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Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has confirmed that, in line with club tradition, he and his players will perform a lap of honour and he will deliver a speech to the fans following Sunday’s match against Aston Villa.
This is despite the fact that United have endured the worst season in their modern history.
Heading into the final day of the 2024/25 Premier League campaign, the Red Devils are languishing in 16th place in the table, having suffered 18 defeats, half of which have come at home.
United’s one chance to salvage the season was through winning the Europa League, but they couldn’t even do that. They were beaten 1-0 by Tottenham Hotspur at San Mames.
There is a chance that United could finish as low as 17th with a defeat to Unai Emery’s men.
Speaking in the embargoed section of his pre-match press conference, Amorim told reporters that the players will do a lap of honour and he will give a speech, presumably as a form of apology to the Old Trafford faithful.
It has been a tradition for United managers to address fans with a speech on the final day of the season and Amorim insisted that it will be no different with him.
The Portuguese coach remarked, “We will do that, it’s tradition and we have to face it. I think it will be the biggest mistake if we don’t do that. We will do that.”
“I know that the manager addresses the public, I will do that because it’s the minimal, the least I can do is to talk with the fans and to say what I want to say. I will decide tomorrow, I have an idea, so we will do that because if there is a season that we need to do it, it’s this one, and of course we will be there.”
Asked what he might say, Amorim answered, “An apology I think is clear; an explanation, you don’t have time. So we will try to be honest. I think I will be honest with the fans and I will say what is in my mind and what is in my heart.”
Amorim explained that he will still field a strong team despite it being the final game of the season.
“The squad is going to be the squad to win the game. There’s a fight and we are hurting by this season, but there’s still competition in this league for the Champions League, and we have to respect the competition. We will be there with a strong team to win the game.”
On United’s problems, Amorim said that the issues went deeper than those evident on the pitch.
Asked if United are in a worst state than he initially thought when he arrived, he replied, “I suffer like any Mancunian suffer to see all the things, yes.”
“The problems for me were deeper than I was thinking because I can watch, I can feel it during trainings at Carrington or in all our organisation. Then it’s not the problems but the instability in our club.”
“Everybody is changing, all the departments are changing, so we did that in one year. In six months, we are doing everything, so of course everything is more difficult, but I think we are getting some steps to improve things.”
“You cannot see that because results are so poor, but we are in a better place, that I can guarantee you.”
On whether United can recruit well in the upcoming transfer window, he said, “Of course I believe [so]. We are improving in the data that we want…For me, the important thing in the recruitment is to know how we are going to play…”
“If you have a clear idea how to play, you can point the specific players that you want for that position, and that is clear, and we are doing that together with all the data, the physical data to cope with the demands of the Premier League. All these things are taken care of, so we want to improve and sometimes you don’t have 100% certainty because you have the adaptation to every player, but we are doing all the steps to improve on that aspect of our club.
After the Villa game, United will jet off to Asia for post-season friendlies against SEAN All Stars in Kuala Lumpur and against Hong Kong.
Amorim said about this, “Of course it’s really hard. Everything especially after the final is really hard but we have a responsibility, we have to meet our fans. We are a global club.”
“We have a lot of things – good wages, good life, a lot of supporters because we are playing for Manchester United, so we need to give back, especially in this season, so we’ll be there to have contact with our fans in Malaysia.”
United vs. Villa kicks off at 16:00 BST.
Featured image Alex Livesey via Getty Images
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