Ruben Amorim welcomes Ratcliffe support but admits ‘football is not like that’

Ruben Amorim has welcomed Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s backing as Manchester United’s head coach but stated that he and the minority owner know that “football is not like that”.

Last week Ratcliffe said that Amorim will be afforded three years to prove himself following a disappointing first 11 months in charge. The 40-year-old takes United to Anfield on Sunday bidding to win consecutive Premier League games for the first time. His team are 10th, have yielded 37 points from his 34 league games in charge, placed 15th last term, and were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by League Two Grimsby in August.

Amorim was asked about Ratcliffe’s support. “He tells me all the time, sometimes with a message after games,” the Portuguese said. “But you know, I know and Jim knows that football is not like that. The most important thing is the next game. You cannot control, even [the] owners, you cannot control the next day in football.

“So I know that, but it’s really good to hear that, also because of the noise, but Omar [Berrada, chief executive] and Jason [Wilcox, director of football] tell me that all the time.”

Amorim is clear that he wants to turn United around as soon as possible. “Sometimes the pressure that I put on the team or on myself is so much bigger than them,” he said. “I know that it’s going to take a while, but I don’t want to think like that because it will give a feeling that we have time to work things out. So I don’t want that feeling here in our club.”

Senne Lammens, the goalkeeper who joined in the summer window, impressed on debut in United’s 2-0 win over Sunderland before the international break. This moved fans to regale the Belgian with chants of “are you Schmeichel in disguise?” in reference to the former goalkeeper considered one of the club’s finest.

Amorim said: “He is not Schmeichel yet. He is a young guy [23] with talent. He shows a lot of composure. And the fans like it. But again, we [he] need to prove it in the next game.” The head coach was asked if Lammens is impossible to drop for the trip to Anfield. “Nothing is impossible,” he said. “But of course he did a great job. It is possible that he is going to start the game.”

Sunday’s game is the 100th staging of the fixture. “I know that it’s special for our club, I know that they are fighting all the time for the titles, the number of titles [with Liverpool],” said Amorim. “I know what it means to the fans. But, again, it’s one game that we need to prove again that we are playing better. I think we are playing better, we need to do better in both boxes. So it’s one more game that we need to win.”

While Amorim is unsure if Noussair Mazraoui will be available following injury, all of those involved with their nation during the break are fit for selection.