Ruben Amorim told to give Man Utd stars same treatment as Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs got

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Ruben Amorim’s struggles at Manchester United have led one former Red Devils star to suggest talking to his senior players to adapt his tactical approach

Dimitar Berbatov has urged Ruben Amorim to confide in his senior players amid Manchester United’s struggles – much like Sir Alex Ferguson did with Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs.

The 40-year-old has found positive results hard to come by since his arrival at Old Trafford in November. United’s 1-1 draw with Real Sociedad in the Europa League on Thursday followed their FA Cup fifth-round penalty elimination at the hands of Fulham at the Theatre of Dreams.

Amorim’s tactical philosophy significantly contrasts the way Erik ten Hag set his team up, as the Portuguese boss admitted early in his reign that his team would suffer heavily before their fortunes changed. The ex-Sporting Lisbon manager has stayed true to his style of play despite suffering eight defeats in his first 16 Premier League games and being knocked out of both domestic cup competitions.

Berbatov – who was recently announced as the European Brand Ambassador for LiveScore – won two league titles in his four years in Manchester and admitted that while he respects Amorim’s stubbornness, he must adapt in times of turmoil.

Speaking exclusively to Mirror Football, the 44-year-old said: “This is adaptation and sometimes when you’re in a difficult situation like United [are] right now, you see what you’re doing is not working and probably not going to work if you continue to do it because the players who you have at your disposal [are] not right for that system.

“If you continue to do the same [thing] all the time and you produce the same negative result, [you’re] just doing the same thing over and over again [while] expecting different results.” Berbatov spoke about his experiences playing under Ferguson and how the Scotsman used to pick the brains of his senior players when discussing an upcoming match. He insisted that it was something Amorim could do with the experienced stars in the dressing room.

“So then maybe you speak with your players, maybe you have your senior players come to you, like we’ve done in the past with United,” the former striker said. “The senior players can go to the boss and say, ‘Look boss, we want to do the best for the team for you, we’re going to play for you, but let’s try to see if we can change something here and there so you can get the best out of us.’

“So that conversation between the players and the manager is a two-way street. There is no shame to go and ask your senior players [because] they can help you. Like Sir Alex used to do to Giggsy and Scholesy by asking them, ‘What do you think for tomorrow?’ and the other way around, this way you help each other because you are in this together, [you can’t] forget that you are in this together.”

The Bulgarian footballing icon admitted that his prior usage of LiveScore – who provide live updates on football games across the world – was a sign of his future partnership with the company. “Even before I worked with LiveScore, if you want to check the scores of a game, my friends, my environment [in Sofia], everybody was going to LiveScore,” he said. “So it was also a sign that I’m going to work with them in the future.”

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