Ruben Amorim responds after Paul Scholes says he ‘isn’t the right man’ for Man Utd

Ruben Amorim has brushed off the recent criticism he has faced from former Manchester United players, suggesting it is unfair to compare his side’s ‘standards’ to teams of the past that were ‘always winning’.

The Red Devils had appeared to have turned a corner after winning all three of their Premier League contests in October against Sunderland, Liverpool and Brighton.

But United have claimed victory in just two of their last six matches in the English top flight, an immensely disappointing run that included the side’s dismal 1-0 defeat at home to ten-man Everton.

There were encouraging signs in United’s comprehensive 4-1 win over lowly Wolves last time out, though, with Bruno Fernandes completing a brace and Bryan Mbeumo and Mason Mount also scoring at Molineux.

Amorim’s men will look to pick up where they left off when they return to action against Bournemouth on Monday night, knowing maximum points would propel them up to fifth in the table.

While the Portuguese managed to quieten a few of his more outspoken critics with the convincing win at Wolves last weekend, Paul Scholes is still yet to be fully convinced.

Speaking on The Good, the Bad & The Football podcast with long-time team-mate Nicky Butt, Scholes took aim at the United boss, saying: ‘I don’t think the manager gets the club, full stop. I just don’t think he’s the right man.

‘Manchester United is about risk and entertainment, more than anything. Having fans on the edge of their seat f***ing ready to go.

‘Wingers who beat people. Shots on goal. Bits of skill. There’s nothing there.

‘That’s from the club. We talk about this is a different club – they’ve got Omar Berrada, Jason Wilcox who are probably brilliant at their job, brilliant at what they do.

‘They’re not Man United. They don’t have a clue what it’s like to buy a Manchester United player, to bring a Manchester United manager in.’

Later on in the podcast, Scholes hit out at Amorim’s philosophy before questioning his handling of Kobbie Mainoo, who is still yet to make a single start in the Premier League this season.

‘If you go to Sporting Lisbon and watch, they played three at the back. Right away, that’s a no,’ the 11-time Premier League winner added.

And I’m talking about even before Sir Alex Ferguson, it was always 4-4-1-1 or 4-4-2. Entertaining people. He hasn’t got that in him.

‘He brought four defenders on against West Ham. If we go 1-0 up, the manager always said ‘two, three, four.’

‘I remember once, I think we were playing Chelsea. We went 1-0 up and we sat back a little bit. Now, Chelsea were a good team.

‘The manager went absolutely nuts after the game. That doesn’t happen here. When you score one, you score two. You go for the throat every single time.

‘I just don’t think he gets it.’

On Mainoo fall down the pecking order, Scholes went on: ‘You would have to advise him to go. If he rang me and said, ‘I think Chelsea are in for me what do you think?’, I’d say ‘all day long’.

‘He is a 20-year-old kid, he is going to have to leave.

‘What will happen now is he’ll bring him into a game and he won’t be great, because he needs five, six, seven, eight games.

‘He’ll throw him into the team and say “I told you so”.

‘No one [in the hierarchy] gets the club. You think of the treatment of Kobbie Mainoo.

‘He’s not playing, fair enough, sometimes as a manager you don’t fancy a player.

‘When they aren’t playing well and what he has done in the game already as a young kid, winning goal in the FA Cup final, he’s played nearly every game at the Euros.

‘I bet he takes the p*** out of Casemiro every day in training.’

Amorim was asked about the questions that have been raised by his high-profile doubters like Scholes as he faced the media ahead of United’s clash with Bournemouth.

According to Amorim, such comments are ‘normal’ given the size of the club and the fact his side are not ‘always winning’ as they appeared to in the past under Sir Alex Ferguson.

‘I think it’s normal, I think it’s a fact that me as a manager of Manchester United, I think we are underachieving,’ he said.

‘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 every press conference. Sometimes it’s harder for me to speak after the game.

‘It’s always the same situation. For me, all of them are the same. I know that for you guys there are some players that you believe in a lot and I believe a lot but sometimes I have to make choices.

‘We play with two midfielders in these games, we could change in the future, but to Kobbie Mainoo is playing in the same position as Bruno Fernandes and sometimes it’s really hard to take Bruno Fernandes out of the team and that’s the only reason.’

Asked if pundits like Scholes are making his job more difficult, Amorim replied: ‘No, not winning is the issue.

‘Of course, you can point to a lot of things and they point to 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.

‘That is the only problem: that Manchester United is not winning and is not in the position that it is supposed to be.

Amorim ‘understands’ that the level of scrutiny is far greater than what he previously experienced as head coach of Sporting.

‘No, here it is completely different,’ he explained.

‘We have the best league in the world and there’s a lot of things around the game.

‘Every press conference, I leave here and I’m going to give an interview so it’s a completely different world.

‘In Sporting there was no issue because we were winning all the time so if you are winning winning then there is no issue. I understand that and that’s okay.’

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