Manchester United manager, Ruben Amorim has described the club’s Premier League position as “hard to accept” after a 2-0 home loss to West Ham.
Goals from Tomas Soucek and Jarrod Bowen condemned Utd to a ninth league defeat at home this season as West Ham climbed to 15th and above the Red Devils who slumped to 16th as a consequence.
Amorim post-match wasn’t amused about their league position with two top-flight matches left in the season as he blasted his players for having their eyes solely on their upcoming Europa League Final against Tottenham on 21 May as there are more important issues to address.
“I think… Are we supposed to feel a manager of Manchester United in that position, embarrassed, and it’s hard to accept. And I think everybody has to think seriously about a lot of things here.
“Everybody is thinking about the final, the final is not the issue in this moment in our club, we have bigger, bigger things to think [about]. And we have to change a lot of things in the end of the season.”
Amorim also warned that the club’s “culture” feels like it “… is the most dangerous feeling that we have in a big club.”
The Portuguese boss added that he isn’t worried about the Europa League Final which he considers to be “… by far the smallest problem in our club. We need to change something that is deeper than this.”
With fans and critics questioning whether United deserve Champions League qualification if they win the final, Amorim expressed his own similar feelings on whether they are worthy of that prize but warned that their league trip to Chelsea is the immediate priority to make improvements.
“We are showing that in the end of this season that we are not… playing Premier League and Champions League for us, is the moon. So we need to know that.
“I’m not concerned about the final. They will be focused and I don’t know what is best, if it’s playing Champions League or not. So let’s think about Chelsea and to improve a lot of things.”
A common theme in the last few months across Utd’s league performances has been a lack of urgency in their play, and the ex Sporting Lisbon boss felt that players could be deliberately selecting which games to show their desire and urgency but refused to pin point an exact reason behind that issue.
“It’s hard to explain that. We need… that feeling, I have that feeling that there’s that lack of urgency in everything we do, so it’s a big concern.”
Looking ahead to next season when asked about whether the players thinking that defeat is acceptable, Amorim iterated that he didn’t want to discuss certain players as he instead spoke of the need for change throughout the team in terms of mentality.
“I don’t know, and I don’t want to talk about players, I’m talking about myself, the culture in club, the culture in the team.
“I have that feeling, we need to change that, and we need to be really strong in the summer and to be brave, because we will not have a next season like this if we start like this. Or if the feeling is still here, we should give the space to different persons.”