Ruben Amorim has admitted he questioned his future at Manchester United during his first year at the club.
Amorim will mark his one-year anniversary since agreeing to become the club’s head coach on Saturday as United visit Nottingham Forest looking to strengthen their challenge for place in the Premier League’s top four.
The Portuguese head coach has endured a difficult 12 months since arriving from Sporting, finishing 15th, losing in the Europa League final and winning only one of the first five games this season – which left him wondering if he would make it to a year in charge.
“It’s hard to say that. Sometimes, in some moments,” he said. “There were some moments that were tough to deal with, to lose so many games. That was so hard for me because this is Manchester United.
“The position that we had in the last year, putting all the attention on the Europa League and not winning. That was massive. I had some moments that I struggled a lot and I was thinking that maybe it’s not meant to be.
“Today is the opposite. So you can write this one. Today I feel and I know that was the best decision in my life. I want to be here but for that I need to win against Nottingham Forest.”
Amorim is enjoying his best period at the club with United winning five of their last seven league games, including victories over Chelsea and Liverpool, to put themselves in the mix to qualify for Europe.
However, he is not prepared to declare that the tough times have now passed.
“It’s hard to say. We need to think positively, but we also need to be prepared that football is [up and down]. And we are not that team that I can say to you, no, no, no.
“Now we can lose here or there, but we are going to maintain. I trust in my players more. I think they trust me more. That will come with wins. And you can sense that because everyone now is saying that, how connected they are and they believe in the manager.
“It’s about winning games. It didn’t change a lot because against Arsenal, I saw the same team, so I don’t know.
“I think that we are in a better place, but it’s also really good to be always with that feeling and prepare that something can change. If we have that feeling, we’ll pay attention to the details and we’ll maintain that course of our path.
“I can say that we are a better team in this moment, and we feel that and we know that, and that can help us to overcome better the bad moments.”
Amorim and Dyche on who would do better at Man Utd
Amorim also responded to comments made by Nottingham Forest boss Sean Dyche before his appointment at the City Ground.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim responds to Sean Dyche’s comments from earlier this year where Dyche suggested he’d win more games as the Red Devils manager, using a 4-4-2 formation
While out of work in August, Dyche said: “I may get hammered for it, but I bet I could win more games with that squad playing a 4-4-2.”
The former Everton boss did also go on to say Amorim should get time to continue his work at the club.
On Thursday, Amorim said: “First of all, maybe it is true that if we play in a 4-4-2 we won more games. But I always say that I have a way of playing that is going to take a while and then in the future it is going to be better.
“We don’t know that. I can look at Sean Dyche as a manager and a pundit. If you are a pundit and you don’t say very strong things, I don’t want to watch you. I am the same.
“I can completely understand that it is a different job. I know Sean Dyche is smart and he knows how to play the game.
“He understands that there is one thing seeing the game and talking about it. It is another thing to coach a team.”
Ruben Amorim has responded to Sean Dyche’s comments from August
Dyche, also speaking on Thursday, said he didn’t question Amorim as a person and that “clickbait kills everything, it changes the whole story”.
He added: “They said, ‘What would be a fair timeline?’ and I said, ‘Half a season to continue the work he was doing’ but unfortunately, that doesn’t make the story, we all know that.
“For the points tally, I was suggesting maybe the basics would have worked better. They have changed their style, fair play to him, his coaching staff, the players. They have changed their style, not necessarily their beliefs, but just their style.
“They are being a bit quicker to play forwards and longer, a bit tighter and getting back into their shape. That’s management, that’s coaching.
“That doesn’t mean he’s changed his whole philosophy, it just means he’s adapting it to the challenge that’s right in front of him. Fair play to him.”