A peek inside the United dressing room
A peek inside the United dressing room
Ruben Amorim is maintaining a professional distance from the Manchester United players three months into the role as head coach.
Dressing room sources say Amorim is not as close with most of the players as predecessor Erik ten Hag was, while United players also appreciated the man-management of Ruud van Nistelrooy during his two-week caretaker stint in November.
Players have noticed that Amorim is naturally closest with compatriots Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot but, with another squad upheaval planned for the summer, the Portuguese is not getting attached to the majority of squad members.
Despite Ten Hag's gruff nature and public fallouts with star players, he had loyal bonds with a number of players he bought having worked with them at Ajax. He was also popular with academy graduates Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo, who came to prominence under Ten Hag and scored in last season's FA Cup final triumph against Manchester City.
A senior United player described Van Nistelrooy's squad management as "excellent" when he took charge for four matches before Amorim arrived on November 11. Casemiro particularly appreciated Van Nistelrooy as they conversed in fluent Spanish.
Tyrell Malacia and Antony, signed during Ten Hag's first summer at United, and Marcus Rashford all left on loan in January as United initiated yet another squad rebuild.
Amorim admitted last month his mid-season appointment and the hectic schedule had denied him time to get to know the players on a more intimate level.
"Sometimes, that detail is really important," Amorim said. "Pre-season, creating, spending three weeks together, creating something, and then you want to create something new with the players.
"I want them to know me in a different way, not always preparing the matches with stress, we don’t have the time to do that. I think it’s really important and I think it’s the secret of teams.
"Even when you have the best players, if you don’t you have that feeling it’s really hard to win so I want to build something like that here. But we need time from that."
United are scheduled to tour the United States for an unprecedented third summer running in July, with the squad set to be based on the East Coast after returning to Los Angeles last year.