Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has moved to clarify his claim that his current players are the worst in the club's illustrious history.
The Red Devils undid a run of positive form with a 3-1 defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion, after which Amorim did not hide his feelings. It was revealed that he damaged a television in the locker room out of frustration, forward publicly claiming he managed United's worst ever team.
“I was talking more about myself than my players,” Amorim explained on Wednesday before the game unitedEuropa League clash with Rangers. “Because you have a coach who starts losing seven games in the top ten.
“So it's more about me. I was talking more about me than the players. I also talk in the same answer that I wasn't helping my players and if you look around every time I talk – and I talk a lot – every time you push for players is not good enough, i have never put my players in the spotlight.
“So I understand that I give you that title and sometimes I'm frustrated. Sometimes I shouldn't say it in those terms, but it is what it is. Sometimes it's really hard to hide the frustration right now.
“But the good thing is that I said the same things in a different way in the dressing room five minutes ago. The response was quite normal because I am really open with my players. They trained well, they are ready for this game and let me see tomorrow.
“I'm not taking responsibility for the players. What I'm saying is that the message you're showing is that I'm putting it on the players. What I'm saying is you have to look a lot at a Manchester United team that's lost seven out of ten match and that's for me because the same players are doing worse with a new coach, that's my only concern at the moment.
“I'm not taking anything away from the players, what I'm saying is that we need to improve in detail, I explain that. The way we play, we're very nervous with the ball, very nervous, really anxious. And then if you have limited experience in this game, when you follow in this kind of context, it's really hard to climb, especially in a massive club.
“Was it the best point to do it after that loss? Probably not. That's the way it is, I'm like that all the time. I'm not taking responsibility from the players. I'm saying that I'm really, really direct. I'm saying things that at the moment we are very bad and our results are really bad at the moment.
“It's all together, the players, the staff, the technical staff, so I'm not responsible. I'm just pointing out that I am more responsible for performance and results because I'm a coach and I have that. responsibility”.
Apologizing for damaging the dressing room TV, Amorim admitted it played a role in his controversial comments.
“I'm a young guy and sometimes I make a mistake and that's why I don't talk after the game,” he said. “This game, I had to talk and maybe it was a mistake and then I get more nervous and I go to the conference really nervous and you say things that I shouldn't say, that's it.
“Sometimes I'm a young guy and I make mistakes. I don't promise I won't do it again, but I'll try to improve.”