Red Devils boss says team needs not just leaders but strong personalities
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim says his side need more “crazy guys” in the squad to help improve their performances.
United sit 14th in the Premier League table with just seven points from six matches, having also crashed out of the Carabao Cup to League Two side Grimsby Town. The underwhelming run has left Amorim facing heavy scrutiny just a month into his first full season as a United manager.
Despite investing more than £200m on a new forward line in the summer, results have not improved from last season’s 15th-place finish. Amorim’s refusal to move away from his preferred 3-4-3 system has drawn particular criticism, with club legends and pundits, including Wayne Rooney and Jamie Carragher, calling for a change.
Another criticism levelled on United in recent times has been that the squad lacks leaders who can keep the standard high and encourage their teammates to keep their chins up when things go awry.
“We have a lot of players that they were here for many years and we are struggling so that is always in your mind,” Amorim told TNT Sports. “It’s not just the leaders, we need leaders, but sometimes what I’m thinking is we miss some crazy guys.
“I think Cunha is a little bit like that. He’s a guy that is a good guy but he doesn’t care who you are. He can play wherever and he will go with the ball. This kind of feeling, we need that.”
The manager pointed to the presence of other senior players besides the captain as proof the squad is not lacking leaders.
“Harry Maguire was captain, he played national team,” said Amorim. “But you can feel it sometimes that when things are going wrong we go down. No matter if it’s Bruno or Harry, and that is in the past, so we need to live in the future.
“Sometimes you look at the pitch, something is going really wrong, and you see Bryan with a different light, because he came from a different environment.
“Then you look at Cunha and you feel that sometimes he is frustrated but you can feel the frustration is something like ‘give me the ball’, so we miss that. We need to forget the past, we need sometimes that crazy guy. The world can be on fire, but I don’t care. Sometimes it’s not just the leaders, it’s guys like that.”
