Amorim insists he's found the positive in Manchester United's horror campaign (2025)

Ruben Amorim has endured an awful time at Manchester United, but the under-pressure boss has insisted there are positives to be found in their dreadful campaign

Ruben Amorim has insisted that missing out on European football would be a positive for Manchester United. Amorim has overseen an awful campaign since replacing Erik ten Hag in November.

United sit 14th in the top-flight, with Sunday's hammering at Newcastle confirming they would end up with the lowest Premier League points total in the club's history. They do still have the Europa League to play for though.

And if they win that competition, they will secure a place in next season's Champions League. First though, they must beat Lyon in the second leg of their quarter-final, with the tie finely poised at 2-2.

If they fail to overcome Lyon, Amorim will almost certainly face a backlash from supporters and former players. But the Portuguese coach has insisted there are positives to pull out from such a failure.

He believes that a lack of European football would hand him a prime chance to train the squad in his tactics. The 39-year-old has insisted such training time could help to spark a turnaround for the Red Devils.

"I think it’s more about the budget. I think that is important when you are planning the next season. Champions League can change everything. But you can see it in both ways," he said ahead of Thursday's second leg at Old Trafford.

"If you have Champions League, it’s going to be tough to play against top teams on Wednesday and then top teams in [the] Premier League. We are in the moment that you can feel it that the team needs a lot of work.

"A lot of work means a lot of time to train. So, you can see it both ways. If you don’t have Champions League – and we want Champions League, we want to win the title, it’s the most important thing, it’s the best thing.

"But if you don’t have Champions League, you can think that we can have full weeks to rebuild and have more time to work. So that is important when are going to make the plan for the next season, it’s really important, it will change everything."

Chelsea famously benefitted from failing to qualify for the Champions League in 2016/2017 when Antonio Conte won the title in his first season in charge. And Amorim also admitted that his side are not at the standard required to play in Europe's top competition.

"If you look at this moment I think we are not ready to be really competitive in the Premier League and to cope with the Champions League," the United boss added.

"I think it’s really clear and we have to be really clear. But then you play in one club, you should fight for this competition, you should be on Champions League.

"If you have Champions League, you know that you have a different budget to try to put a better team for next season but this team, with new players, will need time to work so I think it’s something that we’ll discover next year hopefully."

Join our new MAN UTD WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Manchester United content from Mirror Football. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.