Manchester United defender Matthijs de Ligt has swung to the defence of head coach Ruben Amorim as pressure on him intensifies.
Amorim facing fight to keep his job
Amorim is under increased scrutiny following United’s latest disappointing result, a 3-1 defeat to Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday.
United were second best in nearly every department, renewing scrutiny on Amorim, whose 33 games in charge have yielded only 34 points. There have been calls for him to adapt his approach to suit the players at his disposal but the Portuguese coach has made it very clear that he will not change.
While he retains the support of the hierarchy, there is an acceptance that Amorim must oversee an uptick in performances and results.
Already, there are rumours that United have kicked off plans to replace him, with Andoni Iraola, Oliver Glasner and Gareth Southgate on the club’s list.
However, according to De Ligt, Amorim’s system isn’t the issue and the players also need to shoulder some of the responsibility for the club’s woes.
De Ligt defends Amorim
De Ligt said [as quoted by GOAL], “Of course, I mean it’s always easy to look to the manager, but in the end the players on the pitch have to do it.”
“We can’t say the goals we conceded, or the chances we conceded, are because of what… I don’t know, you guys always talk about the system. That also has a lot to do with focus, concentration, and, if that’s lacking in key moments, it’s going to make a difference.”
On United’s inconsistency, De Ligt remarked, “[We are] really disappointed because all week we were speaking about keeping the momentum going, getting another win under our belt.”
“If you lose this game, it’s a big blow, obviously. A lot of time it’s the same song, but we have to stick together — it’s the most important thing.”
“We lost against City, we won against Chelsea, so for the next game we have to analyse what went wrong in this game because a lot of things went wrong. We were short in key moments where we made the wrong decisions.”
“That makes a big difference in football. We were quite unlucky also with some chances, but overall, it was not good enough. That’s a fact.”
United are back in action on Saturday when they welcome newly-promoted Sunderland to Old Trafford.
Featured image Michael Regan via Getty Images
Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social
Derick Kinoti
Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
