Ruben Amorim has no problem with high-profile former players criticising him and his handling of Kobbie Mainoo as the Manchester United manager knows he is “not doing good enough”.
The Red Devils entered the weekend sixth in the Premier League having lost just one of their previous nine matches, but the Portuguese has yet to fully move on from a wretched first season.
Paul Scholes has been among the critical voices and this week said he does not believe Amorim is “the right man” for a club he does not feel the Portuguese understands.
The United great has been particularly irked by the treatment of Mainoo, with former team-mates Nicky Butt and Rio Ferdinand joining him in suggesting the 20-year-old should look to leave having yet to start a Premier League match this season.
“I think it’s normal,” Amorim said of criticism from ex-players and pundits. “I think it’s a fact that me as a manager of Manchester United, I think we are underachieving.
“We should have more points, especially this season, so I take that naturally.
“Sometimes they don’t have all the information and they see Manchester United with the standards that they lived here, always winning, so it’s hard for them to see their club in this situation.
“About Kobbie, I can speak about Kobbie at every press conference. Sometimes it’s harder for me to speak after the game, so it’s always the same situation for me. All of them are the same.”
Asked if pundits’ criticism makes his job harder, the self-deprecating United manager said: “No. It’s not winning. I think not winning is the issue.
“Of course you can point a lot of things, and they point a lot of things that we need to improve but the big issue is not winning.
“If I’m winning I can go to the games on a horse, arrive there, playing with just two defenders and everything will be fine.
“The problem is that me as a manager I’m not doing good enough and that is a fact also and I can accept that. So that is the only problem.”
Amorim will have to wait a while to be paraded like a hero at a club whose last trophy was secured by academy product Mainoo.
That FA Cup triumph was followed by starting for England in the Euro 2024 final, but little more than a year on he requested a loan switch having rightly predicted opportunities would be limited.
Asked if he would sanction Mainoo a January loan move if Mainoo came to see him, Amorim said: “First of all, I say the same thing: the team comes first.
“If Kobbie comes to me and talks to me, I will talk to him. I’m not going to say what I’m going to say to Kobbie, but I will be really pleased if Kobbie is coming to talk to me about that.
“I just want my players happy, and I understand that every individual has their goals.
“The frustration doesn’t help anybody but, again, the focus is in this game and we will see if that happens.”
Mainoo will likely be a talking point whatever happens on Monday against Bournemouth, who Amorim believes have a “special player” in Antoine Semenyo.
Pushed on whether he would like him at United, he said: “No, it’s not that case. I think there is a lot of special players in the league.
“What I feel is, to summarise, top manager, top team. I really like the team and the top player. I think he is a special player.”
