Roy Keane and Paul Scholes are right to criticise Manchester United, believes Ruben Amorim, after the two club legends tore into the current crop for their ‘disgraceful’ displays in the Premier League.
Manchester United are 15th in the Premier League having lost 16 times already this season in the top flight, their most in 35 years.
Much of the focus has and will continue to be on winning the Europa League as a route into next season’s Champions League.
But United greats Keane and Scholes are sick of the approach.
‘When you’re playing for one of the big clubs, part of your challenge is – and it’s hard to win I get that – to compete week in, week out. This United team can’t compete!’ Keane said on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet, this week.
‘That is what irritates me. Disgrace.’
Ruben Amorim (right) agrees with Roy Keane (left) when it came to criticism of Man United
Scholes’ savage assessment was that Amorim, who made eight changes for the 4-3 defeat at Brentford in a game that was sandwiched between the two legs of their Europa League semi-final, has ‘tossed the league’.
For Amorim, speaking after beating Athletic Club 4-1 in the second leg and progressing to the Europa League final, he agreed with Keane and Scholes’ sentiment.
‘We are trying to do our best, but I agree we can do better,’ he said.
‘I don’t have anything to say about the criticism because we deserve it. If we cannot accept everything in this kind of season, I think we are in the wrong business.
‘I fully acknowledge that and I agree with all the critics. But in this moment I think it’s really clear. We have to be smart and we have to take a risk.
‘We have to take the risk to get a lot of critics from everybody, because the standards of Roy Keane and all these guys are really high.
‘But I have to make a choice. What is the best for the club, not what is the best for me. I make a choice.
‘In this moment I’m going to save and try to save all the players, because it’s really important for us to win the final.’
Manchester United host 17th-placed West Ham at Old Trafford on Sunday armed with the knowledge that defeat to Graham Potter’s side would see the Hammers leapfrog Amorim’s team in the table.
Amorim prioritised United’s Europa League semi-final second leg against Athletic Bilbao
While Amorim is ready to be selfish to prioritise the Europa League final, he pushed back on the idea of fully turning his back on the league.
‘We cannot save nothing from the Premier League but I think it’s a good thing for [players to play],’ he added.
‘We will not have a lot of trainings. They will fight for the place in the final in these games.
‘I think against Brentford we had some mistakes. I felt that some of our players were thinking about this game, so we have to manage that.
‘But we also have to acknowledge that we are Manchester United. We need to win games also in the Premier League.
‘We have to use every game to improve, even to prepare for the final, but especially to prepare for the future.’
Roy Keane was speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.
