Ruben Amorim plans brutal pre-season with Man Utd flops quizzed on holidays and told to hit personal bests or face axe
The Red Devils boss wants to take a hardline pre-season approach in his quest to turn his 'chokers' into Champions League material, with jobs — including his own — on the line.
4
4
And the Portuguese is determined that a lack of fitness will not be an excuse for his squad, in the wake of a disastrous campaign last time out — the club's worst since the relegation season of 1973-74.
SunSport understands Amorim has delivered a list of instructions to ensure United are in top shape for the new Prem season, which starts on the weekend of August 16.
It is believed non-international players could return to the club's Carrington HQ earlier than normal, with a suggestion some may be back training by the end of THIS month.
Amorim wants fitness levels to be sky high, demanding that players hit personal bests by mid-July.
And if they fail to achieve those targets then they face being sidelined from his United revolution.
Boss Amorim has also told his squad they need to be fitter than ever because he wants them to be all over their opponents 'like white on rice' from day one next season.
It is understood Amorim has even quizzed his players on where they are going on holiday as he looks to shake up his failing squad and leave nothing to chance.
United finished 15th in the Prem and also lost in the Europa League final to Tottenham — meaning there will be no European football at Old Trafford next season.
Amorim — who initially did not want to join United from Sporting last November as he feared mid- season turbulence — needs an upturn in results and performance quickly, so he is focusing on an intense pre-season programme to get his men up to speed from the kick-off.
He is also keen to capitalise on rivals Manchester City and Chelsea having a disrupted start to the new Prem season should they go deep into the revamped Club World Cup this summer, with the final on July 13.
Ruben Amorim vows 'good days are coming' after 'disaster season' as Man Utd flops give him daggers during public apology
A club source said: 'Amorim needs a good pre-season. He's not shied away from the pressure he's under.
'He would have always preferred to have arrived at United ahead of a new season rather than in the middle of it.
'He has to get this right. He's told the players there are no more excuses. His job is on the line — and so too is theirs.
'The club can't accept any more failures.'
Amorim is well aware of the pressure building and the scrutiny on his own position, never mind his players.
His side suffered an embarrassing 1-0 loss to the ASEAN All-Stars before a 3-1 win over Hong Kong on their two-game post-season tour to Asia.
Amorim slammed his players after the first game as "chokers" after they were booed off by Far East fans.
4
Following the second game on Friday, Amorim was asked if he had a summer message for his players — and hinted he feared for the condition of his stars during their time away from the club.
He replied: 'I was a player and you can disconnect. They know that we under-performed badly this season.
'The important thing for me is the body composition, the weight and the training — they need to be ready.
'We have to use every minute in every week of the pre-season. So we need to arrive in shape.
'These small things, they have all the measures. We had a briefing about that. It's the only way to take action to be better next season.
'They know, everyone knows that the next year is going to be massive for everybody.
'I have been sending messages every week and they know next year, it is clear that we need to be so much better.'
United face a big summer of transfer activity.
4
Christian Eriksen, Victor Lindelof and Jonny Evans have all left on free transfers, while the future of captain Bruno Fernandes hangs in the balance.
Amorim is closing in on a £62.5million deal for Wolves forward Matheus Cunha, while he has lined up Sporting's Pedro Goncalves as a potential replacement for Fernandes if he takes the £100m offer from Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal.
Argentine winger Alejandro Garnacho is not in Amorim's plans next season and is free to leave.
United begin their preparations with a friendly against Prem new boys Leeds in Stockholm on July 19.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
9 minutes ago
- The Independent
Karen Carney fights back tears over women's football backlash at Euro 2025 final
A former England player and ITV presenter was moved by a compilation of footage showing past criticism of women's football ahead of the Euro 2025 final on Sunday, 27 July. As the Lionesses prepared to face Spain, the broadcaster aired an interview with Beth Mead in which the striker recalled how she was laughed at when she started her career playing for a boys' team. Karen Carney, one of England's most-capped players, became emotional after the interview finished as she reflected on how far the sport has come. "There is a little girl and also a little boy that now knows that there is a place for everybody to play football," she said.
The Independent
9 minutes ago
- The Independent
Ben Stokes enjoying ‘high quality' games between England and India despite draw
Ben Stokes praised a showing of 'high-quality cricket' between England and India as the fourth Test ended in a draw. England reached 669 in their first innings before the game fizzled out, with India closing the day on 425 for four. KL Rahul fell for 90 before Jofra Archer then dismissed Shubman Gill for 103 and Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar both scored tons. Stokes hailed the quality of the Test, telling Sky Sports: 'I thought Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett's opening partnership was incredibly crucial in the way we could sort of lay the foundations for the game. 'The opening partnership, the way they took the Indian attack on, the rate they were managing to score at it sort of allowed us to go, 'right we're going to try and bat once' and look to hopefully bowl India out. 'It started great yesterday with two wickets in the first over, but it was one of those wickets where if you got in, you felt like you were going to be the one to make the mistake to get out. 'It's been a back-and-forth series so far, we've been throwing punches and India have been throwing punches back at us, it's just been real high-quality cricket – two very good teams. 'Got to give credit to the way India came out here and performed under the pressure they were.' With the game destined for a draw, the final stages of the match saw India's batters electing against shaking hands with 15 overs left. Jadeja and Sundar scored hundreds before shaking hands and Stokes revealed he offered to shake with the aim of protecting his bowling attack. 'I think all the hard work was done by India, they both played incredibly well,' Stokes added. 'It got to that point where there was obviously only one result and there was no chance I was going to risk any of my big, fast bowlers for injuries with one more game to go. '(Liam Dawson) has bowled so many overs this game, his body started to get a little bit tired and cramp up in the legs. 'I wasn't risking any of my frontline bowlers for that last half-an-hour.' Stokes appeared to be troubled by his left leg and a problem in his right shoulder, and admitted he was 'pretty sore'. 'It's been a big five or six weeks,' he said. 'I'll always try and give everything that I possibly can. Try and run through a brick wall. 'I ask the guys up there to run through a brick wall for the team. I'll always try and do the same to try and lead by example in that sense. ' Bowling, being out in the field all that kind of stuff it is tough work, but pretty sore.' When asked specifically about his shoulder, he added: 'It's just a workload thing, got through a fair few amount of overs and just everything starts creeping up on you. 'I'll keep trying, keep going. As I always say to all the bowlers, pain is only an emotion.'
The Independent
9 minutes ago
- The Independent
Lewis Hamilton criticises delayed start to Belgian GP – but team bosses side with FIA
Lewis Hamilton believes the Belgian Grand Prix should have resumed earlier after a cautious approach from the FIA amid wet conditions at Spa-Francorchamps. After an 80-minute delay due to a heavy downpour, the race restarted with four laps behind the safety car, despite the track drying rapidly in most areas. The 44-lap grand prix begun with a rolling start, rather than the usual standing start and seven-time world champion Hamilton believed race control compensated for the last race at Silverstone, where a crash occurred due to lack of visibility in the rain. 'We started the race a little bit too late, I would say,' said Hamilton, who started in the pit-lane and finished seventh to conclude a wretched weekend. 'I kept shouting 'it's ready to go, it's ready to go'. They kept going round and round. So, I think they're probably overreacting from the last race, where we asked them not to restart the race too early, because the visibility was bad. 'I think this weekend they just went a bit too much the other way, because we didn't need a rolling start.' 'My car was set up for that [rain], they waited for it to dry pretty much. They definitely could have done a standing start, especially at the end there, because it was almost a dry line. There was hardly any spray.' Max Verstappen agreed with Hamilton, calling the delay 'silly' over team radio. However, Hamilton's boss at Ferrari, team principal Fred Vasseur, thought race director Rui Marques was correct to err on the side of caution, particularly given past crashes in the rain at Spa. 'The spray is coming from the floor, there is nothing we can do,' he said. 'The limitation is not the grip, the limitation is visibility. The helmet camera shows it, you can understand in this situation that they see absolutely nothing. 'Remember what happened in Silverstone with the crash, this is the most dangerous. We can't blame them, we would be the first one to give them s*** if something happened. 'I was comfortable in respecting their decision because they have a huge responsibility.' McLaren team principal Andrea Stella, whose drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris led home another one-two finish for the runaway leaders, also concurred with the FIA's decision-making. 'I think today the race was managed in a very wise way by the FIA,' he said. 'We knew there was a lot of rain coming. Delaying the race allowed us to race in wet conditions and we went into dry. We didn't even know how long the dry race would've been. 'I think from our position we always praise the work of the FIA when this is deserved and this is one of the cases.'
