Following another tough week in the office, Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim may have earned himself a small moral victory over his detractors.
Following his awkward back-and-forth interaction with Roy Kean over whether Bruno Fernandes is worthy of the captaincy or not, the manager then exchanged a few unpleasant words with Wayne Rooney through the media.
The legendary striker dubbed the Portuguese ‘naive’ for even proclaiming his desire to win the Premier League at some stage. The current United head coach responded by stating the facts: He’s only 40 years of age and is already at the helm of a Premier League giant, so he’s certainly not naive.
While it was already difficult to argue against that claim, Amorim also backed it up with might just be a brilliant pre-match manoeuvre. The 40-year-old might not be as charismatic or straightforward as his compatriot Jose Mourinho, but his charming, cool and collected persona is undeniable.
Ahead of the first leg against Real Sociedad, the manager made some curious statements. While most tacticians would rally the troops by overstating the importance of the fixture, Amorim went in the opposite direction, making his best effort to convince anyone who would listen that United are not keen to win the Europa League, even if it represents their solitary route to the Champions League.
Ruben Amorim gets it right with pre-match statements
Interestingly, United went on to produce one of their best displays since the former Sporting CP joined the club in November. The Red Devils can consider themselves unlucky for failing to return with a victory after dominating their opponents on Spanish soil.
Unfortunately for the United, it’s difficult to dub them as the obvious favourites to progress given their miserable form at Old Trafford, but their display at San Sebastian shows that Amorim is beginning to master his players’ psychological status.
So instead of piling more pressure on an already mentally-collapsing bunch, he decided to adopt a care-free approach which resulted in a solid display that should have resulted in a victory by all accounts.
Whether this was truly a ploy on the manager’s part or simply a statement he genuinely believed in, we might never know, but either way, Amorim is proving he isn’t so naive after all.
