Cristiano Ronaldo criticism – Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has responded to stinging criticism from club great Cristiano Ronaldo, his former Portugal teammate, by urging fans and pundits alike to look forward rather than dwell on the past. Ronaldo, who won eight trophies at United, told Piers Morgan in an interview this week that United were โ€œnot in a good pathโ€ and warned that Amorim was โ€œnot going to do miraclesโ€ at Old Trafford.

โ€œWe say in Portugal, โ€˜miracles only happen in Fatima,โ€™โ€ the 40-year-old Al-Nassr forward said, adding that the Manchester club lacked long-term vision. Story continues below this ad Amorim, who took over from Erik ten Hag in November 2024, hit back ahead of Saturdayโ€™s Premier League clash at Tottenham Hotspur.

โ€œOf course, he has a huge impact in everything he said,โ€ Amorim said on Thursday. โ€œWhat we need to focus (on) is in the future. We know that we as a club made a lot of mistakes in the past, but we are trying to change that.

So letโ€™s not focus on what happened. Letโ€™s focus (on) what we are doing now.

โ€œWe are changing a lot of things in the structure, the way we do things, the way we want the players to behave. We are doing that and we are improving.

โ€ Ronaldo expressed sadness over the clubโ€™s decline but insisted the problems go beyond the manager. Story continues below this ad โ€œYou have to work with smart people to create a base for the future,โ€ he said.

โ€œRight now, they donโ€™t have a structure. โ€ United have shown signs of improvement, climbing to eighth, two points off second spot, after a four-game unbeaten run. Provisional second place in the table is up for grabs on Saturday in a grudge game for Amorimโ€™s side after Spurs beat them 1-0 in last seasonโ€™s Europa League final to prevent the Red Devils from playing in the Champions League this season.

Amorim credited internal reforms for the turnaround. โ€œCharacteristics of the players are different in the team now,โ€ he said.

โ€œWe also have players who played last year. But we are a better team.

We understand the game better. We are more confident. Story continues below this ad โ€œWe reached the Europa League final confident that we could win it.

But in this moment weโ€™re playing with a different confidence. โ€ Amorim added that there was a silver lining to missing out on European football this season. โ€œItโ€™s us using the positives,โ€ he said.

โ€œAny situation you have in life, you can look at it positively or in a bad way. โ€œIf you ask me whether I prefer to be here with the (Europa League) and Champions League football, I might say yes. Story continues below this ad โ€œBut on the other side, you have more time to train and know your players.

Arrange everything and prepare with the staff and players. So we try to use the positive thing of not playing in the midweek games. โ€.