Ruben Amorim admits he can ‘understand’ criticism of two Manchester United stars

Ruben Amorim has admitted that he understands the criticism of some of his Manchester United players after the latest defeat against Newcastle United.

Manchester United lost 2-0 against Newcastle earlier this week to end 2024 on a poor note, with a dire first-half performance from Ruben Amorim’s side.

The new head coach has had difficulties since arriving in Manchester, with limited time on the training pitch to implement his system.

While there have been a few standout performers, such as Amad Diallo, there is more question marks over players who are attempting to adapt to Amorim’s style.

Amorim understands criticism of United duo

Amorim once again spoke to Sky Sports ahead of Sunday’s clash against league-leaders Liverpool and was questioned about Christian Eriksen and Casemiro.

The aging midfield duo were exposed against Newcastle United and criticism quickly came their way, as well as the way of the head coach.

Amorim, however, is comfortable with that criticism and admitted the physical differences in the midfields last time out.

Asked whether criticism towards the two midfielders is unfair, Amorim responded: “I can understand the criticism and I can understand if you compare the pace from the midfielders from Newcastle and our pace, I can understand that.

“We tried to cope, we tried to put our players in positions that can hide a little bit that difference of pace.

“But I can understand that after the game it is really easy to evaluate the players. So, I think that all this criticism around the team and around me, I think it is fair, and I can live with that.

“When it is fair, I can live with that and I can understand.”

Amorim’s truthful United approach

Amorim’s success at Old Trafford is not guaranteed but it is already clear that he won’t be lying to United supporters.

That was one big frustration for many under the previous manager but the Portuguese boss appears to be very level-headed in his assessments of what is going wrong.

He probably did not want to start that midfield pairing against The Magpies but was limited in options due to the suspensions of Manuel Ugarte and Bruno Fernandes.

Kobbie Mainoo had also looked tired in the weeks prior since returning to the time, with Amorim taking careful notice to avoid reoccurring injuries.

But, in the end, no matter how good of a talker Amorim is, things will need to improve on the pitch for United soon.

Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is released every Wednesday at 6 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.