MANCHESTER, England — Ruben Amorim has said he regrets saying his Manchester United team might be the worst in the club’s history and insisted he was pointing the finger of blame at himself rather than his players.
Amorim made the comment in the aftermath of the 3-1 defeat to Brighton on Sunday.
Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, the 39-year-old clarified his statement.
But he went on to say he would be “delusional” if he didn’t acknowledge that he has significant problems after a run of seven defeats from his 15 games in charge.
“First of all, I want to talk about that,” Amorim began after being asked about his suggestion that this is the worst United team in history.
“I was talking more about myself than the players. I also said in the same response that I was not helping my players. If you look around every time I speak and every time you push about the players are not good enough, I never put the spot on my players.
“So I understand I give you that headline and I am frustrated sometimes. Sometimes I should not say it in those terms, but it is what it is and that’s it.
“Sometimes it’s really hard to hide the frustration in the moment. But the good thing is 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.”
Amorim changed his normal routine after the defeat to Brighton, addressing his players in the dressing room immediately afterwards rather than waiting until the next day to hold his debrief.
There have been reports that the former Sporting CP coach was so angry that he damaged a TV.
“I’m a young guy and sometimes I make a mistake,” Amorim said. “And that’s why I don’t [usually] talk after the game. This game, I needed to talk and maybe it was a mistake and then I get more nervous and go to the [news] conference really nervous and say things I shouldn’t say, that’s it. Sometimes I’m a young guy and I make mistakes.
“I’m saying the obvious. If you want, I can be delusional and say different things. I said to the players and I said to you, I think it’s a good thing to be really honest with you.”
United face Rangers in the Europa League at Old Trafford on Thursday having lost four of their last five home games.
During the run, Amorim’s team have put in good performances at Liverpool and Arsenal and he accepts that, at the moment, his players are finding it easier to play away from home.
“I could say different things and say no, no, it’s the same thing, we have the support of the fans,” he said.
“No, we are more nervous playing at home than away. We lost four games in five, so it’s getting harder. But we can improve. If we don’t suffer the first goal like in the fourth minute, 10th minute or 15th minute, it’s really hard to calm down the team.
“The first thing in my mind is they cannot score, we need to score the first one. If we score the first one I think that will change and we will improve. It is really clear. We are really anxious, especially playing at home. It’s getting harder for everyone to play at Old Trafford.”
United have conceded the first goal in their last five games at Old Trafford against Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth, Newcastle, Southampton and Brighton.
They’ve also conceded first against Arsenal, FC Viktoria Plzen, Manchester City, Tottenham and Wolves since the start of December.
“The first goal against Forest was a set play and against Bournemouth, these aren’t things that are tactical, they’re about being focused,” Harry Maguire said. “We’re not mentally focused to make sure we go the whole way. We know things can turn, tomorrow [against Rangers] is an opportunity to get a win and then go into Sunday [against Fulham].”
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