Ruben Amorim responds to Cristiano Ronaldo’s fresh criticism of Man United | OneFootball

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has responded to Cristiano Ronaldo’s fresh criticism of the club, explaining that United “need to focus on is the future” and “forget the past”.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of United’s trip to Tottenham Hotspur in Saturday’s early Premier League kick-off, Amorim was questioned on recent comments made by Ronaldo in an interview with Piers Morgan, with the former United forward having stated that the club “don’t have a structure” and are “not on a good path”.

Ronaldo did not criticise Amorim himself, though, adding: “He’s doing his best. What are you going to do? Miracles? Miracles are impossible.”

Amorim acknowledged “mistakes” made by the club in the past, though he stressed the importance of looking towards the future rather than the past.

“Of course, he knows he has a huge impact with everything he says," said Amorim on Ronaldo’s comments.

“What we need to focus on is the future. We know that as a club we made a lot of mistakes in the past but we are trying to change that.

“Let's not focus on what happened, let's focus on what we are doing now. We are doing that, changing a lot of things in the structure, the way we do things, the way we want the players to behave.

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Ronaldo left Manchester United for a second time in 2022 (PA Archive)

“We are doing that and we are improving so let's focus on the way we are doing things. We are improving, let's continue and forget the past,” he added.

United began the season with a string of poor results including an embarrassing loss to Grimsby Town in the Carabao Cup, though performances have improved of late and the club won back-to-back matches for the first time under Amorim after beating Sunderland, Liverpool and Brighton in consecutive games.

However, the 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest last week showcased some of the most glaring flaws in Amorim’s side, and the Portuguese faced questions on a defence that has shipped 16 goals so far this season while only keeping one clean sheet.

Amorim called the defensive woes “a problem”, explaining that his side “need to defend better” and be more aggressive.

“Everything is connected. We cannot suffer the amount of goals we are suffering. That is a thing that we need to improve,” added the 40-year-old.

United sit in eighth in the Premier League with 17 points ahead of the early Saturday match against Tottenham Hotspur, and they could briefly go into second with a win ahead of the rest of the league kicking off.