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Amorim admits it is ‘strange’ his job is safe if United lose Europa League final

Ruben Amorim has admitted it is strange he is not in danger of the sack as Manchester United head coach while Ange Postecoglou is even if he leads Tottenham to the Europa League trophy in Wednesday’s final.

United face Spurs at Bilbao’s San Mamés Stadium with each having had a similarly dismal Premier League campaign. With one game left, United are in 16th on 39 points with a goal difference of -12, while Spurs are in 17th on 38 with a goal difference of 2. The Australian’s position at Tottenham is under scrutiny, with there being a strong sense that he will lose his role even if his side emerge victorious on Wednesday. Postecoglou fielded questions about this on Tuesday. Amorim was then asked why he is not under the same pressure.

“I don’t know,” the Portuguese said. “I know that in this kind of club, also Tottenham but especially Manchester United, it’s strange because you have some coaches here that lose games and are sacked. It’s hard to explain. I think people see what we are trying to do and see I’m thinking more about the club than myself.

“People, especially the board, understand that we have a lot of issues that in the context are really hard. I don’t know how to explain [why] the fans like me at this moment. It’s hard to explain. I will try to prove myself to the fans, to the board, but I don’t have an explanation for you.”

Amorim stated he is not concerned about his job. “It’s a good thing for me – I never worry about that. That is a part of being a coach. And the most important thing, I know what I’m doing. I explained everything before we start, I explain about the storm [that would come],” he said.

“I explain all the problems that we have to the board. So I was so clear. I explained that I will not change my idea. So they cannot say one thing that I said to get the job, and then I change my mind. It was the opposite. The board can understand that, the fans can understand that.”

Asked how long it will take to completely turn United around, Amorim said: “It’s hard to speak about that at this moment because we need to be excited [about the final] and confident but we already know the problems. Tomorrow will be important for us and for our fans because winning can help us to have that strength to do every job we have to do. Tomorrow will be massive for us and our fans.”

Amorim was asked if his 3-4-3 shape would allow him to drop Rasmus Højlund and field Bruno Fernandes as a false 9 against Spurs. Erik ten Hag, Amorim’s predecessor, did this when he guided United to their 2-1 FA Cup final triumph over Manchester City last year.

“Our system is the normal system that can change the characteristics,” he said. “It’s not about playing as a striker or without a striker. It’s a system like any other where you can change the characteristics but it doesn’t matter what happened in the last final because it was a different team, different competition, different context, so everything was different.

“I just focus on the way we play, the way Tottenham play, what we can do to be better than the last two games, so that was my focus and not the last time that we won a cup.”