Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim believes he is “in the same boat” as Tottenham’s Ange Postecoglou ahead of their Premier League clash this weekend.
United travel to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, hoping to build on their FA Cup victory over Leicester City and bounce back from their 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace last time out in the Premier League.
Though it is not the ‘Super Sunday’ clash many would have envisaged when this fixture was pencilled in back in June, with both teams languishing in the bottom half of the table.
The Red Devils enter the clash in 13th, one place and two points ahead of Tottenham, with many billing this as a must-win fixture for both Postecoglou and Amorim.
Both have tried to implement their specific style, which has since failed to transpire, something which has seen criticism sent their way, though Amorim believes he and Postecoglou have the same problem as the pair remain confident in their tactics.
“I’m a huge fan of Ange Postecoglou. I’m from a different culture, I’m Portuguese and all the Portuguese coaches can adapt. I adapt,” Amorim said.
“The simple thing is that I use one system at the moment because I believe if you work on that system you can play in different systems at the same time. That is my idea.
“But we are not winning games and I understand the connection between me and Ange, we have the same problems.
“In my opinion, with all due respect, I am at a bigger club with bigger pressure. I understand the connection, and he’s a really important coach to follow his principles.”
Indeed, both United’s and Tottenham’s inability to keep out goals this season has been a contributing factor to their underwhelming seasons in the Premier League.
Tottenham have the fifth-worst expected goals against total (xGA) in the division (41.28), with the Red Devils not too far behind on 37.22 xGA.
However, United have also struggled at the other end of the pitch this term, not scoring in nine of their 24 games so far this term. They have also failed to score in the first half of 18 different Premier League matches this season, more than any other team in the competition.
Marcus Rashford and Antony both left the club on loan in the January transfer window, limiting Amorim’s attacking options, while Patrick Dorgu, a defender, was the only addition.
Amorim admitted that United will need to see more departures in the squad before they start planning who they can bring in when the transfer window opens again at the end of the season.
“Here it’s simple. To do something, we need to sell players. My focus is to prepare for the game. We cannot do it now, the window is closed,” he said.
“We need to focus on the games we have and then in the summer we’ll see.”
