Former Manchester United midfielder Nicky Butt has highlighted Ruben Amorim’s character as a reason he is likely to succeed at Old Trafford.
The Portuguese coach has made a solid start to his time at United with two wins, a loss and a draw.
A thumping 4-0 win over Everton saw expectations soar but they were brought down to earth with a 2-0 loss to Arsenal in midweek.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Butt claimed that Amorim has the character that former boss Erik ten Hag did not to succeed at the club.
“If you look at all the managers that come after Sir Alex [Ferguson], whether they’ve failed or not, they’re all people that can carry the club on their shoulders.”
“Unfortunately for me I didn’t think Ten Hag had that character. I thought he was not good in interviews, he wasn’t great on TV, he seemed like he knew what he was doing on a coaching pitch but he didn’t transfer [that] onto a game.”
“And I think this guy now, Amorim, one thing I think he’s got is character.”
The former midfielder stated that Amorim has the charisma and the look of a man who “can carry the club on his shoulders – and that’s the biggest thing at Man United. I don’t care what anybody says.”
Before the clash against Arsenal, Amorim claimed that a storm would come and that United would need to feel pain before they were successful and Butt agreed with his conclusion.
“Time will tell if he’s got what he needs to get Man United back up to the levels [they want] with the investment that’s going to have to go into the squad.”
Butt also claimed that it will take up to two years and four transfer windows to properly assess Amorim as he needs to bring in his own type of players.
The former head of first-team development at United asserted that he believed that Amorim did the right thing in getting rid of his hugely popular former teammate, Ruud van Nistelrooy.
After joining the club as a coach in the summer and a successful interim period as manager, many thought Van Nistelrooy would stay on but Amorim made the decision to stick with coaches he knows and trusts and Butt backed this decision.
“I think it was the right thing to do to get rid of [Van Nistelrooy] at the time as well because he’s [going to bring] his own players in, he’s going to have no excuses, he’s going to have no one looking over his shoulder, that’s not his person.”
United will continue a hectic festive period when they welcome Nottingham Forest to Old Trafford tomorrow evening.
Featured image Shaun Botterill via Getty Images
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
