Pep Guardiola’s contract renewal at Manchester City is terrible news for the league as a whole, according to incoming Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim.
WHAT OCCURRED?
This week, the Catalan, who has helped City win six of the previous seven Premier League championships, extended his contract at the Etihad Stadium by two years, keeping him with the team until 2027. Amidst a terrible run of results for the Cityzens, Amorim’s Sporting CP team crushed City 4-1 in the Champions League earlier this month, winning his final meeting with Guardiola.
However, despite City’s recent struggles, which worsened on Saturday when they lost to Tottenham 4-0 at home, Amorim stated that the news does not bode well for him and the other league coaches.
AMORIM’S COMMENTS
During a news conference, Amorim stated, “I think it’s a problem for everybody here,” “But we have so much to do that we can’t concentrate on anyone; instead, we must concentrate on making our club better rather than the other clubs. [City] is fantastic; defeating them is encouraging, but our attention is on Manchester United.”
THE BIGGER IMAGE
During Guardiola’s tenure as City manager, United has had five different coaches, including Amorim. He claimed that leading the Red Devils back to the pinnacle of English football was a “huge responsibility” for him.
“There’s a lot to do here at our club, so the only way I can try to survive this is to focus really hard on my work,” he continued. I am aware of the standards. High expectations can be problematic since we must learn how to control them, even when we know it won’t be simple or take much effort.
DID YOU KNOW?
The idea of replacing Guardiola had “crossed his mind” when Sporting’s director of football, Hugo Viana, declared he was moving to City to replace departing Txiki Begiristain earlier this month, but Amorim insisted he was 100% certain he would accept the United offer. However, City has asserted that Amorim was never part of its plans.
FUTURE PLANS FOR AMORIM?
Amorim stated that his only goal as United’s manager was to win his first game at Ipswich Town on Sunday, declining to mention a long-term goal.
“We’re taking things game by game and the current objective is a win against Ipswich,” he stated. “Winning the next game and having another week to work with the guys, have a better week, and get the players ready for the next game is my only goal and all I’m thinking about. I am aware that I will ultimately be evaluated based on my [European] qualifications, and that people will comment on whether or not that was sufficient.
However, my task is to get ready to win this game so that I can have another week to be ready for the next one, and so on. Let’s see what happens this time. I know it’s a really tough job and that not many people believe, but we’ve seen this before in Portugal.”
