Amorim's two biggest faults are named as Sir Alex ally warns Portuguese about falling into media trap

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has been told he needs to choose his words more carefully and avoid giving the tabloid newspapers an easy headline win, while another big fault of his has also been named with one Red Devils star also coming in for more strong criticism.

Amorim takes his Red Devils squad to Fulham on Sunday for a testing Premier League game at Craven Cottage and is in need of a morale-boosting win to help push Manchester United up towards mid-table. But the fact that United are still lurking in and around 13th place – showing no improvement on the position he inherited the club in from Erik ten Hag – illustrates the new-manager bounce club chiefs were perhaps hoping for has not been forthcoming.

Amorim also drew negative headlines last week following the home defeat to Brighton when he told the media he had inherited ‘the worst Manchester United side in history’.

Those comments were not only a headline writer’s dream but also forced the 39-year-old into something of an apology and a retraction a few days later, explaining he had spoken in the heat of the moment and after another demoralising defeat. They also led to shock allegations that he was deliberately trying to get himself sacked.

Now former Sir Alex Ferguson’s assistant, Rene Meulensteen has criticised Amorim for his nativity in making such comments.

“It’s really dangerous to say that. You have to understand that whatever comes to you, whatever you’re going to say about it, it has a reaction, and the media are very well prepared because they want headlines and they want controversy,” he told No Tippy Tappy Football podcast.

“I think Sir Alex Ferguson was a master in communicating because everything he said he thought through, he knew if he said this then that would be the reaction.

“I don’t think he hasn’t done that. He’s young, speaks in his second language, and he doesn’t know the size of the task that he’s got ahead of him. It’s an easy catch for the media. The thing is, this will come back, because when you say these things once it gets repeated.”

Meulensteen also fears Amorim’s reluctance to change the style to get results and his intolerance of playing any other system than his preferred 3-4-2-1 could have also proved damaging.

He said: “Amorim has already said I’m not going to change, I have my reservations about that because at the end of the day, what you want as a manager is to be successful and you need to start looking at what can I do.”

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Elite Man Utd star also comes in for strong criticism

Meulesteen feels too many sides have already worked out Amorim’s style and how to get take results from them, with the Seagulls the latest side to register a victory at Old Trafford.

“Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth, and Newcastle laid down a blueprint for how to play against United, which is on the front foot to press them early, be aggressive so they go long and can’t hold on to the ball. Southampton did exactly that and I was so impressed by watching them, then obviously you got an eight-minute cameo of [Amad] Diallo that suddenly sent the tempo up, and there was more quality and more threat in the final third.”

“I find it strange if you look at it, that is what Manchester United has always been and stood for. Sir Alex Ferguson was very flexible in his approach. We played with wingers, but if we played with [Ryan] Giggs on the left and [Antonio] Valencia on the right it was completely different than playing with Cristiano Ronaldo or Nani. We had the tactical differences within that so we would never get caught up in one particular system.”

The Dutchman has also been hugely critical of Bruno Fernandes and argues he does not believe has the mentality to be club captain.

Meulensteen said: “We had plenty of leaders and personalities and characters in the squad but that’s what I don’t see anymore. Bruno Fernandes is the captain and I rate him in many ways in terms of a player because he always thinks forward and he’s positive, but on the other hand, I think you’re not a captain, you’re never a captain because as soon as things go a little bit wrong the arms start going, and that is body language that goes over to other players.

“I heard Rio [Ferdinand] saying the same thing. Who are the players that get their heads together and say forget about Amorim for a minute, we are on the pitch, let’s get together and create a strong bond here and start working at things and making sure that we can turn things around?”

Latest Man Utd transfer news: Double deal close; Rashford rejects move

Meanwhile, United have moved a step closer towards two significant January transfers with a deal towards Lecce’s Patrick Dorgu edging closer and with Ayden Heaven now closer than ever to quitting Arsenal and moving north to Manchester.

United have already seen two offers for Dorgu fail but Fabrizio Romano has provided an exciting update on their quest to land the wing-back and with the fee they are close to settling on also coming to light.

One man who won’t be heading back to Old Trafford, though, is former midfielder Angel Gomes, amid claims he is on the cusp of agreeing a free-transfer move elsewhere in the Premier League.

Elsewhere, Marcus Rashford’s viable exit routes appear to have narrowed down to just two options after the forward rejected a mega-money approach.

Amorim’s dire Man Utd record so far by numbers

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