Amorim: United must avoid recruitment mistakes of the past

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim believes avoiding the kind of expensive mistakes the club has made in the transfer market is the key to halting the English giant's decline.

The Portuguese coach has been unable to turn around United's miserable season since taking charge in November, with the Red Devils sitting 15th in the Premier League.

That is despite spending over 600 million pounds ($760 million) in just over two years on new players under his predecessor Erik ten Hag.

Amorim had limited funds to work with in the January transfer window.

Danish defender Patrick Dorgu was his only signing as budgets at Old Trafford have been slashed across the board.

The club announced Monday that it expects up to 200 fresh redundancies as part of a "transformation plan" to improve stability.

Amorim admitted on Tuesday that those losing their jobs had paid the price for the club's lack of on-field success in recent years and put poor recruitment at the heart of the problem.

"It's easy for me to be here and say all the pretty stuff — we have to improve," said Amorim.

"The recruitment I think is crucial, we need to improve the team. We need to perform better, we need to be in Europe and not in our position during the season."

However, the former Sporting Lisbon boss conceded that actions speak louder than words and he has to convince both supporters and colleagues that he can turn United's fortunes around.

"They are paying the price for our lack of success and I cannot say anything now that is going to convince the fans and all the staff that we are going to do it," he added.

"We have an idea. For me as a coach, we need to be a better team and to recruit better and don't make a lot of mistakes in that department."

The 100-million-pound outlay on misfiring strikers Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee is just one example of where United has failed to get value for money.

Hojlund has only found the net twice in the Premier League this season, with his last goal in any competition coming against Viktoria Plzen back on Dec 12.

Amorim, though, said the Danish international needs to be provided with better service.

"I think it's clear, we as a team, we are not helping Rasmus," said Amorim. "We don't create a lot of chances.

"I think Rasmus has a lot of potential. If we improve the way we play the game, he will have more opportunities to score. He came here very young and, when you are very young, to be the number nine and play all the time sometimes is hard.

"He has the ability, he has already shown that here, but I think it's more a team thing than a Rasmus thing."

AFP