Ruben Amorim has admitted Manchester United have ‘made a lot of mistakes’ following stinging criticism from Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo returned to Old Trafford in 2021 but his second spell in Manchester ended in acrimony just 15 months later with United terminating his contract.
The Portugal international sat down with Piers Morgan for a candid interview this week with United and Amorim’s attempts to lift them from their current malaise among the topics discussed.
This week’s interview came three years after his infamous chat with Morgan where he took aim at United’s hierarchy, Erik ten Hag and the club’s footballing structure.
‘He’s doing his best. What are you going to do? Miracles? Miracles is impossible,’ Ronaldo said this week.
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‘You’re not gonna do miracles. Even the players. Manchester United have good players, but then some of them don’t have the mind, what is Manchester United.’
Amorim has endured a turbulent year in charge at United with the club finishing 15th and losing the Europa League final to Tottenham last season.
United are in action against Spurs this weekend with Amorim quizzed on Ronaldo’s comments in his pre-match press conference.
‘Of course, he knows and he has a huge impact in everything he says,’ Amorim said.
‘What we need to focus on is the future. We know that we as a club made a lot of mistakes in the past and we are trying to change that. Let’s not focus on what happened.
‘Let’s focus on what we are doing now and we are doing that. We are changing a lot of things in the structure, the way we do things and want the players to behave.
‘We are doing that and we are improving, so let’s continue and forget the past.’
United have begun to show signs of life under Amorim, winning three games on the bounce against Sunderland, Liverpool and Brighton before they were held to a draw at Nottingham Forest last time out.
Despite that improving form and signs Amorim’s 3-4-3 formation is beginning to bear fruit, their defensive record remains poor having conceded 16 in 10 matches, more than any other top 10 side.
‘It’s a problem, especially if you see the league nowadays. The team winning lots of games is not suffering goals, or shots on target,’ Amorim said.
‘And that is a big game, especially when you have talented players. In one opportunity, you can score a goal and win the game. But I think it’s more a team thing, we need to defend better.
‘We need to be more aggressive. And we defend better when we have more energy. We have a lot to do and cannot suffer the amount of goals we are suffering, which we need to improve.’