Ruben Amorim upped the ante with his Manchester United squad on Friday as he delivered a series of stinging criticisms in his press conference.
Ruben Amorim
Ruben Amorim had some harsh words for his Manchester United players on Friday
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As Ruben Amorim laid waste to his Manchester United players, barely anyone was spared. Amorim railed against a sense of entitlement within the club, bemoaned the failure of anyone to knock on his door to air their frustrations and complained about the leadership group failing to take some issues off his hands.
This was the day Amorim upped the ante with his squad. Perhaps Bruno Fernandes was one who emerged unscathed, described as a "special character" and an "example". How Amorim must wish he could clone his countryman.
This felt like a calculated attack by Amorim. After 13 months in charge, he is still unhappy with what he is seeing, not necessarily on the pitch, but off it, and he is taking it upon himself to be the man who turns that around.
"Sometimes I am the first to say that I am failing this club inside the pitch, I have that feeling we are not performing the way we should," said Amorim.
"Outside the pitch, I guarantee you I am not failing this club. I think it is something in our club. The players sometimes forget what it means to play for Manchester United. We as a club sometimes forget who we are and that is the feeling I have."
This is the culture Amorim is railing against. His most brutal attack came when he was asked about the quickly deleted social media posts by Harry Amass and Chido Obi on Monday, as they took exception to their head coach's comments about their own struggles.
Amorim insisted his comments shouldn't be seen as negative and twice used the word "entitlement" as he made a broader point about attitudes inside the club.
"I think it is the feeling of entitlement that we have in our club," he said. "Sometimes strong words is not bad words. Sometimes difficult moments is not a bad thing for the kids. We don’t need to be always with accolades in everything, in every situation. We are not helping."
A week ago, Amorim had told Kobbie Mainoo that his office door was always open and that if he wanted to leave in January, he should come and tell him. He told Amass and Chido that if they had an issue, they knew where to find him.
Twice, Amorim repeated the idea that he was always available to his players, and his assertion that nobody was coming to see him felt like another dig; too many were happy to complain on social media or to friends and family, rather than going to their manager.
There was also criticism of his six-man leadership group, which consists of Fernandes, Diogo Dalot, Noussair Mazraoui, Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martínez, and Tom Heaton.
In the summer, Amorim said he wanted that group to deal with more dressing room issues and that they couldn't let everything fall on his shoulders. Five months later, nothing has changed.
"It continues a bit everything on my desk, every problem it is still me, but again my door is still open," he said.
Amorim has always been an open and engaging communicator in press conferences. He talks freely and sometimes has a message to get across and isn't afraid to throw a few punches in the process.
This week, most of those messages were aimed at his own squad. It's time to see how they respond, and whether the 40-year-old can be the man to end the entitlement he feels is holding Manchester United back.