Manuel Ugarte has said Ruben Amorim has the backing of the Manchester United squad despite his difficult start as head coach.
Amorim has overseen just seven Premier League wins since taking over from Erik ten Hag in November and United’s 15th-place finish made it their worst domestic campaign for more than 50 years.
But ahead of the Portuguese coach’s first full season in charge, Ugarte — who played for Amorim at Sporting CP — has insisted he’s still the right man for the job.
“We have to improve things,” Ugarte said. “We have matches to prepare for. We are all very motivated, because we believe in the coach, we believe in what he wants and that is very important.”
Ugarte is heading into his second season at Old Trafford following his move from Paris Saint-Germain a year ago.
At times the midfielder struggled with the pace of the Premier League and a dip in form towards the end of the season culminated in his surprise omission for the Europa League final defeat to Tottenham in Bilbao.
Amorim has said the Uruguayan has returned this summer in a more confident mood and Ugarte backed up the claim with an impressive performance in the 2-1 win over West Ham in New Jersey on Saturday.
“Last year we made some changes, we changed our coach, we changed our formation,” he said. “This year I am good, I am very excited. It is important to perform well in this club, with United.
“You have to have responsibilities when you play for United. I am very happy and we have to keep going.
“Sometimes the connections take time to get to know each other. I already know the league, the rivals, which is important.”
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United have been linked with a move for another No. 6 to provide competition for Ugarte and Casemiro. Youngster Toby Collyer could also get games as a deep-lying midfielder in Amorim’s 3-4-3 system.
However, the 21-year-old has said that after making 13 appearances last term he could look to leave on loan this summer to ensure he gets more minutes.
“I want to play as many games as possible,” said Collyer. “I’ll sit down with the manager and higher-ups and see what’s the best solution for that. The best way for me to develop, whether it’s stay here or go on loan.
“The end goal for me is to play as many minutes as possible here, hopefully starting every week. I’ll sit down with them.”
