Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim delivered an upbeat message to supporters on Monday ahead of his side’s end-of-year Premier League clash with Newcastle United.
The incoming coach hasn’t been very excited about his first month in charge. Amorim has lost five of its first ten games: the worst record of any United manager in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.
United limped aa Defeat 2-0 against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Boxing Day, which represented a third successive setback and their fourth league defeat in December. The club have not lost five top-flight games in the same month since September 1962.
Despite the dire statistics – of that there are many – Amorim extracted some positive aspects looking at the big picture. “If we want to make the long-term changes we want to make Manchester Unitedthen we have to go through it step by step,” said the Portuguese boss United Review. “We’re looking to implement a new way of playing, at the busiest time of the year, so there are short-term costs to our long-term goals.
“I will say, though, that the players are working hard to take in and use all the new information and instructions they’re getting. The longer they do that, the easier it will be for them, and then the comfort and confidence in our game will grow.”
The 39-year-old head coach added: “I’ve seen enough in the last few weeks to recognize that we have a lot of the ingredients we need to be successful, and I’m as convinced as I was on day one here that we’re going to do it. it”.
Amorim opened his tenure with two wins and a draw but warned then that “a storm” was on the horizon. That prediction has been proved emphatically correct with a subsequent run of five losses in seven games.
United’s last game of 2024 is at home to a Newcastle team enjoying a series of dramatically contrasting forms; Eddie Howe’s high-energy side have racked up 14 goals in four straight wins.
While Amorim has acknowledged that his position will remain “in danger” if he doesn’t get results quickly, he was keen to set his sights on the club’s broad vision.
“We also need to work on longer-term goals, such as creating the right environment and culture for success, and working on the pathway between our academy and the first team to develop players with the qualities we need to achieve our high ambitions as a club,” added Amorim.
