Ruben Amorim has found things difficult during his first season in charge at Manchester United and one of the Red Devils’ most decorated players has given his verdict
Legendary former Manchester United star Ryan Giggs has come to the defence of head coach Ruben Amorim. The Welshman, who has 13 Premier League titles and more United appearances than any other player, spent time in charge during the 2013-14 season and believes Amorim can turn things around.
United are on track for their worst ever Premier League finish under Amorim. The Portuguese took over in November with the team in mid-table, and a bottom-half finish is now almost guaranteed.
Giggs, however, believes the club need to back the boss in the transfer market. Patrick Dorgu became the first big-money signing of the Amorim era when he joined from Lecce in January, but more new arrivals are expected over the summer.
Appearing on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, presented by Qatar Airways, Giggs was asked about the most urgent things United need to fix. “Recruitment,” he said.
“The recruitment in the last, and I was part of it, the last 10-12 years has just been not good enough. Any business, any football team need that recruitment.”
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A number of players have been linked with summer moves to Old Trafford, with suggestions Amorim could raid former club Sporting CP. However, Giggs suggested that’s only part of the picture.
“You need a bit of luck,” he added. “You need young, you know, we had young players coming through. So you had a group of young players together with the best players in Britain, you know, the [Eric] Cantonas coming in, [Andrei] Kanchelskis, [Peter] Schmeichel. So you need a bit of luck that you have them young players coming through.
“Recruitment. Time,” Giggs continued. “I like the manager, I like Amorim. I think he’s charismatic, he needs time, he needs a few transfer windows, he needs backing, but also he needs help on what is a United player and what a United player looks like.”
United may need to offload some high earners in order to free up funds and wage budget to strengthen the team. Marcus Rashford and Antony are among those tipped to move on, having both impressed during loan spells in the second half of the season.
Rashford, who has scored 10 goals in 17 Aston Villa games, is understood to have accepted his future lies away from Old Trafford. Villa have an option to sign the England international permanently at the end of his loan spell, while a move to Spain could also be on the cards.
Sources close to Mirror Football indicated Rashford wants to play Champions League football next season. Seventh-place Villa face an uphill battle to deliver such a thing, with Manchester City bringing their five-game winning run to an end on Tuesday despite Rashford scoring from the penalty spot.
Listen to the full Rio Meets Ryan Giggs interview on Apple Podcasts and Spotify from 6am, Friday 25th April.
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