Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has blamed his emotions for his post-match comments after the Grimsby defeat which provoked questions about his future, saying “sometimes I want to quit”.
In the immediate aftermath of the EFL Cup defeat by the League Two side on Wednesday, the Portuguese said his team “were completely lost” and that “something has to change”.
He opted not to clarify his comments, which even inside Old Trafford have been interpreted by some as the 40-year-old considering his future.
But speaking on Friday, he said: “To be really honest, every time that we have a defeat like that in the future I’m going to be like that. I’m going to say sometimes I hate my players and sometimes I love my players.
“Sometimes I want to quit, sometimes I want to be here for 20 years.
“I need to improve on that, it’s going to be hard but now I’m focused on the next game.”
In the aftermath of the penalty shoot-out defeat at Blundell Park, the first time United had ever lost a competitive game to a fourth tier club, Amorim spoke to numerous media outlets.
To them all, he said ‘the team and the players spoke really loudly today’ without clarifying what he meant.
He also said he needed to talk to the club’s hierarchy next week and ‘think about things’.
Amorim accepts such pointed statements are bound to invite debate about his future and bring uncertainty.
However, it is something he is prepared to accept because he cannot curb his reactions.
“If you have this kind of behaviour, you have to understand you have things that are good on that and then you have the other side of the coin,” he said.
“I know you have a lot of experienced people talking about the way I should perform with the media, to be more constant, to be more calm.
“I do understand that. But I’m not going to be like that. This is my way of doing things. That’s why I have the passion I have. In that moment I was really upset and really disappointed and I’m going to be who I am. So prepare yourself.”
Amorim is understood to retain the support of United’s ownership, who backed him in the summer, with the club spending around £200m on forwards Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbuemo and Benjamin Sesko.
But they are yet to win this season following a 1-0 loss to Arsenal and 1-1 draw with Fulham in the Premier League.
They host Burnley on Saturday at 15:00 BST.
“I felt we had a very good pre-season, we were playing better, we were being consistent in the way we played,” Amorim added.
“We played badly for 30 minutes against Fulham and that kind of performance [against Grimsby] I was really disappointed with everything, but now it’s a new game and we focus on that.”
