Manchester United defender Diogo Dalot believes the club can win the Premier League under Ruben Amorim.
Man Utd haven’t won the league title since 2012/13, and they currently sit 13th in the table, but Dalot has been so impressed by the club’s new head coach that he is setting his sights high.
Speaking at a fans’ forum, the 25-year-old said: “If you want me to be completely honest, with this manager, I think we can win a Premier League. I think realistically we can win. But then it becomes the most difficult thing to hear as a fan: that it will take time.
“I understand. I’m a player but, at the same time, I know what you feel. I know that this club is thirsty to win and everybody wants to win. We’re not talking about cups – I know that is important, to win trophies – but what brought this club to what it is is big trophies.
“I think we can win a Premier League with this manager, but at the same time, we need to create an environment where he has everything set for what he wants from the players. We need to also adapt to the system. It will take some time.
“Obviously we cannot think too much ahead, but I’m really convinced that the way he conducts himself, the way that he communicates with players, the idea that he has… we can do it. Now it becomes the most difficult part, but being really honest and positive about it, I think we can win big trophies with this manager.”
Signs of progress despite tough start?
Amorim was appointed Man Utd head coach on 1 November, replacing Erik ten Hag when the Dutchman departed after two-and-a-half years in charge.
But it hasn’t been the fast start that the Portuguese might have hoped for, with seven defeats from his first 13 Premier League matches.
Amorim’s Premier League record so far
| Record | |
| Matches | 13 |
|---|---|
| Wins | 4 |
| Draws | 2 |
| Losses | 7 |
| Goals for | 16 |
| Goals against | 22 |
Despite those results, Dalot insists he can see signs of progress.
“Obviously I share every day, every moment with my team-mates, with the people around the club, with the new staff as well, and you can see that there’s one way to go,” he said.
“Sometimes when you are going that way, you have a lot of things that you need to change, and there’s a lot of change going on at the club, and it’s always difficult at this point where you want to change things but at the same time you need to win games.
“The last couple of months we have been trying to train during games, so it’s been a really tough process.
“I don’t like to sound as if it’s always excuses, but it’s the reality, and sometimes we need to face it. But at the same time, we have been fighting and trying to get things better.
“But we also know that we have a lot of responsibility and we need to do much better than we have been doing in the last couple of games, because there’s some moments that we’ve shown we can be a good team; that we can do what the manager wants us to do. We’re just trying to find that consistency.”
Man Utd are next in Premier League action on Sunday when they visit Tottenham Hotspur, before they visit Goodison Park for the final time to take on Everton on Saturday 22 February.