Ruben Amorim interview: Man Utd head coach on walking away, code of conduct and exiled players

New York Times

4 days ago

In the press conference room at Chicago Fire's training base, Ruben Amorim is laughing. A quote from his boss, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has just been put to him. The one where Ratcliffe said he likes Amorim because they have frank conversations over a brew at Carrington and Manchester United's head coach tells the club's co-owner to 'f*** off' if he strays into territory beyond his expertise.
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Amorim explains their dynamic. 'We speak on the phone, he sends me messages, he sends me GIFs. You call it GIFs? Joking.'
It is fun to imagine Ratcliffe, 72, pinging Amorim a WhatsApp of the looping clip of Leonardo DiCaprio, as the Great Gatsby, raising a glass of champagne, following the 5-4 victory over Lyon. Or maybe, after any of the many losses last term, the footage of Roy Hodgson, when England manager, getting excited in the dugout during an attack against Iceland, only to flop his head down in disappointment when the chance is missed.
'So we have this kind of relationship,' Amorim continues. '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 bullshit 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 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 bullshit — I can say that — with no bullshit.
'I'm not around the subject, I'm really direct. I think it's something that he likes a lot.'
There is much for United supporters to like from Amorim's words and demeanour during his sit-down with reporters, which spans 25 minutes at the high-class facilities his team have called home for nearly a fortnight.
Ideally, he would prefer not to speak. The former Sporting CP head coach conducted more interviews last season than he had in his entire managerial career, but contractual obligations for Premier League and Europa League broadcasters dictated a regular stream of Amorim content. At times, he looked drained. He joked he had turned 50 rather than 40 when he left his thirties on January 27.
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Now, he seems refreshed. He has a healthy glow from the Illinois sunshine, aided by regular runs through the city and 7am gym sessions. He is happy enough to grant time to journalists covering the club in the United States, giving his most revealing interview.
'Nowadays I can feel more excited,' he says when comparing his current mood to a few months ago. 'I learned a lot. Small things. How to build up (to a game). How to sometimes not be so romantic. All these things are gone now. I truly believe that I will be better managing the season.'
Here, The Athletic details what Amorim said, analyses those words and provides context for the key themes.
The Athletic has reported how, in February, as United's season spiralled into turmoil through defeats and injuries, observers at Carrington felt Amorim was giving serious thought to offering his resignation. Then, after the Europa League final defeat, Amorim said he would go 'without any conversation about compensation' if the board felt he was not the right man.
On each occasion, Ratcliffe, chief executive Omar Berrada, and director of football Jason Wilcox reassured Amorim.
Amorim explains how the results and atmosphere made him consider his position.
'Walk away is more an ego thing,' he says. 'I'm like that. If you saw Sporting: I won the league and we had second place in the next year. In the third year, when we lost Matheus Nunes, Joao Palhinha, and all these guys, we were fourth in the league, and I put my place (up for discussion).
'It's a thing that my agent says, you don't need to sign a big contract. Because when things go bad, I put my place. I'm maybe really romantic about things.'
Amorim insists he is comforted by the club's backing. 'I always felt that,' he says. 'In some moments last season, I was more concerned about me than them. They always show support.
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'If you try to remember one big 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.'
Since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013, the average lifespan of a United manager is two years. 'I want to stay 20,' replies Amorim. 'That is my goal, and I truly believe in that. Something will happen. 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. Results will dictate that. And I know that all the credit I had when I arrived… last year was used on that. But I'm ready to start fresh.'
Amorim acknowledges that his personal ledger at United took a major hit during his first six months, and knows he must start well in his first full campaign. His record in charge stands at 42 games, 16 wins, 10 draws, and 16 defeats.
He lost the Europa League final agaainst Tottenham Hotspur in a way that disappointed many inside and outside the club, but he maintains belief, powered by his success at Sporting CP, where he won two Portuguese titles in his four complete seasons.
'If you look, Sporting 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 one title with Sporting.
'The pressure is different (at United). But I don't like to change clubs. I like to bond with people and carry on. I was waiting for the right club. It sounds crazy, but I chose this club. I had the feeling. Until I can, I will stay here.'
On the subject of pressure, Amorim says it was more acute when he finished his playing career, which spanned 322 club games, mainly for Benfica, and 14 Portugal caps. He retired aged 32 after a year out, having ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
'This is not the moment that I felt more pressure in my life,' he says. 'I had my career as a player, and I finished really quickly because of the injuries. I remember that me and my wife, we had an Excel (spreadsheet) with all the money that we have, all the things that I need. 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. It's more like an ego thing. I want to be manager of Manchester United for a while. I don't want to fail. That is the only pressure.'
Amorim is explaining how he felt last season, as if he could not raise his fists to battle.
'I had that feeling during the season that I'm so frustrated, I cannot do anything, so I have to wait. And to wait, and being manager of Manchester United, is like going to a fight with my hands like this.' Amorim drops his arms by his side, almost placing them behind the chair he is sitting on.
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'In some moments, I just needed to survive to the end, because everything I need to do, I will need to do with a new start, with more time, with some changes that I cannot do now. That is even people around the staff and players.
'My goal in that moment, three months to the end, was trying to win the Europa League. 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 we will have problems. But you need to take one guy off at 60 minutes — and you cannot do it in Manchester United, you cannot think like that, I cannot change three guys because I have to try to maintain the team fit to win the Europa League.'
Amorim's side lost 4-1 at Newcastle United, and also tasted defeat against Nottingham Forest, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Brentford, West Ham United and Chelsea in the final weeks of the Premier League campaign. He is asked how going home following those performances felt.
'To tell you the truth, it's not how I returned to my house after the games — (it was) how I left to go to the games. Because I knew that we will struggle in specific games. That is the hardest part, to go to the games and know that we are not going to be competitive, how we should be.
'When I returned (home), I just looked to my family and tried to think in different things. But I was really frustrated.'
Amorim believes he will not head into matches this season with that same sense of trepidation. 'If I have the feeling that before the game, that we are going to be competitive, we'll be OK,' he says. 'I just don't want to return to that feeling that we are thinking it's not a 50-50 game.'
United, under Amorim's direction, have introduced a code of conduct, detailing expectations and possible sanctions. The list is fairly extensive and includes notes on timekeeping and engaging with fans. Bryan Mbeumo was applauded onto the pitch, seemingly ironically, when he was the last to arrive for training before the Bournemouth friendly.
'The rules are not to treat the players as babies, they have sons,' Amorim explains. 'I treat them as a man, but they have rules now. And that can change the way you train. If you don't train in the right way, I have footage to show you. And I show you in front of everybody. So I'm always on top.'
He adds: 'They understand that when I say one thing, I will do it. That is really important. And the change of culture is more a club thing than a manager thing. I cannot do everything by myself.'
Amorim wants players to continue to take more responsibility.
'I expect in one phase that I don't need to do anything, because they will push each other,' he says. 'But in the moment, if you train one time bad, I will show you the image. I will not 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.'
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Amorim reveals he has a new team to assist him. 'We have a leadership group now. It's not just Bruno Fernandes. It's not just Harry Maguire. It's six guys now. They are responsible for the group. There are some things that, in the last year, I had to deal with that. I said to them, 'You deal with that. Small issues are with you guys. You are responsible'. All these small changes, it's helping the group.'
Joining Fernandes and Maguire are Lisandro Martinez, Diogo Dalot, Tom Heaton and Noussair Mazraoui. 'So it's not just the oldest one, Nous is in the group because he's a character that I like,' Amorim continues. 'I try to understand the dynamic of the group, try to reach every space. They are the guys who are responsible for keeping everyone in line.'
Amorim namechecked United's revamp of the medical and nutritional departments as significant changes. Omar Meziane left his role as first-team head chef in December to join McLaren's Formula One team, with Will Carvalho replacing him as head performance chef. Marcus Hannon is the new head of sports nutrition, and Filipe Sousa is the first-team nutritionist.
Carvalho joined from Brighton & Hove Albion, Hannon has experience at Aston Villa, while Sousa previously worked for Vitoria Sport, Famalicao and Vizela in Portugal.
Gary O'Driscoll, head of medical services, is set to leave but is out on tour as his replacement is found. United have appointed two relatively new physios and two soft tissue specialists. 'We improved in every department,' says Amorim. 'Omar and Jason, they were aligned about everything we need to change.'
Amorim is a head coach who lets his feelings rip at times. He broke the dressing-room television amid a furious inquest after the loss to Brighton at Old Trafford. He thinks his team can use that kind of mentality as fuel.
'We need to be a little bit more emotional in this team,' he says. 'With the emotion, we become more sacrifice, more pace, more energy. We are improving on that.
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'Competition is going to help. If you see Matheus Cunha is playing, Mason Mount is on the bench. Bruno and Kobbie Mainoo are in the same position. Bruno can do different positions and even Kobbie. These things will help.
'It's a perfect year to do that without European competition. We need to put the standards, then we'll be ready in the next season (2026-27), to cope with less trainings, all the culture is already here, so we can play, play, play.'
Amorim's belief that United will be ready to return to Europe in 12 months is understandable but he will need major progress.
That space in United's calendar has been commented on by several players, who felt the hamster wheel of last season jeopardised the switch to 3-4-2-1. The reduction in games means it is harder for players to get satisfactory minutes, though.
'I want a small squad so everyone feels really important,' Amorim says. 'If you have a lot of players, you have one week to prepare, and a lot of players are going to be out and then in training, they will be frustrated, then the quality will drop.'
Amorim plans to use academy players to fill in the gaps in positions. 'I think we need to improve the academy,' he adds. 'We have young kids that are not going to be 100 per cent of the time with us.'
He wants to be meticulous when making senior additions. 'For someone to come into our team, we need to do all that work that we did with Bryan and Cunha,' he says. 'We need to be really careful to assess the character the way they play, try to imagine if they play abroad, try to imagine them physically, technically playing in our club.'
Leaving Alejandro Garnacho, Antony, Jadon Sancho and Tyrell Malacia in Manchester during the tour aligns with Amorim's desire for a tight squad.
He says: 'The market is open. There are players who clearly show they don't want to be here, and that is normal. They are not bad, and I'm good. I'm not bad, and they are good. It's a simple situation that they want new challenges.
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'We will try to use this space to prepare the team that I think will be here. If the market closes and they are Manchester United players, we as a club have to treat them in the same conditions.'
Amorim speaks on Garnacho for the first time since he told him to find a new club on the final weekend of the Premier League campaign. 'You can see he's a really talented boy,' he says. 'Sometimes things don't work out. You cannot explain specifically what it is but it's clear that Garnacho wants a different thing with a different leadership. I can understand that. It's not a problem. Sometimes you adapt to one guy, you have the connection. Other times, you want a new challenge.'
Amorim is confident United's financial picture will improve, due to the club's established prestige and global renown.
'I have no doubts, because there are some things that you cannot buy — this club has,' he insists. 'The pedigree, the history, the fans.
'We have money without the Champions League. You talk with Omar and all these guys, they are making all the strategy to have more money in the future. That will not be a problem.
'Then if we have a different culture, with all the pedigree, the money, we can return to our place. That is clear.'
Amorim's system became a stick to beat him with last season. He was told to be flexible, especially when chasing games, and the sight of Maguire as a makeshift striker was awkward. But Amorim claims he does evolve.
'I changed so many things during my short career as a manager,' he says. 'When I see a different thing that works, I will use it. I copy so many things about other managers, the way they play, warm-ups. I stole warm-ups. I'm not so stubborn.
'To be a really strong team, we need to have a base. When the base is OK, we will start doing different things. It's a process.
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'I said that in the interview (with United), I'm not the coach who is going to try to survive, to put an idea that is not mine. Since day one, it's the only way I know. Let's build the base. Are we going to suffer? Yes.'
Injecting some dynamism into midfield is important to Amorim, with talks about recruits ongoing, but he thinks coaching players can be as beneficial as fresh physical attributes.
'Of course, there are players who are not going to have a bigger pace. But if you look at the same players in these games, the pace is different. That is my feeling.'
Why? 'I think it's the time to train. Even the certainty of the movements can help a player to be faster, if you are thinking, 'I jump, I don't jump'. We train when they need to jump; they already know. So, 'I start sooner'. Sometimes it's one metre, one second. That is something that the tactical aspect and the physical aspect are together.'
Mainoo's jump to intercept Alphonse Areola's kick to set up Fernandes for his second goal in the friendly win against West Ham was a case in point.
'Mainoo, with those feet, playing the ball, if he finds the right pace, playing like every time I give the ball, I find a new solution. Every time the guy is running back, I can follow the guy because he can. He's going to be faster.'
The issue Amorim has is that the teams at the top are getting stronger, too. Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea have all made significant additions in the market. Amorim is not contemplating them, however.
'If we were in a different moment, I would be more concerned about that,' he concedes. 'We have such big issues here, I'm so excited to change all these things, I'm not thinking in that way.
'I'm really happy with the players that we bring. They proved in the Premier League, so I'm not concerned about the physical aspect. I'm really happy with the character.
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'I think personally, Jason and Omar also, that all the players that we want to bring to Manchester, any coach will want them. 'This is not my style'… I can guarantee you, if you bring any manager here, they will say, 'Bryan, thank you. Matheus Cunha, thank you'.'
If Amorim can translate his words to actions on the pitch, United fans will be the ones saying thank you to him.