BILBAO, Spain, May 22 — Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim said that he was confident he was still the right man for the job after the club’s woeful Europa League loss to Tottenham Hotspur, but would quit with no compensation if the club’s board believed otherwise.
Amorim and his men had hoped to salvage something from a woeful season that has them languishing 16th in the Premier League with one game remaining.
Instead, Brennan Johnson bundled in a first-half goal in a 1-0 win that clinched Spurs a spot in the Champions League next season — leaving United out of European football entirely.
“In this moment, I am not going to be here defending myself, it is not my style,” Amorim told reporters. “I cannot do it, it is really hard for me.
“So I have nothing to show to the fans and say ‘I’m going to improve because of this, I have these problems,’ I will not do nothing.
“In this moment, it is a little bit of faith. Let’s see. I’m always open, if the board and the fans feel that I am not the right guy, I will go the next day without any conversation about compensation.”
Missing out on the Champions League is costly with co-owner Jim Ratcliffe estimating the financial benefit of qualification between £80 and £100 million (RM454 and RM569 million) in broadcast, matchday and commercial income.
“It is tough for a club like us not to be in the Champions League but now we have to deal with that with a different plan, even with the market,” Amorim said. “But that means we have more time, more time to think and work during the week and to be better in the Premier League. This will be our focus.
“I know it’s going to be tough, I know we lost to an English team, I know the pressure of the fans is going to be really short in the next season. But I guarantee you I will not quit, I will not go away, so I am really confident.”
United played like a team more afraid to lose than one focused on winning on Wednesday, particularly in the first half, which proved costly as terrible defending led to Spurs’ goal.
United fared better in the second half and threatened to equalise in the dying minutes with Rasmus Hojlund, Alejandro Garnacho and Luke Shaw all forcing terrific saves.
“I was always really honest with you guys. We did not perform perfectly today but we were better than the opponent,” Amorim said. “In the second half we tried everything with the centre defenders wide, crosses, going inside the box. I think today was not the day.”
There have been questions about whether United have gone backwards since the Portuguese succeeded Erik ten Hag after the former manager’s sacking in late-October.
“I don’t agree (that we are going backwards),” Amorim said. “We’ve had some bad results but I think we have improved in certain areas. We were competitive in more games that we didn’t score in.
“I understand I’m a young guy. But I also understand that if we have the chances that we had in the second half, if we managed to score one, the game should have been different, this press conference should be so different.” — Reuters
