Manchester United were booed after starting their post-season tour to Asia with a meek defeat in Malaysia – a reaction head coach Ruben Amorim welcomed and feels his players may even “need”.
A week on from losing the make-or-break Europa League final to fellow Premier League strugglers Tottenham in Bilbao, the Red Devils kicked off a money-spinning £8million trip in Kuala Lumpur.
Amorim heavily rotated throughout a friendly that ended in a shock 1-0 defeat to the ASEAN All-Stars as Maung Maung Lwin’s second-half effort proved the difference in Wednesday’s Maybank Challenge Cup.
Some of the 72,000-plus crowd at the Bukit Jalil Stadium let their frustration know about United’s efforts with jeers at the final whistle, which Amorim suggested could act as a wake-up call given the contrast to Old Trafford.
“I feel always guilty,” the United head coach said. “I said that in the last game.
“I am always guilty of the performance of the team no matter and since I am here in the first day, I am guilty.
“Then the boos from the fans, I think it’s something that we need maybe because every game that we lost in the Premier League they were always there (cheering us).
“So, it’s like the way of playing. If they see that it’s not working, they will change the way they behave.
“But I felt then when we finished and we walk away, like every time, the supporters were with us. Let’s wait for the next season.”
United’s performance in sweltering Kuala Lumpur was poor and came three days after Amorim told fans that “the good days are coming” having ended a “disaster season” with a 2-0 home win against Aston Villa.
“We should perform better,” the Portuguese said before jetting off to Hong Kong for another friendly on Friday.
“We were slow and we still don’t have in us to win every exercise in training, every game. But the important thing is that we didn’t have any injury.
“Some players were a risk, but we wanted to respect all the fans and put all the players in the game and we should win with these kind of games.”
Amorim was happy to reflect on the friendly but unwilling to discuss transfer business, despite United receiving permission from Wolves to tie up a deal with forward Matheus Cunha.
“You have to wait for that for the next season,” he said. “It’s for you guys (in the media) to talk about.
“It’s your time, I will not confirm nothing. I have no news, so we will see but there will be some changes.”
PA
Ruben Amorim
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