Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has acknowledged the club has made mistakes in recent years but insisted the focus must be on rebuilding rather than rehashing what went wrong.
The comments come after Cristiano Ronaldo, speaking in a wide-ranging interview with Piers Morgan, said Amorim was doing his best but could not perform “miracles.” Ronaldo, now at Al-Nassr and a former Portugal team-mate of Amorim, suggested that while some United players have quality, others lack the mentality required for the club.
Amorim chose not to directly rebut Ronaldo’s criticisms when asked by reporters ahead of United’s trip to Tottenham, instead underlining the need to concentrate on future improvements. He said the club is aware of past errors and is working to change its structure, expectations and player behaviour, urging everyone to leave the past behind and keep improving.
Ronaldo’s relationship with United ended publicly after his second spell at the club. He first left for Real Madrid in 2009, returned to Old Trafford from Juventus in summer 2021, and had his contract terminated in November 2022 following another interview with Piers Morgan in which he criticised the club and then-manager Erik ten Hag.
In his latest interview the 40-year-old described his sadness at seeing United without a clear structure and warned that the club was not on the right path, while expressing hope that changes would be made given the club’s immense potential.
Amorim took charge of United in November 2024. He led the team to last season’s Europa League final but they lost to Tottenham and thus missed out on Europa League silverware and Champions League qualification. United’s domestic form over the season was poor — a 15th-place finish in the Premier League, their worst position since the 1973–74 relegation season.
The club invested heavily in the summer transfer window, spending in excess of £200m, yet results started slowly and included a shock Carabao Cup exit to League Two side Grimsby Town. Those struggles put Amorim under scrutiny, though United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe publicly urged patience, saying Amorim should be given three years to prove himself.
Ratcliffe has also been candid about the club’s wider issues, saying in March that United had underperformed since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure in 2013 and that some players were not up to the required standard and were overpriced.
There are signs of recovery: United have won three of their past four league matches, including a win at Liverpool, and sit eighth in the table. Amorim and the club’s hierarchy appear intent on using those recent improvements as a platform for continued progress as they seek to rebuild United’s competitiveness.
