Manchester United need time to build before competing in Europe: Ruben Amorim

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has admitted that his side are not yet ready to compete in European football, as pressure continues to mount following a difficult start to the new season.

United remain winless in their opening two Premier League fixtures, suffering a 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford against Arsenal before being held to a 1-1 draw away at Fulham. The results have done little to ease the frustration from last season, where the club endured one of its worst campaigns in recent history. United finished a lowly 15th in the Premier League and saw their Champions League hopes collapse after a defeat to Tottenham in the Europa League final.

Ahead of United’s Carabao Cup second-round clash with League Two side Grimsby Town, Amorim was frank in his assessment of the team’s current level. “I think we were not prepared to play in Europe, that is my feeling. To have strong games in the Champions League and then play Premier League, we need time to develop as a team,” Amorim told reporters.

He acknowledged that the squad is still in the process of finding balance, and urged his players to fight for their places to raise the competition within the team. “The players need to fight for their places, and then everything can change,” he said.

Amorim stressed the importance of building a strong foundation before expecting consistent results across multiple fronts. “The games are really, really competitive. We need time to build the base and then, in the future, to move forward. We will reach a moment where we need to have Europe for everybody to play games,” he added.

The Portuguese coach’s comments underline the scale of the rebuilding job at Old Trafford, as United look to recover from back-to-back seasons of inconsistency and underperformance.

There was, however, some positive news for United fans, with Amorim providing an update on full-back Noussair Mazraoui, who has been sidelined with an injury since pre-season. “Maybe he is going to return next week, we will see. But he’s near, we are just finishing some drills with him, to be assured that he’s not going to have another problem,” the manager revealed.

United’s immediate focus will be on avoiding an early domestic cup upset against Grimsby before turning attention back to the Premier League, where Amorim knows victories must come quickly to ease the pressure and build momentum.