Manchester United were embarrassed off the pitch as well as on the pitch on Sunday as Ruben Amorim’s post-match press conference was interrupted by a leak from the ceiling. The Portuguese manager had moments earlier witnessed his side suffering a seventh Premier League defeat of the season at the hands of Bournemouth.
Amorim’s Old Trafford tenure hasn’t begun in the manner he would have been hoping for when he succeeded Erik ten Hag at the end of last month.
The 39-year-old has won just four of his first nine matches at the helm, with the same number of games resulting in defeat.
After being dumped out of the Carabao Cup by Tottenham on Thursday, United were aiming to bounce back against the Cherries.
But they fell behind just before the half-hour mark as Dean Huijsen headed in from a free-kick. Justin Kluivert then doubled his side’s advantage from the penalty spot an hour into the match, with Antoine Semenyo sweeping home a third moments later.
Amorim would have been angry with what he had witnessed from his players, with the result leaving the Red Devils 13th in the table.
And the former Sporting boss was humiliated further in the Old Trafford press room after the game as water came through the ceiling and dripped onto journalists sitting below.
Old Trafford has suffered leaks in the past, with the stadium’s roof draining system overflowing during the team’s 1-0 defeat against Arsenal in May. And in February, United’s former chief executive David Gill revealed the Old Trafford roof has been leaking for over a decade.
“A silly little anecdote or example is I’m reading about the Sir Bobby Charlton stand leaking roof,” he explained during an appearance on Rio Ferdinand’s Vibe with Five podcast.
“Trust me, that roof leaked when we were there but it was not mentioned in the papers or the media, you know. It leaked, perhaps a bit more now I don’t know, but that’s all I’m saying.”
United’s maintenance team will be working to get the leak sorted as Amorim turns his attention to solving his side’s issues on the pitch in time for their trip to Wolves on Boxing Day.
And assessing Sunday’s defeat, the manager explained: “If we manage to score the first goal then the game should be different. We want to score but we are too nervous. We have to fight this.
“We have to focus on the job and not what you feel in the stadium. It’s the only way I know how to focus my players. We have to suffer again but we will try to win. We will do it until the end.”
Content Source: www.express.co.uk