Ruben Amorim's craziest press conference comments: From 'worst Man Utd team in history' to playing a goalkeeper coach over Marcus Rashford and his final attack on the board

Amorim had gotten off to a reasonable start at United, drawing at Ipswich Town in his first game before beating Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League and thrashing Everton 4-0. But rather than talk positively about his early impressions of the team in his press conference before visiting Arsenal, he fired out an ominous warning: "The storm will come."

The coach was proven right as United lost five of their next six Premier League matches and ended up finishing 15th, their worst league performance since being relegated in 1974. Indeed, it could be argued the storm never really passed.

Having begun 2025 with a shock draw at Liverpool and a comeback win over Southampton, United slumped to another dismal home loss when they were beaten 3-1 at home to Brighton. This was the game when Amorim infamously smashed a television in the dressing room in anger. 

You might have thought that it would lead to him keeping a low profile in the press conference. Instead, he decided that this would be a good moment to declare: "I am not naïve. We are the worst team maybe in the history of Manchester United."

The coach was not lying, as the defeat meant United had lost six of their first 12 home games in a season for the first time since the 19th century. But the comments only further drained team morale. Christian Eriksen later revealed: "I don’t think that helped the players at all. It was a bit of like, ‘Oh, here we go again. Another headline'."

By the end of January 2025, it had been more than a month since Amorim had dropped Marcus Rashford from the United squad, and most managers would have developed a thicker skin to deal with questions about the absent star forward and simply refuse to comment. But after a 1-0 win at Fulham, Amorim managed to find new ways to insult the player who just two years earlier scored 30 goals in a season.

"The reason is the training, the way I see what footballers should do in training, in life," he began. "It’s every day, every detail. I will put (Jorge) Vital on [rather] than a player that doesn't give the maximum every day."

Amorim was referring to Vital, his 63-year-old goalkeeping coach. Rashford, however, has had the last laugh, because while he is starring for Barcelona, Amorim and Vital are on their way back to Portugal without jobs.

United losing the Europa League final to a Tottenham side who had finished below them in the Premier League and thus missing out on £100 million by failing to qualify for the Champions League should have been the main story in Bilbao. And yet Amorim managed to create two new headlines during his post-match press conference at San Mames.

First he offered to leave without taking any compensation money, declaring: "I am always open, if the board and fans feel I am not the right guy, I will go in the next day without any conversation about compensation."

That was not all. He dealt with a question about why he had not picked Alejandro Garnacho by pointing to the fact that the forward had missed a big chance in the semi-finals. It led to a furious response from the player's younger brother, Roberto, who said Amorim had "thrown him under the bus" and then a fiery interview from Garnacho himself.

The coach did not mince his words the next time he saw Garnacho at the training ground, telling the squad that the Argentina forward had to leave and telling the player that he better pray he could find a new club. No wonder, then, that Garnacho appeared to celebrate news of Amorim's sacking on social media.

Amorim continued to plummet new depths when he oversaw United's shock Carabao Cup defeat at Grimsby Town, the club's first ever loss to a fourth division side. And when he spoke to Sky Sports after his most humiliating defeat of all, he appeared to suggest that the players had given up on him.

"Any team can win against group of players," he said. "I think that the team and the players spoke really loud today."

It felt like Amorim was paving the way for his own departure, but he played down the comments in his next press conference in an amusing manner, saying: "I'm going to say that sometimes I hate my players, sometimes I love my players, sometimes I want to defend my players."

But rather like with his formation, Amorim vowed that he would not change his ways. "This is my way of doing things and I'm going to be like that." He was certainly true to his word...

In what proved to be his very last act as United coach after the draw at Leeds, Amorim let rip at the club's hierarchy by declaring he had agreed to be the club's manager, not just a head coach, and claimed he had only 18 months left at the club. It turned out he had little more than 18 hours as he was sacked the very next morning. 

The outburst made his position untenable, though it is equally possible that he knew by that point that he was going to leave and wanted to take a parting shot. That's because it has been claimed that Amorim "blew up" during a pre-match meeting with United's sporting director, Jason Wilcox, who suggested the coach moved away from the 3-4-3 system he had made the hallmark of his career on the touchline.

Either way, it is fitting that the coach who became more renowned for his comments to the media than the football his side played should go out all guns blazing in a press conference.