Manchester United coach Reuben Amorim said he sympathises with Ange Postecoglou but may have lit the fire ahead of the Red Devils’ clash with Tottenham after declaring he is under “bigger pressure at a bigger club”.
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Amorim was speaking ahead of United’s game against Tottenham on Monday, which will see Postecoglou boosted by the return from injury of key players.
While Postecoglou is under enormous pressure to produce results, Amorim himself is in the spotlight as manager of a United team that currently sits 13th on the table with just 29 points — the fewest the Red Devils have ever had at this stage of the Premier League season.
One journalist asked Amorim on Saturday about the pressure both he and Postecoglou were under, along with the criticism of both and their reluctance to adapt from their systems.
“I’m a huge fan of Ange Postecoglou,” Amorim said.
“Of course I am from a different culture. I’m Portuguese and you know all the Portuguese coaches they can adapt, and I adapt.
“The simple thing is that I use one system in the moment because I believe if you work on that system you can play in different systems at the same time.
“That is my idea but we are not winning games, and I understand the connection between me and Ange. We have the same problems.
“In my opinion, with all due respect, I’m in a bigger club with a bigger pressure, so I understand the connection, and I think it’s really important for the coach to follow his principles.”
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While Amorim went on to add he “of course” has sympathy for Postecoglou given the circumstances, ESPN journalist Rob Dawson questioned whether his “bigger club” comment could backfire.
“The question was about systems,” Dawson said on ESPN FC.
“It was about two managers who are married to their systems and a little bit of criticism about why they don’t change so it was unnecessary really to go down the route of, ‘We’re a bigger club. I’m under more pressure’.
“It was obviously something that he thinks because otherwise why would you say it. I just thought it perhaps didn’t need to be said.
“He’s perhaps right in a way because the spotlight and scrutiny at Man United is greater than it is at Spurs... perhaps in terms of the pressure line he’s a little bit misjudged because I would argue Ange Postecoglou is closer to getting the sack because of the length of time he’s been at Spurs.
“So if you were talking about pressure on his job, I would suggest the pressure is on Ange Postecoglou at the moment. It’s the kind of thing that gets pinned up in a dressing room before a game... it’s an added thread to the game that perhaps isn’t needed.”
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Postecoglou will be desperate to win Monday’s game, having been without 11 players for last weekend’s FA Cup fourth round defeat at Aston Villa, which followed a League Cup semi-final exit against Liverpool.
But the Australian has worked with Guglielmo Vicario, Destiny Udogie, James Maddison, Wilson Odobert and Brennan Johnson in training this week.
Italy goalkeeper Vicario has not featured since fracturing an ankle against Manchester City in November, forcing Postecoglou to use three replacements, including new January signing Antonin Kinsky.
Relieved to see some of his walking wounded finally available as Tottenham try to ease the mounting pressure on their manager, Postecoglou said the week of rest since their last game was a major boost.
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“It’s been a good week, fair to say, in terms of the health and wellbeing of the group of young men I look after,” Postecoglou told reporters.
“The guys who have been playing have benefited from a couple of days off.
“On the injury front, good to have some significant players back for training purposes to start with because it raises the quality and level of our training, but in terms of helping us Vicario, yes trained really well and good to go.
“Madders (Maddison) is good to go. Then we’ve had Destiny, Wilson and Brennan training with the group and they’re in a good space as well, so it’s been a good training week.” Tottenham’s treatment room is still busy as centre-backs Micky van de Ven, Radu Dragusin and Cristian Romero all remain sidelined.
Postecoglou, whose team are 14th place in the Premier League, is also without forwards Richarlison, Timo Werner and Dominic Solanke for United’s visit to north London.
Tottenham’s approach to treating Van de Ven during a lengthy lay-off has been criticised. He returned from a seven-week absence with a hamstring injury to play the first half of a 3-0 win against Elfsborg on January 30.
Van de Ven has not featured since and Postecoglou revealed the Dutch defender has been assessed externally.
“We’ve had a couple of people externally have a look at him and give him some guidance and information -- and to our staff as well -- about things he can do differently which will help him making sure his body is better equipped to handle the kind of athlete he is,” Postecoglou said.
“You know whilst it may look with Micky like we had a false start with the Elfsborg thing, I think it gave us an indication of where he is at.”