Ruben Amorim says the transformation Mikel Arteta has overseen at Arsenal is an "inspiration", but he doesn't expect to be given the same time to turn things around at Manchester United.
Arteta was under pressure midway through his first full season in charge of the Gunners, winning just three out of 11 matches in all competitions up to Boxing Day 2020, but the faith shown in him has been repaid, with Arsenal challenging for the title in recent seasons.
Amorim is hoping to oversee a similar turnaround, with his side currently lying 14th in the table.
But as he prepares to face Arteta and Arsenal at Old Trafford this weekend, he says: "I will not have the time that Arteta has. I feel that.
"It’s a different club, so we just need to survive, the players on Sunday and me during these games.
"I think it’s a different club. I think in that aspect, the way Arteta dealt with that, is an inspiration for everybody. I will not have the time like Arteta had.”
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Quick turnaround
Amorim is aware that his Man Utd team only have three days to recover from Thursday's 1-1 draw with Real Sociedad in the UEFA Europa League - two days fewer than Arsenal, who played in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday.
"We need to survive Sunday. The team was so tired in the last 20 minutes," said Amorim.
"In the Premier League, every game is really important. In our moment, we need to win. It’s always a problem when we don’t win so we have to focus on everything at the same time.
"I think the biggest problem is to not have all of the players because, in the beginning, people talk about our rotation - especially in Europe, we are changing all the time.
"It’s because of this because it’s really hard, and the Europa League is so much harder, in my opinion, than the Champions League. Not the games but the recovery to play Premier League on the weekend, so we have to deal with that.”
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 |
Man Utd
MUN
|
32 | -7 | 38 |
| 15 |
Spurs
TOT
|
32 | +11 | 37 |
| 16 |
Wolves
WOL
|
32 | -14 | 35 |
| 17 |
West Ham
WHU
|
32 | -18 | 35 |
| 18 |
Ipswich
IPS
|
32 | -34 | 21 |
| 19 |
Leicester
LEI
|
32 | -45 | 18 |
| 20 |
Southampton
SOU
|
32 | -54 | 10 |
Positive update on Amad
Amorim must wait to see if Harry Maguire and Manuel Ugarte are fit to face Arsenal, but there was one piece of positive news, with star attacker Amad possibly returning before the end of the season.
Amad, who has scored six goals since the arrival of Amorim, underwent surgery after damaging ankle ligaments in training last month and was originally expected to be out for the season.
"Amad we will see in the last month," said Amorim. "I don’t want to say anything, but I have the hope to have Amad before [the end of the season]."