The stance Ruben Amorim has adopted to be brutally honest in his public comments about what he has found to be among the key problems at Man Utd is finally beginning to get a reaction.
Instead of strolling into the Anfield press room on Sunday evening and take his plaudits, Amorim – after delivering a team that looked like his own that had gone toe-to-toe with the league leaders on the back of a couple of training sessions – didn’t take his bouquets but declared he was “mad” and “upset”.
Bear in mind we’re only 56 days into the Amorim era at Old Trafford, which makes him almost a complete stranger, so it hardly surprised anyone that he went for a different tactic.
If, on the other hand, the Portuguese gaffer had strolled into that room, praised the performance levels with a few empty platitudes, that would have gone against everything he has been trying to do in the last few weeks. Amorim quickly diagnosed some of the many failings he has inherited at Old Trafford, one of which is a sharp decline in standards.
Delivering a bravura performance at Anfield when the world is watching wouldn’t be worthy of praise, only questions, such as why can’t this be achieved every week? Refreshingly, Amorim has been honest about the shock therapy he is trying to deliver, and is now beginning to get everyone’s attention.
It’s beginning to be clear now why he has been highlighting the threat of relegation, complaining about a lack of leaders, and publicly stating that his players are nervous, anxious, and afraid. After the game at Anfield, the head coach disclosed that it was all part of a plan to shake Manchester United out of hibernation.
“I’m trying that [motivation] every day,” Amorim told reporters. “I’m trying to push this team every day, sometimes it’s maybe not the best way, I am always challenging these players in everything I do because I feel we are, not just the players, but everybody at Manchester United is too comfortable.
“So I think sometimes we need a shock, and you can see today we were a different team. It was not about the system, it was about the way we faced the competition. I think it’s a very good sign. It’s really clear, we lost three games in a row at home, some of the games we suffer two goals without doing nothing.
“I am upset today, really upset. I am pleased for the performance but everyone today is going to say to that team that they did a good job. Today I am allowed to be the only guy upset with the team, but today we were a team.”
The phrase ‘everybody at Manchester United is too comfortable’ is obviously intended for a wider audience to prick some ears as he had already said how he is trying to push the players every day and he has given the impression that he doesn’t believe they are reaching their potential.
The accusation had long been directed at United that a club accustomed to success has become way too casual about it, that there is a feeling the squad investment will somehow eventually pay off, that things will eventually click, without really having to work through the actual process to reach that level of success.
Amorim seems determined to change that and has been a breath of fresh air so far, with his press conferences making for fascinating listening, and he isn’t about to throw out the baby with the bathwater after just one good performance.
If anything, the mentality on show at Liverpool only proved to him that he was right. And it’s only when his players consistently deliver this kind of consistent performance will he then only be able to begin to breathe a bit easier. Amorim knows only too well that a cushy environment, while perhaps much easier and more pleasant to work in, isn’t necessarily one conducive to success in elite-level sport.
This mantra is only way too familiar at Old Trafford as Manchester United are a club who have managed to invest well over £1bn into a squad that has consistently underperformed. For some players, signing for United and collecting that affluent pay has been the end goal, and not the means to a successful end.
It’s good to know that will no longer be acceptable under Amorim’s watch. His Anfield press conference was a clear case in point with the amber signs all well lit up.
Ruben Amorim intends to keep making people at United uncomfortable until they meet his standards and deliver the improvement he himself expects.