‘Things have changed’ Mourinho comments resurface as Amorim faces more pressure – updated

Ruben Amorim is facing a fresh wave of criticism after Manchester United were thumped 3-0 by Manchester City at the weekend. It was a limp effort from the Red Devils and Amorim has borne the brunt of the backlash.

He remains in a job, but the fans’ patience is quickly wearing thin with the 40-year-old. Recently, comments made by ex-United boss Jose Mourinho have come to light – and they almost seem to predict Amorim’s career trajectory at Old Trafford.

Mourinho said that there is ‘no such thing as a single game model’. Former Sporting boss Amorim enjoyed great success in Lisbon with his formation but has come under heavy scrutiny for his tactical rigidity – he will not deviate from his preferred 3-4-3. Several of United’s players, including Bruno Fernandes, are not being used to their greatest effect under his regime.

Ruben Amorim sticks to his guns

Nevertheless, Amorim will not bend under pressure and has vowed to stick to his 3-4-3 tactical philosophy in spite of poor form.

Follow United’s defeat against Manchester City on Sunday, Amorim said: “I won’t change my philosophy. If they want it changed, you change the man. I am not going to change my philosophy. I will play my way until I want to change.

“Guys, I understand and I accept it is not a record you should have at Man United. But there are a lot of things that you have no idea about what happen in the last months.

“I understand everything. It is normal [if fans are losing faith], but I don’t accept that we are not doing better. We are doing better and the results don’t show that, the record says everything, I understand. My message is I will do everything. I will give everything. It is not my decision, the rest. I will do my best. I am suffering more than [the fans].”

What did Jose Mourinho have to say?

Jose Mourinho tore into single-tactic managers in a previous interview, saying that there are ‘many ways’ to counter individual setups. He called stubborn managers who refuse to alter their approach ‘stupid’ and that they ‘have to adapt’.

Ex Chelsea boss, Mourinho’s comments were initially a sly dig at long-time rival Pep Guardiola – but over time, they have applied to Amorim’s style of football more and more.

In an interview back in July, Mourinho claimed [via The Mirror]: “Today, there’s no such thing as a single game model. There are many ways to play. There’s no longer a tactical system, there are many ways to build and defend.

“This means training in a much more tactical way, where players must grow and acquire new knowledge. The problem is wanting to copy and paste without the necessary conditions to do so.

“Playing from the back with a wooden goalkeeper is complicated. I remember Guardiola had Hart, the best English goalkeeper. But he wanted Claudio Bravo, but that wasn’t enough. So he signed Ederson.

“There are coaches who try things that don’t work and fail, but they say, ‘I died with my idea.’ If you die with your idea, you’re stupid. Coaches have to adapt their ideas to what they have.”

“Today, coaches whose names I don’t even know go to the Premier League, and I don’t say that without respect, it’s true.

“Some coaches are chosen by dates, numbers, not by victories. Perceptions are created, and today the idea is sold that, more important than winning, is playing like this, looking like this… at that level, things have changed radically.”

Mourinho may be right but Amorim seems like he is getting the long term backing of the power brokers at Old Trafford and clearly is a man of his convictions.

We shall see if the current United boss ends up changing his system with the likes of Roy Keane and Paul Scholes pointing to the absence of quality in midfield being the biggest problem with what Amorim is trying to do.

UPDATE: Jose Mourinho has made an immediate return to football replacing Bruno Lage as Benfica boss as the “Special One” admitted joining Fenerbahce was a mistake as reported by the Guardian.