Say what you like about Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim, but he certainly wears his heart on his sleeve.
“I know that when I speak these things. Guys, to be really honest with you guys, every time that we have or have in the future one defeat like that, I’m going to be like that,” Amorim explained after his forlorn post-match interview following Manchester United’s League Cup elimination against Grimsby Town.
“I’m going to say that sometimes I hate my players, sometimes I love my players, sometimes I want to defend my players. This is my way of doing things and I’m going to be like that. And I felt that in that moment I was so frustrated and annoyed.
“And I know, again, that you have a lot of experienced people talking about the way I should perform with the media, to be more constant, to be more calm. I’m not going to be like that.”
We’ve rounded up six of Amorim’s most explosive quotes to date.
I don’t feel anything
Amorim had barely been in the job for a month by the time he sounded utterly numb.
“I will think about that tomorrow, tonight I don’t feel anything,” Amorim told Sky Sports following last season’s League Cup exit, a 4-3 defeat to Tottenham in the quarter-finals.
“There is nothing I can say to you about what is good. Tomorrow I can say a lot of things. Tonight we lost and then we have to take a night to think and then tomorrow we will have a lot of good things from this game.
“We cannot think in that way that winning silverware makes everything OK. It will be a long way, we are improving, our goal is to win the Premier League, how long it will take I don’t know.”
The worst team in Man Utd history
The Red Devils didn’t enjoy a new manager bounce when Amorim took over last November.
Instead, things took an even more severe downturn – and he wasn’t interested in trying to put a positive spin on things.
“In (the past) 10 games in Premier League, we won two,” Amorim told reporters after a 3-1 defeat at home to Brighton in January.
“Imagine what this is for a fan of Manchester United. Imagine what this is for me.
“We are getting a new coach who is losing more than the last coach. I have full knowledge of that.
“We are the worst team maybe in the history of Manchester United. I know you (media) want headlines but I am saying that because we have to acknowledge that and to change that. Here you go: your headlines.”
Embarrassed
With one eye on the Europa League, Manchester United lost 2-0 to a West Ham side that were winless in their last eight outings.
Amorim stated that they were “losing the feeling that we are a massive club” and was personally embarrassed by them languishing in the bottom half of the table.
“How is a manager of Manchester United supposed to feel in that position? Embarrassed,” the 40-year-old said.
He continued to deliver some home truths ahead of their season-defining Europa League final clash against Tottenham, and suggested it might be best to leave if the bigger picture doesn’t change.
“Everybody here has to think seriously about a lot of things,” Amorim continued.
“Everybody is thinking about the (Europa League) final. The final is not the issue. We have bigger things to think about.
“I’m talking about myself and the culture in the club and the culture in the team. We need to change that.
“It’s a decisive moment in the history of the club.
“We need to be really strong in the summer and to be brave because we will not have a next season like this.
“If we start like this, if the feeling is still here, we should give the space to different people.”
No conversation about compensation
Amorim suggested he’d have been more than willing to walk away if the Manchester United hierarchy or club’s supporters had doubts about him.
“If the board and the fans feel I’m not the right guy, I will go in the next day without any conversation about compensation,” Amorim said after the Europa League final defeat to Tottenham in Bilbao.
“But I will not quit again. I am confident in my job. As you see, I will not change anything in the way I do things.
“In this moment, I am not here to defend myself. It’s not my style. I have nothing to show to the fans. In this moment (I need) a little bit of faith.”
READ: The 5 managers Dan Ashworth wanted Man Utd to appoint over Ruben Amorim
My players are talking really loud
Amorim sounded utterly despondent in the immediate wake of Manchester United’s humiliation at the hands of League Two side Grimsby Town.
Some of his words, particularly in a second language, can be interpreted in different ways – but that telling “my players are talking really loud about what they want” certainly sounds as though he was saying that they weren’t playing for him.
“I just want to say sorry to our fans, I have nothing to say anymore about the performance,” Amorim said in an extraordinarily downtrodden post-match interview.
“When everything is so important in our club and you try to do everything. You have come from pre-season, even Arsenal you lose the game but you are there, you are improving and you see the performance, but then reach this kind of game, when everything is so important in our club.
“And when you start a game like this… I think my players are talking really loud about what they want, so I’m really sorry to our fans, I have nothing to say anymore.
“I know the best team won today. The best players lost, because when you are a team you can win any game. It was really fair the football today.”
Sometimes I want to quit
“Sometimes I want to quit, sometimes I want to be here for 20 years,” Amorim told reporters in a press conference, having cooled down a bit two days after the chastening night in Grimsby.
“Some times I love to be with my players, sometimes I don’t want to be with them. So, again, I need to improve on that. It’s going to be hard. But now I’m good with the next one.”
READ NEXT: 20 of the funniest internet reactions to Man Utd’s disastrous cup exit at Grimsby
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every Man Utd manager of the post-war era?
