Legendary Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel has thrown his support behind Ruben Amorim despite a difficult start to life at the club.
Amorim replaced Erik ten Hag in November last year but the Portuguese coach hasn’t had the desired impact, with United languishing in 14th place in the Premier League table and yet to reach 40 points with just four games left to play.
The Red Devils are on course for their worst ever Premier League campaign, and the only glimmer of hope left is the Europa League. Winning the Europa League would not only secure a major trophy for United but also guarantee them a slot in next season’s Champions League.
Schmeichel spoke to Radio Times ahead of his return to Old Trafford as part of the World XI management team at Soccer Aid 2025 and shared his thoughts on Amorim.
The 61-year-old said, “I think I’ve seen glimpses of what can be and how it’s going to look when he gets his own team built. “I like him. I think he comes across as a strong communicator, a strong personality. He’s someone who doesn’t duck out of anything.”
“It is really important for a Man Utd manager to show that kind of mental strength, that he’s on top of things, he knows how difficult this is, but you’re not going to wear him down by asking hard questions and he’s going to face everybody.”
“He’s got his ideas. Are they going to be the right ones for Man Utd? I think we need to wait until he’s got his own team going. You know, winning just changes everybody’s opinion, so he needs to start winning.”
Schmeichel added, “Of course, not expecting that to be now, but very, very soon. If we win the Europa League, obviously, it’s all going to look a bit different in the summer.”
Asked about United’s current woes, Schmeichel continued, “You need to be mentally strong to play for a club like Man Utd.”
“I’m trying to explain this to people all the time. What is it? Why is it so different to play for Man United not Tottenham? Because they are in similar situations.”
“The thing is, when you play for Man United, your game has been reported on everywhere. There isn’t a single news outlet, newspaper, in the whole world that doesn’t carry at least a result and sometimes an article or a report on the game, and it stays. It goes on for days and days until the next game.”
“If you play for Tottenham, yeah, if something’s happened, the game might be reported the next day, but the day after that, you don’t talk about it anymore.”
“That’s a big difference, and there’s only a couple of clubs in the world where it’s like that, Liverpool, Man United, and, to a certain degree, Real Madrid and Barcelona. Then I’m struggling to find other clubs that live in that space.”
United are back in action on Thursday when they play Athletic Club at Estadio de San Mamés in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final tie.
Featured image Juan Manuel Serrano Arce via Getty Images
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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!
