man Utd’s last five permanent managers 😒📉 pic.twitter.com/bsc8W5fkwR
— LiveScore (@livescore) February 16, 2025
An injury-hit squad as exacerbated the issues for Amorim, though the Portuguese is steadfast in his determination to stick with his principles. He has, however, admitted he faces a huge challenge to rebuild the Red Devils.
“In the end, they score, we didn’t. That was the big difference in the game. We had a lot of chances but in the end they scored one and we didn’t,” he reflected to Sky Sports.
“The first step is to create situations. We have had games where we are around the box and not created situations. This game we create situations. But in this game with two teams not doing well, one goal was always going to make the difference.
“You start with one idea. We were asking about a long week for so long. And we worked our principles but day after day you lose players that change your approach to the game. I could not play the same way with Joshua [Zirkzee] as I can with Amad [Diallo].
“Sometimes you want Bruno [Fernandes] to reach the ball in the build up because he’s really good switching the play. But then you want Bruno also to press and it’s really hard. And when you are changing all the time to get the players to react to the base, it’s really hard.
“4-4-2 in the low block is harder to play against this team than what we did today, that’s my opinion. They are so open and stretch the team. What you see guys and what you discuss every week, I also see. I have a lot of problems, my job is so, so hard here. But I stick with my beliefs.”
