Ruben Amorim fires back at Man United legend Wayne Rooney after ‘naive’ comment

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Ruben Amorim responds to Wayne Rooney naive Premier League comment

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has responded to comments made by club legend Wayne Rooney following the team’s exit from the FA Cup.

Amorim’s Reds and current cup holders under his predecessor, Erik ten Hag, dropped out of this year’s tournament to Fulham on penalties after a fairly low-quality 90 minutes and an even more exhausting extra time for both sets of fans.

The Portuguese coach had no trouble accepting that his side wasn’t up to the level on Sunday evening, as he has since he arrived, but insisted in his post-match interviews that Man United‘s overall goal is to win the Premier League.

However, reacting to the fame in the gantry after the game, ex-player and former all-time leading England goalscorer Wayne Rooney remarked that “little bit naive” to suggest they can challenge for the title any time soon. Here’s exactly what he had to say:

Do you agree with Rooney – is Amorim being naive?

While neither party actually gave a timeline as to when they expect Man United to realistically compete for a Premier League title, there seemed to be an agreement in the studio that the new manager might be thinking a little too far ahead this very moment.

For context, as well as having now conceded their trophy win from last season in a game that most supporters would have felt they should be winning (especially as the holders playing at home), the Red Devils currently sit 14th on 33 points in the Premier League table with a negative goal difference of six.

In contrast, league leaders Liverpool – also still adjusting to life under a new manager, though doing so much better – have just over double that amount of points after 28 games and even though Man City have had a bit of a rollercoaster time of late themselves, they’re still fourth and not far off second.

Nevertheless, the boss didn’t just sit there and take ‘Wazza‘s remarks lightly, choosing instead to provide a bit of perspective from one football manager to another.

Delivering a fairly calm but somewhat barbed response to Rooney, Amorim shrugged off the suggestion that he’s being naive when it comes to his new home, clarifying that while it would be foolish to expect fast results this year or even be “the best contender” in the coming campaign, it is their ultimate goal.

To put it in footballing terms, you could argue Amorim left a bit of a boot in on Rooney, who was sacked by Birmingham City after just 15 games in charge and Plymouth after just seven months in the dugout.

Even prior to these two less-than-fortunate spells, the only other two jobs on the 39-year-old’s CV are his time at Derby County and DC United in the MLS, at which he failed to make any real impact at either.

Meanwhile, Amorim has won Liga Portugal twice, their domestic league cup three times at two different clubs and the Portuguese Super Cup once since his first coaching job at Casa Pia in his home country’s third tier in 218 – again, all at the age of 40, as he was keen to point out.

He also went on to quip, “Everybody knows everything”, adding that he was also a pundit when he finished his career and it is “easy” to comment from his/their position, going on to reinforce that the goal, however premature or long term it might feel, is to win the league.

Amorim has reiterated that he is “not naive” on multiple occasions already since joining the club and whatever Rooney or anyone else thinks, he appears to be remaining steadfast. You can listen to Ruben Amorim’s post-match press conference in full HERE and see the highlights from the game down below:

If you had three words to sum up this current United team, what would they be? Let us know in the comments.

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Featured Images — Optus Sport/Sky Sports/BBC Sport (screenshot via YouTube)