Ruben Amorim has stated that Manchester United’s 2-1 win over Leicester City in the FA Cup fourth round has nothing to do with “Fergie time” but a testament of the team’s struggles, Afrosport reports.
The Red Devils fell behind to a Bobby De Cordova-Reid goal in the first half at Old Trafford but were able to claw their way back thanks to goals from second half substitute Joshua Zirkzee and Harry Maguire, who scored the winner deep in injury time.
The manner of the win was similar with many results under former manager Alex Ferguson, when United came from behind the win games and ultimately titles which brought the term “Fergie time”.
Amorim however did not buy into such narrative about Friday night’s result against Leicester, asserting his team have to do better in taking control of games, something that has been a constant problem over the years.
“We have to believe it until the end but this has nothing to do with the time of Fergie. I think we have to do so much better, with the ball, without the ball,” the Portuguese said after the game.
“We didn’t have any energy in the beginning, especially in the first half. Then in the second half, we played a little bit better with a little bit more speed and winning second balls.
“Then we managed to turn things around and it was a good result but not a good performance.”
Ruben Amorim remains unbeaten in the #EmiratesFACup 🔴 pic.twitter.com/SW1ihQsiOv
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) February 7, 2025
Amorim went on to dismiss claims that United’s season can be salvaged by defending the FA Cup they won last season, once again emphasising the team is not good enough.
“I cannot focus just on saving the season with the momentum of the [FA] Cup. That’s not the way I see football, it’s not the way I see Manchester United,” he added.
“It’s everything, it’s the performance, it’s the result. I’m not thinking about the end of the season now, because the final is at the end of the season. I don’t care about that, I care about the moment.
“The moment is clearly not good enough. It’s a good result. We move forward to the next stage. We have a week to prepare [for our next league game] but today was not a good day.”
United’s fixture sees them through to the FA Cup fifth round will know their next opponents in draws taking place on Monday night.
