Ruben Amorim on Utd future and transfers ahead of Villa
24/05/2025
Carrington training centre, Manchester, U.K.
24/05/2025
Carrington training centre, Manchester, U.K.
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SportsTranscript
00:00Hi, Ruben. Obviously, a couple of days have passed since Wednesday.
00:04What are your reflections looking back on, obviously, a disappointing night for the football club?
00:09It was really tough. It still is really tough.
00:12I think it was harsh for us to lose that game.
00:17Again, I think we were the better team. We had more chances.
00:22We suffered a goal near the half-time.
00:27We tried everything in the second half, but it's really hard because, like I said also,
00:33before the match, if you don't win the final, it's even harder to deal with that.
00:39I don't think there's any surprise, people who know the club,
00:43that the aftermath has been debating around the future of players, two in particular.
00:49You said a couple of weeks ago that you want Bruno Fernandes to stay.
00:52There's more reports around Al-Hilal and they want a decision from him.
00:57What is your understanding of that?
00:59And also, both Alejandro Ganacho and, more pertinently, his brother,
01:07put statements on social media in the immediate aftermath of the game,
01:10which seems to suggest it was a mistake for him not to play.
01:14Are you going to speak to him? Do you have to speak to him? What is the situation?
01:19I always speak with my players, but the focus now is the last game.
01:22I don't know what is going to happen. We have a plan.
01:25We were prepared for both situations, with Champions League, without Champions League.
01:31We have an idea what type of squad we want, but now we have to focus on the game
01:36because we still have the last game and we'll have time to address all the bad situations.
01:41Ruben, morale surely at the moment is rock bottom.
01:46You seem very flat inevitably after the game.
01:49How on earth do you pick yourself up, the players, the fans up?
01:53Because it just seems to be that this season has been one long struggle.
01:57Yes, it's really hard. I will not try to convince you otherwise.
02:03It was a tough season, but we had that hope that we could win something
02:10and that could help us to finish the season in a different way.
02:16The way we need to get up is to focus on the next game,
02:21to finish in a good way and then we'll have time.
02:24And then when you start thinking about the future, thinking about the squad,
02:29a new season is going to start and we will start with new ambitions and try to do better.
02:36But there is no instant fix, is there?
02:38I mean, you look at where Villa are at the moment.
02:40Villa are where you probably want to be, aren't they?
02:42Of course, yes. They have that stability.
02:46They are used to fight for the first places, so we want to do that also.
02:53But there are a lot of things that are really good on this kind of club.
02:58But then when you are in this situation, you feel that it's going to take time.
03:02But we can improve.
03:04Would you say time? How many windows are you looking at?
03:07No, it's not windows. And sometimes we don't know.
03:12Things can change fast.
03:15But to reach that kind of level that we need to be as Manchester United is going to take time.
03:20But I cannot say how many windows, how many years we need to reach that point.
03:28But we can improve. That is clear.
03:31With that in mind, Ruben, the fact that you probably need to make a lot of changes to the squad.
03:37Are you looking at that challenge as something that you think you will enjoy?
03:41Or are you worried about how difficult it's going to be to juggle everything?
03:44I think that these six months were really hard. A lot of changes. Not just for me. For all the club.
03:53We did so many changes inside our club that sometimes it takes a lot of like five years or three years to change all the personnel and to change a lot of things.
04:05We changed coach in the middle of the season. The way they play, we changed. So it was a really tough season.
04:12Now is that part that we need to enjoy and to focus on the future and to be positive.
04:17Because we know what to do. I know how I want to play. That is clear.
04:22With all the mistakes that you guys can point to me, I know how I want to play.
04:27Now is the excitement, the moment that we can change something.
04:32Luke Shaw said after the game that players need to reflect on whether they are good enough to get Manchester United back.
04:40How many players in your squad do you believe are good enough to get Manchester United back?
04:44Again, we have this game against Aston Villa and we need to focus on that. This is not over.
04:51So we want to finish in a good way in front of our supporters. So that is important.
04:59The rest we are going to assess the squad. We know what to do. I will say it again.
05:03And we will deal with that when the season is finished. It is not finished yet.
05:08Good luck.
05:09You famously said before you joined here that you would have preferred ultimately to join
05:14at the end of the season around this time. I am just wondering, the past six months you
05:18were talking about the challenges there, have you been able to understand the club better,
05:23understand the problems of the club or is there a part of you that actually still kind of wishes
05:27the club maybe said, yeah sure, come at the end of the season?
05:30In this moment I am really glad that I arrived six months before we start a new season.
05:36But I think we are going to avoid a lot of mistakes and would be in the next season.
05:42So I think now is the time that we can use all that suffering to change things in the summer.
05:49And when I say in the summer it is not just the players. There is a lot of things that we need to change in our club.
05:55So we are doing that. We did that for six months. We changed in every aspect of our club.
06:01So I am really glad in this moment. We suffered a lot but I am really glad that I arrived six months
06:07because it is going to help me a lot in the next season.
06:11Did the Europa League final change your mind on any players when you think about that performance
06:16with a view to the summer transfer window?
06:18No, no. What changed is that one less competition, that game in the middle of the week
06:24you can manage the squad in a different way. So that rotation of the players, the depth of the squad,
06:33that changed completely if you have four competitions or three competitions.
06:38So that changed a little bit the plan but not the way I look to my players just by looking at the final.