MANCHESTER, England : Manchester United fans deserve better from the team, manager Ruben Amorim said following their 1-1 draw with Arsenal on Sunday after the day started with a protest from several thousand supporters outside Old Trafford.
The supporters, most of them dressed in black, marched to the stadium in protest at the club’s ownership, which has been criticised for the team’s poor performance on the pitch, plus rising ticket prices and job losses.
They chanted and carried banners, one of them reading: “Love United, Hate Glazers,” in reference to United’s American owners the Glazer family. Organised by fan organisation The 1958, the protest marked just over a year since British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe struck a deal to buy a 25 per cent stake in the club.
“This club will never die, that is clear. You feel it in the streets. This is a big business and maybe all the fans in this league sometimes feel it is harder to go to the games and pay for tickets,” Amorim said after Sunday’s match.
“We want to give them a lot of effort. In the future, we will not play like that.”
Amorim had said before kickoff that he hoped his team “would use the energy” from the fan unrest.
The hard-to-please manager was mostly disappointed after the draw, however, particularly with the first half when United were under pressure and defended in numbers.
“It’s just the low block, it’s just the way to give the ball to the opponent,” he said. “But the spirit to follow the plan, to be together, that is a good thing. This is an example for the future, but I’m just seeing the low block, and you can feel it a little bit, the frustration of our fans in the first half.”
Amorim was asked why his team, who defeated Manchester City 2-1 in December and drew with league leaders Liverpool 2-2 in January tend to play well against better teams.
“I don’t know. Maybe, it is that in those games it is a little bit more acceptable to play in the low block, and that can help us a lot,” the Portuguese said.
“Against other teams, we have to push forward. That’s why it’s difficult here. Sometimes you have to press high, it’s more difficult, sometimes the characteristics of the players are not there to do that.”
United skipper Bruno Fernandes scored the team’s only goal from a brilliant direct free kick just before halftime.
“I think (Fernandes) steps up all the time,” Amorim said. “Sometimes he can show some frustration in some moments that can hurt him more than anybody, and I understand that, it’s the frustration that he wants to win.
“But he is always available, always there to play in different positions when we need, sometimes a goal, a free kick and assist is always there. He’s a very good example for the other players.”
