Ruben Amorim plans to apologise to Manchester United fans after a dismal season comes to close against Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Four days after their last hope of salvaging anything from the campaign was extinguished in a 1-0 Europa League final defeat to Tottenham, United will show their appreciation to their suffering supporters after the final whistle at Old Trafford.
“We will do that, it’s tradition and we have to face it,” Amorim said of the usual lap of honour. “I think it will be the biggest mistake if we don’t do that. We will do that.”
Asked what he might say to fans, Amorim added: “An apology I think is clear; an explanation, you don’t have time. So we will try to be honest. I think I will be honest with the fans and I will say what is in my mind and what is in my heart.”
Amorim was perhaps referring to United’s need to get to the airport as they head to a post-season tour of Malaysia and Hong Kong, but giving a full explanation of United’s worst season since relegation 51 years ago would no doubt take longer than most fans have time for.
The Portuguese said the issues went deeper than those on the pitch and, at a time when minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been pushing through radical restructuring at all levels of the club, the manager hinted that had a way of filtering through to the players.
Asked if United had been in a worst state than he expected when he first arrived, Amorim said: “I suffer like any Mancunian suffer to see all the things, yes.
“The problems for me were deeper than I was thinking because I can watch, I can feel it during trainings at Carrington or in all our organisation. Then it’s not the problems but the instability in our club.
“Everybody is changing, all the departments are changing, so we did that in one year. In six months, we are doing everything, so of course everything is more difficult, but I think we are getting some steps to improve things.
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“You cannot see that because results are so poor, but we are in a better place, that I can guarantee you.”
Amorim has been clear in his belief that things can be better next term, but if he is to be proved correct United need to get their recruitment right in what promises to be a busy summer.
“Of course I believe (United can recruit well),” Amorim said. “We are improving in the data that we want…For me, the important thing in the recruitment is to know how we are going to play…
“If you have a clear idea how to play, you can point the specific players that you want for that position, and that is clear, and we are doing that together with all the data, the physical data to cope with the demands of the Premier League.
“All these things are taken care of, so we want to improve and sometimes you don’t have 100 per cent certainty because you have the adaptation to every player, but we are doing all the steps to improve on that aspect of our club.”
