'That didn't help!' - Ruben Amorim SLAMMED by Christian Eriksen for Man Utd comments as ex-Red Devils midfielder reveals squad's true feelings towards manager

During Amorim's 13 months in charge at Old Trafford, he has been very critical of his players, himself, and the club as a whole. The Portuguese recently condemned the "feeling of entitlement" at the Premier League giants and said his charges should use criticism and tough moments to prove him wrong. 

He said on the matter earlier this month: "There is a feeling of entitlement we have in our club. Sometimes, difficult moments is not a bad thing for the kids. We don't always need accolades in everything. We are not helping. Nowadays, they [players] speak and go against the club because they feel entitled. Then, we have legends of the club saying 'if you don't play, leave, because everyone is wrong'. No. Let's stay. Let's fight. Let's overcome. The door to my office is open. That is the way we can solve things [but] nobody is coming to talk to me."

However, former Red Devils star Eriksen believes Amorim went too far with one set of comments last January.

When United were 13th in the Premier League after losing a fourth home match in their last five league games, Amorim tore into his team. 

"In [the past] 10 games in Premier League, we won two," said Amorim. "Imagine what this is for a fan of Manchester United. Imagine what this is for me. We are getting a new coach who is losing more than the last coach. I have full knowledge of that. We are the worst team maybe in the history of Manchester United. I know you [media] want headlines but I am saying that because we have to acknowledge that and to change that. Here you go: your headlines."

Nearly a year on from that headline-grabbing remark, former Tottenham man Eriksen, who is now enjoying life in the Bundesliga, has laid into Amorim.

He told The Times: "That didn’t help. Yeah, that didn’t help at all. I mean, that was not… I don’t think that helped the players at all. Some stuff you can say inside and it’s not too clever to say outside, to put extra pressure and put an extra label on the players who were already trying to do their best. I don’t think that helped at all, no. Then if he’s right or wrong, whatever, but I think for us it was a bit of like, ‘Oh, here we go again. Another headline'."

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Former Inter man Eriksen, who played 107 times and scored eight goals between 2022 and 2025 for United, gave a diplomatic response when asked about his thoughts on Amorim and his managerial approach. 

"Yeah, he came in with his ideas. He tried to change things as you still see, tried to get it his way," he said. "Certain players for certain positions, for a certain style of play, that’s how he sees success. He has to change a lot because the players were not used to that system. Also, historically, United always liked a different system. And yeah, he’s been very honest and also, yeah, honest with me from the beginning. Very, very, very honest, I would say."

And despite all the negative press and bad results that United have chalked up in recent years, Eriksen stressed that there was a good atmosphere in the United dressing room.

He added, "It [the noise] wasn’t inside. Around the training ground and stuff, we were pretty protected, trying to feel as a family, and I think we did. But on the outside, there’s a lot of pundits, former United players, who have an opinion and also with the fans. So obviously the noise outside - that puts a lot of pressure on you. From the inside, it was more just if you could shut up everything else, I think you would be able to succeed."

While Eriksen was repeatedly a derided figure at United, he still helped them win the Carabao Cup and FA Cup during his time there. Despite all the ups and downs, it seems the ex-Ajax man was grateful to have been given that opportunity. 

"It was very special for me, I had a very, very good time at United," he said. "It was a big win to be able to come back, to prove myself at Brentford after what happened at the Euros, and then to get the chance to play at United was amazing and something I’m definitely proud of, to play as much as I did."

But he did admit that it was "tough mentally" during parts of his United spell, especially for younger players.

Eriksen added, "The main thing at United is just the perception of how you have to play and how you have to be as a player, because everything you do is compared to who was there before. So any position, you’ll be like, ‘Oh yeah, now we have Casemiro but you have to compare him to Roy Keane,’ or, ‘We had [Robin] van Persie here, so this striker now has to be able to do this.’ So everything at United is like straight away when you wear the logo, you bring all that history with you, you have to follow up what was there before and change that or make it better, which, of course, is almost impossible when you win [the title] eight out of 11 years in the Premier League. So that puts a lot of pressure on the players and then, obviously, when you get into a situation where you change a lot of managers, a lot of structures, then yeah, it’s tough as a player to really succeed."