‘I want to stay for 20 years’, ‘Ratcliffe and I have a no bulls--- relationship’, ‘I went to games knowing we would not compete’, ‘I was really frustrated last season’, ‘I’m really happy with our signings’, ‘Some players clearly did not want to be here’, ‘I am not tactically stubborn’

Ruben Amorim is only too aware that Manchester United cannot afford to have another bad season - Getty Images/Patrick McDermott

Ruben Amorim says he wants to stay at Manchester United for the next 20 years – but claims he used up all the credit he had in the bank last season.

The United head coach replaced Erik ten Hag last November only to muster seven wins from his 27 Premier League games in charge as United finished in 15th position, their worst season for 51 years.

In a wide-ranging interview, Amorim has opened up on at his time at the club and his ambitions for the future, including:

Why he wants to manage Manchester United for next 20 years
His ‘no bulls---’ relationship with owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe
Going to matches fearing United would struggle
Last season’s frustration and fears he may walk
United’s signings for the forthcoming season
Rashford, Garnacho and other ‘bomb squad’ members
Accusations of tactical stubbornness

‘I want to stay for 20 years’

Amorim – who has two years left on his contract with the option of another season – has vowed to make United Premier League champions again and set his sights on leading the club for decades like Sir Alex Ferguson, who spent almost 27 years in charge.

“I want to stay – I want to stay 20 [years],” Amorim said. “That is my goal and I truly believe in that. Something will happen. It always does.

“In some moments I will be lucky. I had a lot of luck during my career as a manager and my idea is to stay for many years. But again we know that the results will dictate that. I know that last season I used up all the credit I had but I’m ready to start afresh.

“At Sporting it was the same thing. They said that in three months I’m out. They said that I had a three per cent chance of winning the title with Sporting. I know that the pressure is different [at United].

“But I don’t like to change clubs. I like to bond with people and carry on. I know it sounds crazy but I chose this club. I had the feeling and I just want to bond, to be part of it and I will stay here.”

Amorim has followed Pep Guardiola’s approach by forming a six-strong leadership group to keep his players in line. For years the Manchester City manager has delegated a group of senior players to police the dressing room and now Amorim has adopted the same measure.

Captain Bruno Fernandes, defenders Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martínez, Diogo Dalot, Noussair Mazraoui and goalkeeper Tom Heaton have been made responsible for ensuring the squad remain in check.

Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes are part of the leadership group Amorim hopes create a better atmosphere in the dressing room - Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs

“We have a leadership group now,” said Amorim. “It’s not just Bruno. It’s not just Harry. It’s six guys. They are responsible for the group. There are some things that in the last year I had to deal with and I said to them this season: ‘You deal with that. Small issues are with you guys. You’re responsible.’

“Small changes but I think it’s helping the group. We have Bruno, we have Harry, Licha [Martínez], Diogo, Tom and Nous [Mazraoui].

“So it’s not just the oldest ones. Nous is in the group because he’s a character that I like and I try to understand the dynamic of the group. I try to reach every space. They are the guys responsible for keeping everyone in line.”

‘Ratcliffe and I have a no bulls--- relationship’

Amorim has also opened up on his “no bulls---” relationship with Jim Ratcliffe and revealed the United co-owner often sends him GIFS on WhatsApp.

Amorim says he and Ratcliffe speak and message on a regular basis and that they get on because they are both straight talkers who refuse to sugar-coat their opinions.

Ratcliffe joked in an interview in March that when he sits down for a coffee with Amorim at United’s Carrington training ground and “tells him where it’s going wrong” that the Portuguese in turn “tells me to f--- off”.

And Amorim says one of the reasons they have hit it off is that they are both so open and honest with each other.

“We speak on the phone, he sends me messages, he sends me GIFs,” he revealed. “You call it GIFs? Like joking. So we have this kind of relationship.

“I think it’s really easy to deal with Jim. Easy in the sense that if you know your stuff, if you know how to explain any decision, you’ll be fine with him.

“If you try to use some bulls--- in big words with him, he’s going to knock you. So for me it’s really easy. I will say whatever I need to say with, of course, a lot of respect, like with everybody.

“I know that he’s the owner of the club, I know my place. But when I need to say something, I will say it naturally, with no bulls---.

“I can say that – with no bulls---. I’m not [talking] around the subject, I’m really direct and I think it’s something that he likes a lot.”

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, seen here consoling Amorim after the Europa League final defeat to Spurs, has a ‘no bull----’ relationship with the United manager - Getty Images/Carl Recine

Amorim is United’s sixth permanent manager since Ferguson retired 12 years ago but he says he has been encouraged both by the hierarchy’s steadfast support for him amid last season’s struggles and their vision for the club.

“I always felt that [backing],” he said. “In some moments in the last season, I was more concerned about me than them. They always show the support and if you try to remember one team – one big team, massive team – that lost so many games and the manager kept their job, you will not find it.

“So that shows more than words that they support me. I think it’s really important to say to the fans that this is a club thing.

“Of course the manager is really important, but all this idea of the culture, how we want to buy players, what kind of players we want, is a club thing.

“In the meetings with [new signings] Bryan [Mbeumo], with [Matheus] Cunha, we said that – ‘Don’t go to a club because of the manager, go because of the idea of the club’. And they are here because of the idea of the club.”

‘I went to games knowing we would not compete’

Amorim would approach matches with a sense of dread, knowing United would not be able to win - Getty Images/Lewis Storey

Amorim would travel to games last season with a knot in the pit of his stomach. A sinking feeling would come over the United manager as he made his way to the stadium.

“To tell you the truth, it’s not how I returned to my house after the games [that was the problem], it’s how I left to go to the games,” Amorim explained. “Because I felt that sometimes we will struggle. All the struggles that we had in the games, I felt it before the games. So that was the hardest part – to go to the games and know that we are not going to be competitive, how we should be. That was the hardest part.

“When I returned [home], I just looked to my family and tried to think about different things. But I was really frustrated. If you want to know the most difficult moment, it was that – before the games. Because I knew that we would struggle in specific games.”

It is a startling admission: the manager of Manchester United, the 20-time champions of England, approaching matchday with a sense of dread and trepidation and the feeling his team could not win. That was not the legacy Ferguson imagined when he retired in 2013.

It was in early March, around the time United were facing Real Sociedad, that Amorim took the decision to effectively sacrifice the Premier League in order to focus on trying to win the Europa League and, with it, secure Champions League qualification. It went against almost every fibre of his being to do so, he now admits. “My goal in that moment, three months to the end, was trying to win the Europa League,” said Amorim, whose side were ultimately beaten in the final by Tottenham.

“We struggled a lot, trying to save players, to play 60 minutes. You play against Newcastle, all these clubs, and you have to perform or else we will have problems. But you need to take one guy off on 60 minutes. And you cannot do that at Manchester United – you cannot think like that.

“I cannot [in normal circumstances] change three guys because I have to try to maintain the team to be fit to win the Europa League. I had that feeling during the season of ‘I’m so frustrated, I cannot do nothing and I acknowledge that so I have to wait’.

“And to wait, being manager of Manchester United, is like going into a fight with my hands like this …” Amorim drops his hands down by his side for dramatic effect. In other words, he felt defenceless, powerless.

‘I was really frustrated last season’

For a while, it even seemed like Amorim might walk away. He puts that down more to a kind of performative grandstanding than anything else, even if it might not necessarily have felt that way to concerned insiders at the time. “No, [to] walk away is … more an ego thing. I’m like that” he says, citing the odd histrionic at his old club Sporting Lisbon after the sale of Joao Palhinha and Matheus Nunes in 2022. “When things go bad, I put my place because it’s … I don’t know .. maybe an ego thing. I’m maybe really romantic about things.

“It was mostly a feeling that I’m disappointing all these people. That was the feeling that made me think ‘What should I do?’. There were some moments last year that were really hard on me. Not because… I know what to do to change the club… but because I’m disappointing all these people.

“And I know that in football, when you lose so many games, it’s hard for everybody to believe in one idea and all the changes. So there were some moments last year that I was really, really frustrated.”

The good news for United fans is that Amorim no longer feels that way. Looking happy, relaxed and refreshed on the club’s tour of the US, where the performances, results and general mood have been a far cry from the misery of last season, there is a defiance in his voice, a spring in his step and a glint in his eye as he looks ahead to the new campaign.

He talks enthusiastically and eloquently about wanting to stay at Old Trafford for 20 years and getting United back to the top and, as he does so, it is easy to see why Sporting’s players wanted to run through walls for him and mourned his departure last November. He is positively dripping in charm and charisma. But, for the moment, there is an element of being able to walk before they can run again.

After the horrors of last season there is a spring in the step of Amorim as he looks forward to the start of the new campaign - Getty Images/Catherine Ivill

He knows United can ill afford anything like a repeat of last season, when they finished in 15th position with 42 points, half the total of champions Liverpool, and that there needs to be clear signs of progress after their worst campaign for half a century.

“I know that last season I used all the credits but I’m ready to start fresh,” he said, even if that assessment does not square entirely with the steadfast support he said he feels from the co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox. “All the credit I had when I arrived, I know that last year was used on that so now we have to perform. And I really like the pressure. I will be okay.

“If I have the feeling that before the game that we are going to be competitive we’ll be okay. I just don’t want to return to that feeling that we are thinking it’s not a 50-50 game. I know there is a massive gap, with where we finished. But it’s Manchester United. We need to return to Europe.”

‘I’m really happy with our signings’

United deliberately targeted proven Premier League performers this summer by bringing in Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha from Brentford and Wolves respectively for a combined £133.5m. Amorim is also hoping to beat off competition from Newcastle to sign the young RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko, whom they have perhaps surprisingly opted to target over a more known quantity such as Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins, as he bids to address last season’s chronic shortage of goals.

The problem for United is that the teams they are hoping to catch and one day usurp are spending even more. Between them, Liverpool and Manchester City have splashed out almost £600m retooling this year, but Amorim is unfazed.

“I think if we were in a different moment, I would be more concerned about that,” he said. “I’m really happy with the players that we bring in. They proved themselves in the Premier League, so I’m not concerned about the physical aspect. All the players that we want to bring to Manchester, any coach would want them. I can guarantee you, if you bring any manager here, they will say: ‘Bryan, thank you. Matheus Cunha, thank you.’ And then you have the potential of these kids that are really important for us.”

United have bought proven Premier League players such as Bryan Mbeumo in a bid to revitalise the squad and team - Getty Images/Ash Donelon

United may feel miles away from a title shot or Champions League glory right now but Amorim is convinced that will change. “I have no doubts because there are some things that you cannot buy and this club has that – the pedigree, the history, the fans,” he said. “We have that. I think that is clear. Then the money. We have money. We have money without the Champions League. So we can. We’ll have money and more money in the future. And we are doing everything.

“You talk with Omar and all these guys, they are making all the strategy to have more money in the future. So that will not be a problem. And then I think it’s clearly the culture. If we have a different culture, with all the pedigree, the money, all these things, we can return to our place. And that is clear.”

Ah, yes, the culture. United have been banging on about cultural resets and reboots for so long that there is temptation to roll your eyes with Amorim now the latest manager to talk about raising standards and transforming the environment. Yet the ruthlessness with which he has gone about rooting out those he does not want and laying down the rules without ever resorting to the schoolmasterly approach of his predecessor Ten Hag underlines his seriousness.

‘Some players clearly did not want to be here’

Marcus Rashford has been shipped off on loan to Barcelona and Alejandro Garnacho, Jadon Sancho, Antony and Tyrell Malacia – or the “bomb squad” as they have become known – did not travel with the rest of the players to the US. They are not allowed in to Carrington when Amorim and his chosen players are there and that will not change once the manager returns from the US. The exit door looms for all. Chelsea are keen on signing Garnacho and Juventus and Borussia Dortmund are weighing up a possible move for Sancho.

“There are players that clearly show that they don’t want to be here and that is normal,” he said. “They are not bad and I’m good. I’m not the bad [one] and they are good. It’s a simple situation that they want new challenges. So we will try to use this space to prepare the team that I think is going to be here.

“If the market closes and then they are Manchester United players we as a club have to treat them in the same conditions. But in this moment I’m just working with the players that I think are going to stay and the other guys are trying to find a solution for their careers.”

Amorim has had his run-ins with Garnacho and told the Argentina winger in front of the whole squad in the days after the Europa League final defeat that he better “pray” he can find a new club. “I think Garnacho, you can understand and you can see, he’s a really talented boy,” Amorim said. “And sometimes things don’t work out. You cannot explain specifically what it is. But I have the feeling, I think it’s clear that Garnacho wants a different thing with a different leadership. And I can understand that. So I think it’s not a problem.

“Sometimes you adapt to one guy, you have the connection. Other times, you want a new challenge. So, we try to make everything okay to all the parts. To the club, to the coach and to the players.”

Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho are two players Amorim has deemed surplus of requirements at Old Trafford - Getty Images/Richard Pelham

Amorim has given his players a certain freedom in the US that they did not always enjoy under Ten Hag. “We have rules, and the rules are not to treat the players as babies,” he said. “They have sons. I treat them as a man but they have rules now. And that can change the way you train.”

Indeed, Amorim says he will have no problem outing a player in front of the whole group if he does not feel he is pulling his weight and running hard enough. “If you don’t train in the right way, I have footage to show you – and I show you in front of everybody,” he said, pointedly. “So I’m always on top. I will expect to be in one phase – that I don’t need to do anything – because they will push each other. But in the moment, if you train bad one time, I will show you the image. I will not speak with you, [I will] just speak.

“I will show everything. So that really requires a lot of energy. But what I feel in this year is that I have more people to do that.”

By that, Amorim is referring in part to a newly formed leadership team comprising Fernandes, Maguire, Martinez, Dalot, Mazraoui and Heaton. “I think the change of culture is more a club thing than a manager thing. I cannot do everything by myself,” he said. “They are the guys that are responsible to keep everyone in line.”

‘I am not tactically stubborn’

Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 system came in for some criticism last season, or rather he did for his perceived inflexibility. “I’m not the coach that is going to try – in that case to survive – to put an idea that is not mine,” he said. “Since day one, it’s the only way I know what to do. But I changed so many things during my short career as a manager. When I see a different thing that works, I will use it. I copy so many things from other managers: the way they play, warm-ups. I stole warm-ups. So I’m not so stubborn, but I truly believe that to be a really strong team, we need to have a base. When the base is okay, we will start doing different things.”

Some concerns persist about United’s lack of pace and mobility in the No. 6 position. They do not, for example, have a N’Golo Kante, who was instrumental in Chelsea’s Premier League title success under Antonio Conte in 2016-17 playing 3-4-3. But Amorim expects improvement in midfield the more confident players such as Manual Ugarte and Kobbie Mainoo become in his system and themselves with it. There were certainly signs of that in the 2-1 victory over West Ham in New Jersey when the pair excelled.

Kobbie Mainoo looked good during Manchester United’s pre-season win over West Ham in the US - Getty Images/Emilee Chinn

“If look at the same players in these games, the pace is different. That is my feeling,” he said. “I think it’s the time to train. That, I think, is clear. I think even the certainty of the movements can help a player to be faster. If you are thinking: ‘[Do] I jump, don’t I jump?’. We train and when they need to jump, they already know. So I [am ready to] start sooner – sometimes it’s by one metre, sometimes it’s one second. That is the tactical aspect and the physical aspect together.”

As for the pressure he is under, Amorim has an interesting take. When he was forced to retire as a player prematurely at 32 due to injury and was anxious about what his post-career life might look like, he recalls sitting down with his wife Maria Joao and going through their finances on an Excel spreadsheet. Any financial anxieties he had then are long gone and it has given him a different perspective on pressure. “I remember me and my wife had an Excel [spreadsheet] with all the money that we had and all the things that I needed,” he said. “I want to help my family. All this responsibility. And I felt the pressure in that time.

“Nowadays, I don’t feel any pressure about that. I just don’t. It’s more like an ego thing. I want to be manager of Manchester United for a while. And I took five years to choose this club so I don’t want to fail. That is the only pressure. The other pressure was the pressure at the end of my career as a footballer and that was different. That was more difficult to deal with.”

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