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Ruben Amorim sends shock message to Man Utd board after Leeds draw | Football
Ruben Amorim has made an explosive statement to the Manchester United board after a 1-1 draw at Leeds United, suggesting he will be leaving in 18 months.
The Red Devils moved fifth in the Premier League table with the point at Elland Road on Sunday afternoon.
Brenden Aaronson opened the scoring for the home side just after the hour mark but Matheus Cunha put the visitors level just three minutes later, which proved to be the end of the scoring.
Amorim seemed happy with his team’s performance in West Yorkshire, but sent a pointed message to the club hierarchy in a post-match press conference.
He was expanding on comments he made about having to change his system as the club will not sign the players to fit his preferred 3-4-3 system.
The Portuguese said that he might be a giant name in management like Thomas Tuchel, Antonio Conte or Jose Mourinho, but he intends to manage the club and not just coach the team, despite his official title being Head Coach.
‘I came here to be the manager of Manchester United, not to be the coach of Manchester United. That is clear,’ he said.
‘I know that my name is not Tuchel, is not Conte, is not Mourinho, but I’m the manager of Manchester United. It’s going to be like this for 18 months or when the board decided to change.
‘That was my point. I want to finish with that. I’m not going to quit. I will do my job until other guy is coming here to replace me.’
He then suggested he intends to move on at the end of the 2026/27 season when his current contract ends, saying: ‘I just want to say that I’m going to be the manager of this team, not just the coach. I was really clear on that.
‘That is going to finish in 18 months, and then everyone is going to move on. That was the deal. That is my job, not to be a coach.
‘If people cannot handle the Gary Nevilles and the criticism of everything, we need to change the club. No, no guys, I would say that I came here to be the manager of Manchester United, not to be the coach.
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‘Every department, the scouting department, the sport director needs to do their job. I will do mine for 18 months and then we move on. Thank you, guys.’
Metro at the Match: Leeds United 1-1 Man Utd
Metro breaks down the winners and losers from Manchester United’s 1-1 draw against Leeds United at Elland Road.
Cunha steps up
Matheus Cunha has settled into life at Old Trafford well, but his equaliser against Leeds was just his fourth of the season. The Brazilian will need to continue in that vein, particularly with Bruno Fernandes, Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo all unavailable and Benjamin Sesko continuing to struggle.
Amorim makes a statement with Dorgu role
Amorim could have handed a rare start to Joshua Zirkzee in his front three, but instead chose to deploy Patrick Dorgu, nominally a left wing-back, as a right-sided No10. The Dane equipped himself well, but surely can’t be a long-term solution for United’s lack of quality in the final third.
Heaven shows his age
The young United defender was United’s Player of the Month for December and showed many of those qualities with his assured first-half display. But a costly error to allow Brenden Aaronson to open the scoring shows the 19-year-old is far from the finished product just yet.
Man Utd match ratings: Lammens 6, Yoro 5, Heaven 6, Martinez 6, Dalot 5, Casemiro 7, Ugarte 5, Shaw 6, Dorgu 6, Cunha 7, Sesko 4. Subs: Zirkzee 6.
Calvert-Lewin continues to impress
Fast looking like one of the shrewdest free transfers of the summer window, Dominic Calvert-Lewin continued his impressive form against United.
The Englishman was touted as a potential target for the Red Devils over the summer, who might regret not taking a punt on his fitness. Unlucky not to get on the scoresheet when his first-half header came back off the post.
Leeds match ratings: Perri 6, Bornauw 6, Bijol 7, Struijk 8, Justin 7, Aaronson 7, Gruev 6, Stach 7, Gudmundsson 7, Calvert-Lewin 7, Okafor 7. Subs: Nmecha 6, Tanaka N/A, Gnonto N/A, Piroe N/A.
Amorim had raised eyebrows with comments on Christmas Eve, suggesting that he could not sign the players he wanted to fit the style of play he wants to produce.
‘We can play a different way to take more quality from these players because I have the feeling that if we have to play a perfect 3-4-3 we need to spend a lot of money and need time,’ he said. ‘I’m starting to understand that is not going to happen so maybe I have to adapt.’
Asked about that statement ahead of the Leeds game, he said: ‘I don’t want to talk about that. I just focus on the Leeds game.
Pushed on whether he regretted making the statement, he said: ‘No, no, no. But I don’t want to talk about it.’
The 40-year-old had been positive about his team’s display at Elland Road, telling TNT Sports: ‘I think we played well. I think we had more control in this game than we showed against Wolves.
‘That is important because it shows how you can prepare for this week with the mistakes that we learned from the last game. We controlled Leeds, on the set pieces, the second balls, they are really quick up front. We controlled it well.
‘We had our opportunities to win the game. We are losing games on the details – the Leeds goal, we are controlling the game and then one kick of the ball in transition but we managed to get back into the game. Last year it would be completely different. This year we are more in control of the games than we were last year but we are frustrated not to win.’
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