Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has stated that he is prepared to step down as head coach without seeking compensation, following the club’s 1-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final.”
Brennan Johnson’s first-half strike was all Tottenham needed to sink United and claim their first trophy in 17 years in an all-or-nothing final for both sides.
The Red Devils will now be without European football next season and could finish as low as 17th in the top-flight this term, capping off what has been a disastrous campaign.
After the final, Amorim spoke to reporters and gave his thoughts on the match and the club’s future.
Asked what the defeat means for United moving forward, Amorim answered, “I’m not going to talk about the future because tonight we need to deal with the loss and the pain of losing this match. What I can say is that it’s clear we were the better team but then we managed not to score again and that’s really hard [when you’re trying] to win football matches.”
“But the guys tried everything to win the game. In the future we’ll have time to assess everything.”
On whether he regrets not bringing in attacking reinforcements in January to address the lack of goals in the team, Amorim remarked, “There were sometimes when we did not create situations. Now it’s not that time. We are creating situations. If you look at the opportunities that we had, it’s different players, so it’s not a problem of one guy.”
“We are not scoring goals…the goalkeeper did a great job. So of course I’m confident in my players. It’s my job to improve my players. To arrive in January and make a lot of changes – it was not possible because of all the problems that we had to deal with, and then I had to assess the team.”
“So the problem is not just one player – we are missing chances with all the players.”
Asked whether it would have been better to start Alejandro Garnacho instead of Mason Mount, Amorim remarked, “How many times have we had this conversation? It was the opposite. Some players that come in – like Mason Mount against Bilbao – change the game.”
“So now it’s easy to say. Who missed the biggest opportunity [to score] in the first half against Bilbao? Football is like that. Of course now it’s easy for us to talk about it because of a lot of views. I just look at the game and try to manage things, improve the team and win games.”
“You can see it’s both ways. I remember everything about the past, so it’s easy for me to respond to that question.”
One journalist asked Amorim what he’d like to tell Portuguese football fans, considering he’s believed to be keen on signing Viktor Gyokeres.
The United head coach responded, “I have to speak for our fans, for English people and for United supporters, so I have nothing to say to Portuguese people at the moment.”
“I just have to share the pain with our fans, they deserve better. We tried everything, and about the future [Gyokeres], we will see what to do.”
On United not being in the Champions League next season, Amorim said, “We have to plan for the market and we need to understand it’s tough for a club like ours not to be in the Champions League. But we have to use the other side [not being in Europe]. If we have more time, we have more time to think and work during the week. To be better in the Premier League will be our focus.”
Asked whether he can guarantee fans that things will be better from next season, Amorim remarked, “I think I’ve always been really honest with you guys. We didn’t perform perfectly today but we were better than the opponent. In the second half, we tried everything, with the central defenders, with players wide and crosses going inside the box.”
“I think I’m really honest with you guys, so I expect the same. There are some days that I said we were really poor but I think today was not that day. We were not perfect and we have a lot to improve but I think I’m always honest with you guys.”
On United’s dramatic decline since his appointment and how United could possibly improve under him, considering the failure he has overseen, Amorim said, “We have to see. I know everything that I did [United’s decline] and I said it before you.”
“In this moment, I’m not going to be here defending myself. It’s not my style and I can’t do what’s really hard for me. I have nothing to show the fans that this is going to improve and these problems [will be solved].”
“In this moment, it’s a little bit of faith. Like I said before, coming here in the flesh…I’m always open. If the board and the fans feel that I’m not the right guy, I will go the next day without any conversations about compensation. But I will not quit and I’m really confident [about] my job and as you can see, I will not change anything about how I do things.”
On what areas of the team need strengthening, Amorim pointed out, “We had some bad results but I think we’ve improved in certain areas. We were more competitive in certain games that we didn’t score and sometimes in the small details, we lost games.”
“I remember a lot of games…Nottingham, Wolves. We had more chances against Manchester City at home, we didn’t score and we lost some games.”
“I try to put the best players I can, try to help them. It was really hard on the players. I’m a young guy but I also understand that if we managed to score one of the chances we had in the second half, the game would be different and our press conference would be different. So I have to deal with that. I have nothing to show to our fans – I have to be really honest with that.”
“But then again, I will continue to do things the way I know.”
United are back in action on Sunday when they host Aston Villa on Sunday in their final Premier League game.
Featured image Justin Setterfield 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!
