Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim has reflected on a turbulent first 12 months in charge at Old Trafford.
Amorim has been in charge for a year.(Image: Stan Sport)
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Ruben Amorim believes Manchester United's recent improvement is down to playing with greater confidence and intensity. Amorim picked up the Premier League's manager of the month award for October after wins against Sunderland, Liverpool and Brighton, which were followed by draws with Nottingham Forest and Tottenham.
United made a disastrous start to the campaign, suffering an embarrassing defeat against Grimsby Town before a thumping at local rivals Manchester City, but Amorim has overseen an impressive turnaround at Old Trafford.
Amorim officially began work in Manchester during the November 2024 international break, following the announcement of his appointment from Sporting Lisbon that month.
The 40-year-old reflected on his time at the club when he spoke to Stan Sports, saying: "It's been a journey. The most important thing is that I've learned a lot.
"Sometimes you think when you are too young and you've come with just winning, and you face different results and a different way of people seeing your job, what you are doing... sometimes this is hard, but you learn a lot. I think I'm a better manager now.
"I'm ready for the future, I'm ready for the present. It was a really tough journey, but now I can see it as necessary and I think we are in a better place because of that."
Amorim continued: "We are playing better because we have more confidence and that starts with the good results. For example, against Liverpool, but if you look at the game, we had some luck.
"And that changed the momentum for us. We did a very good pre-season, we started the season really well against Arsenal, and then we had our ups and downs until this point.
"That's what I was expecting. It's not a surprise for me that we are improving, we are getting better, but I can share my feeling when we finish the game against Tottenham. I came here at Carrington, watched the game [again] and my feeling was of frustration that we are far from perfection.
"We are far from the team that can win every game, so I think we have a lot to do, but I also have the feeling what I have been saying for many months is the formation is not the problem.
"The formation is the start of something, then it's the dynamic, the confidence, the way we play the game, how competitive we are. And if you look at the games we struggle this season, it's not about the formation for me, it's about the lack of intensity, and we need to be perfect in this league to win a lot of games."
Sir Jim Ratcliffe made an appearance on The Business podcast during the October break, discussing Amorim's future and the alleged decline of the academy.
The United co-owner said of Amorim: "He has not had the best of seasons. Ruben needs to demonstrate he is a great coach over three years. That's where I would be."
Asked if the Glazers had told him to sack the head coach, Ratcliffe replied: “It’s not going to happen.”
Amorim reiterated that he appreciated Ratcliffe's backing. "It's always really important," he said. "But it's more important for the fans to understand we have a clear path and we're going to do everything.
"And no matter what, we are going to continue that path. For me, and I'm going to be really honest, doesn't change much because I'm not worried about losing my job. I always had that feeling. It's a good thing to hear, but it changes nothing in the way of how I behave. I know clearly what path I have to follow.
"If you remember when Jim gave that interview, it settled down the noise around the club, it changed completely. So that was really important for the team and me. So those words had a huge impact on not how I do things, but the way people see what we are doing, so it was massive for us."
United will return from the November break on Monday night to face Everton.