Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim says provocative social media posts from young players show a damaging “feeling of entitlement” at the club.
MANCHESTER United manager Ruben Amorim has criticised a damaging “feeling of entitlement” at the club after provocative social media posts from two academy stars.
The United boss last week said defender Harry Amass was “struggling” during his loan at Sheffield Wednesday and noted striker Chido Obi was not always a starter for the under-21s.
Both 18-year-olds subsequently posted and then deleted Instagram stories seemingly in response.
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Amass shared a photo of himself holding Sheffield Wednesday’s player of the month award for November.
Obi posted a picture of himself celebrating a goal for United’s under-21s against Manchester City in August.
“I think it’s a little bit the feeling of entitlement that we have in our club,” said Amorim at his pre-match press conference on Friday.
“Sometimes strong words are not bad words. Sometimes difficult moments are not bad things for the kids.”
The Portuguese coach called for a cultural change at the club, who sit sixth ahead of Sunday’s trip to Aston Villa.
“The players sometimes forget about what it means to play for Manchester United. We as a club sometimes forget who we are,” he stated.
“They feel entitled. They feel free to respond to the manager with a picture.”
Amorim said his office door was open for discussions but noted, “Nobody is coming to talk to me.”
He added that the club must change first before everything else follows.
The manager was also asked about a T-shirt worn by Kobbie Mainoo’s half-brother this week bearing the message “Free Kobbie Mainoo”.
The 20-year-old England international is yet to make his first Premier League start this season.
“It was not Kobbie who wore the T-shirt,” clarified Amorim.
“He’s going to play if we feel that he is the right guy. That is not an issue.”
Brazil midfielder Casemiro is suspended for the Villa game, potentially opening a spot for Mainoo.
Defenders Matthijs de Ligt and Harry Maguire remain injured, while Noussair Mazraoui, Amad Diallo and Bryan Mbeumo are at the Africa Cup of Nations. – AFP
