Ruben Amorim offered a collector’s item on Friday – a point-blank refusal to address a question that concerned an answer he previously gave. In doing so, he hinted at a disquiet concerning the club’s transfer policy.
“You said you’re starting to understand that to play 3-4-3, you [need] a lot of top players and that’s not possible. Can I ask why you never realised that when you first came into the club?” was the question put to Amorim in his press conference for United’s visit to Leeds on Sunday.
Amorim: “I don’t want to talk about that. I just focus on the Leeds game.”
“That’s interesting. It’s not like you not to talk. Do you regret saying it, maybe?”
Amorim: “No, no, no. But I don’t want to talk about it.”
“I’m going to try one more time – it seems mystifying why you would say a year in, that you only just realised you wouldn’t be able to get [enough] top players. Has something changed with regard to what you were told, or did Jason Wilcox [the director of football] talk to you?
Amorim: “I don’t want to talk about that … You are very smart, so …”
The original response, given on Christmas Eve, jarred. “We can play a different way to take more quality from these players because I have the feeling that if we have to play a perfect 3-4-3 we need to spend a lot of money and need time. I’m starting to understand that is not going to happen so maybe I have to adapt,” Amorim said at the time.
Amorim had put on a noticeably cheery face when entering the first press briefing at United’s Carrington base after their shock Carabao Cup loss at Grimsby in August. In contrast, he was noticeably downbeat on Friday. Was this to make a point about his unhappiness over a change in budget regarding this transfer window?
Antoine Semenyo had been pursued until the player signalled Manchester City as his preferred destination. Did Amorim expect that the £65m available to buy the Bournemouth winger could be used to land another target – say, Rúben Neves from Al-Hilal, or Atlético Madrid’s Conor Gallagher, to reinforce the No 6 position? A previous answer offered a hint. “The transfer window is not going to change,” Amorim said. “We have no conversation at this moment to have any change in the squad. There’s a process, there’s an idea that is going to continue.”
Amorim was his usual open, loquacious self when fielding other questions. Missing eight frontline players due to injury and Africa Cup of Nations call-ups, the 40-year-old was asked about a lack of substitute options when United travel to Elland Road. “It was bad luck to lose Amad [Diallo], Bryan [Mbeumo] [both to Afcon], especially with Bruno [Fernandes injured]. If you lose the three of them at the same time, any team in the world will struggle.
“You have all the data and you can sense that three guys create most of the chances for us. And if you lose not one but all three at the same time, of course we are going to struggle. The important thing is to understand why we struggled in the last three games in creation and quality in the game. I think it’s clear.”
Amorim was also forthcoming when asked why, in most games, he makes like-for-like substitutions rather than more attacking ones in line with the club’s attacking tradition. “The first thing you spoke about is that we are creating and scoring more than most of the teams. That is a point,” he said. “Then I understand the team better than anyone. And sometimes you have supporters [scrutinising] your decisions. Sometimes you have to do what you think. And sometimes it’s hard for them to understand.
“But I know when I look at the pitch, I can understand which player is tired. Which player is to struggle a lot if there is a one-against-one all the time. And I try to protect the team and win games. And sometimes it’s the best substitution. Sometimes it’s the wrong substitution.
“We create a lot. We have more shots than anyone. So if we have something completely different here from last year it is the way we attack. I think we need to improve the way we defend.”
