Amorim discusses his relationship with Sir Jim

Wednesday 12 March 2025 14:30

United head coach Ruben Amorim has described his relationship with club co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe as “really good” – due to the pair’s “blunt” and “honest” exchanges.

Ratcliffe gave a series of media interviews earlier this week, and reporters picked up on his hugely supportive comments about our Portuguese leader.

In the press conference to preview Thursday night’s critical UEFA Europa League Round of 16 second leg against Real Sociedad, Amorim gave his own thoughts about the pair’s relationship.

You can read the quotes – and everything else Amorim had to say at Carrington – by scrolling down the page…

Amorim and Dorgu’s press conference Video

Amorim and Dorgu’s press conference

PRESS CONFERENCE | Ruben Amorim and Patrick Dorgu face questions from the media, before Real Sociedad’s visit…

MOUNT CLOSING ON FIRST-TEAM RETURN

“Mason Mount is too soon. Leny is out. Harry Maguire cannot play this one but I hope to have him for Sunday. Manu is in the squad and I think there is no-one [else] returning. Is Leny a long-term thing? No, no. It’s not a long-term but he cannot play this game and the other game [Leicester].”

THE NEW STADIUM

“It’s an amazing stadium, like it should be. But it’s in the future, five years from now. We have to focus on the present and I’m really excited to win things in Old Trafford, that’s our focus.”

WE ALL KNOW WE’RE UNDERPERFORMING

“I think if we’re being honest, in this moment everybody – we, all the players, me – we are underperforming this season. So we can always change that. I include myself in that part of underperforming. You are talking about players like Casemiro, for example, that won everything. We know that these kind of players can play so much better, so that is the focus. He [Sir Jim Ratcliffe] was honest on that, so the focus is to change his mind and all the people’s minds.

“If you are a top player and you play in this club… even me – a lot of people say I am not good enough for the club and my feeling is that you can change that with results. In training, I feel they want this really bad and especially for tomorrow.”

MY RELATIONSHIP WITH RATCLIFFE

“It’s really good since day one. I think we are really blunt and honest with each other. It’s a little bit the character. We are quite similar in that way, so I always felt the support of the board and especially from Sir Jim. I cannot tell you the conversations, but they are simple conversations, clear conversations and honest conversations.”

I’VE FELT SUPPORT FROM DAY ONE

“I already knew that [senior figures at the club were behind me]. All these conversations I’ve already had in the past with them. After matches, they went to the dressing room and talked to me to explain this. To say it publicly is really good for the coach but I say the same thing. We need results and we need to improve the team. But since day one I felt the support from everybody here.”

OUR TRANSFER PLANS

“We have a clear plan to address next season. Of course, we have Europa League also and you can reach Champions League. We never know. It’s far from this moment, but it can change, we never know, the preparation for next season. We have a plan, we know what to do. We know we are in a difficult moment but the most important thing again is to have a plan and to know what to do and to know what players you need to bring. Does that potentially involve selling players? We’ll see. In this moment we are just focused, especially on this competition. That can change everything so let’s see about the game tomorrow.”

EUROPA PROGRESS CAN INFLUENCE LEAGUE FORM

“In that context, [reaching the last eight] it’s also important to give us more energy to continue the season. We know that. It’s not going to change a lot the idea for the next season but it will give us more energy to finish the season in a different way. So tomorrow again it’s going to be a really important game for us. I didn’t hear nothing [from the players, about Sir Jim’s naming individuals during interviews]. I really enjoyed the training today, so we are ready to face the game.”