Ruben Amorim rejects Sir Alex Ferguson theory after holding talks with Man Utd icon

Ruben Amorim has had to deal with the fallout of Manchester United’s draw in Sunday’s derby but he’s maintained that he cannot draw from the methods used by Sir Alex Ferguson

Ruben Amorim insists his Manchester United side cannot rely on the same methods that inspired success in the Sir Alex Ferguson-era. The Red Devils have fallen off a cliff since the Scot’s exit, but the current manager maintains they cannot replicate what he did in the modern game.

Amorim is the latest man tasked with taking United back to the summit of English football. The club have come nowhere near challenging for the Premier League title and Gary Neville criticised the “robotic” nature of their goalless Manchester derby on Sunday.

The former player, who won eight titles in red, took aim at the current crop of players before Amorim hit back at his critical nature. He also maintained, having chatted with United employee Darren Fletcher about the glory days, that they couldn’t copy those ideas.

Amorim claimed that Ferguson could rely on individual talent during a tenure where he had the likes of Ryan Giggs, Eric Cantona and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Instead he cited the struggles experienced by star-studded squads, several of whom have failed to win honours, with Amorim insisting a more collective approach is required in the modern game if he is to make the Manchester outfit a success once more.

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He said: “The game is completely different and you have to be so good in your base and then that individual aspect and the freedom and the fluidity of the game is going to appear. But, for that, I think we need time.

“There was an evolution, you can like it or not, but there was an evolution because you have all the games from the opponent’s detail, from your departments, so you can understand better the movements that they make. In that evolution, you have to be better tactically. Sometimes I talk to [Darren] Fletcher, about how he prepared the games with Sir Alex Ferguson, it’s completely different.

“There was more a feeling, that aspect of the individual talent. I think today is not enough and you can see some of the best teams, especially if you remember the years of Galacticos, they had maybe the best players in the world, but you need to have a connection.”

United are on course to post their worst ever finish in the Premier League with their season hinging on their Europa League campaign with the Portuguese boss adamant the team have to be more of a collective than teams of the past.

Amorim added: “We cannot win the games just like I said with the individual aspect and let the players do whatever they feel. I don’t see the game like that. I see the game in a different way and again, nowadays, they know everything about our players.”

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