Sean Dyche claimed earlier this year that if he were Manchester United manager he would be “more successful” than Ruben Amorim, but the Red Devils manager responded ahead of Saturday’s clash.
Ruben Amorim admits he may have been right to claim Manchester United would “win more” with Sean Dyche in charge. United manager Amorim is emblematic of his struggles at Old Trafford, having just won three consecutive Premier League games for the first time despite taking over the Red Devils almost a year ago.
The Portuguese continues to stick to a 3-4-2-1 formation, which has been heavily criticized for not producing results so far. Amorim used his size to enjoy great success at Sporting Lisbon, but in his first season he could only help United to 15th place, the club’s lowest ever Premier League finish.
In May, as the Red Devils’ dreadful campaign was coming to an end, Dyche, now manager of Nottingham Forest and who faces United on Saturday, appeared on a podcast. The former Watford, Burnley and Everton manager insisted that if he was given the job he would do a better job than Amorim at the time.
Dyche’s comments were relayed to Amorim at a press conference on Thursday ahead of the meeting at the City Ground. “First of all, it may be true that if you play 4-4-2 you win more, but as I have always said, the way I play will take time,” replied the United manager.
“That way I can look at Sean Dyche as a coach and as a pundit. If you’re a pundit and you don’t have very strong things to say, I don’t want to watch you! So I understand it’s a different job. I know Sean Dyche is really smart and he knows how to play the game.”
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“He also understands when we watch the game and talk about the game and when we coach the team. So he understands that. There’s nothing to say. He just wants to win the next game.”
Dyche accused Amorim of trying to “over-coach” his players during an appearance on Stick to Football. “He (Amorim) should win some games. He’s pretty quick,” the 54-year-old said.
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“I think if we go there and play the way we play, we’ll win more. Just the 4-4-2, I’ll teach you the basic principles. They have some good players. We don’t need to over-teach everyone.”
“If he can stick to his principles, I’m more interested in the long game and next season we’ll all go ‘fair play’. But he’s been here for a while so he better start bringing in some wins soon.”
Despite their very different circumstances, the two sides will shake hands in the dugout before kick-off at 3pm on Saturday. Amorim are aiming for a fourth successive win, while Dyche are aiming for their first win in the league at Forest despite losing 2-0 away to powerhouse Bournemouth last weekend.
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