Amorim focused on future amid Ronaldo United criticism

Ruben Amorim admits Manchester United have made "a lot of mistakes in the past" but says he is only interested in the future after Cristiano Ronaldo's damning assessment of his former club.

The Red Devils are in the midst of a rebuild following a wretched 2024-25 season, which saw the side limp home 15th in the Premier League and lose the Europa League final to Tottenham.

The Portugal superstar this week said Amorim cannot do "miracles" at a club that is "not on a good path", saying "they need to change and it’s not only about the coach and players".

When Ronaldo’s comments were put to his former international team-mate ahead of this weekend’s trip to Spurs, the United boss said: "Of course he knows and he has a huge impact in everything he said.

"What we need to focus (on) is in the future. We know that we as a club made a lot of mistakes in the past, but we are trying to change that.

"So, let’s not focus on what happened. Let’s focus on what we are doing now, and we are doing that.

"We are changing a lot of things in the structure, the way we do things, the way we want the players to behave.

"We are doing that and we are improving, so let’s focus on the way we are doing things. We are improving, let’s continue and forget a little bit the past."

United will hope to show those improvements as Amorim’s side seek to end a four-match losing streak to Spurs on Saturday, with the Bilbao loss extending their winless run against them to seven games.

Asked how different United’s team is to May’s meeting, the manager said: "First of all, the characteristics of the players.

"So, we are a better team, we play better, we understand the game better. I think we are more confident.

"We reached that final confident that we could win because we were doing well in Europe, but in this moment we play with a different confidence.

"We manage the moments of the game better. But if you remember that game, they have that shot on the goal, they won the game.

"So, I expect a different game, that we can play better, but also to have a little bit luck to help us to win the game."

United will move second, if only temporarily, with a win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium thanks to progress that have been aided by a lack of Champions League football.

"It’s not the fact of seeing the positive, it is using the positives," Amorim added.

"So, any situation that you have in our life, you can look in the positive way or in a bad way.

"If you ask me, you prefer to be here with a cup, in Champions League.

"Champions League, more money, more players, maybe. Of course, I would say yes.

"But you have the other side. You have more time to train, to know your players, to arrange everything, the connection between staff and prepare the future.

"In the future, you will be with European competition, so we just try to use the positive thing of not playing all the games during the week, so, yes, I can see the positives."

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