Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim is reportedly maintaining a professional distance from his players, three months since joining the club.
Amorim, 40, has endured a difficult start to life at Old Trafford since arriving from Sporting Lisbon in November, losing eight of his first 20 games in charge.
This has included United suffering defeats in five of their past six Premier League home matches to leave the club languishing in 13th place in the top flight and 14 points off the top four.
Amorim has been wedded to his preferred 3-4-3 system at Old Trafford, but he is yet to positively stamp his impact on United, although the Red Devils are in the fifth round of the FA Cup and automatically qualified for the Europa League last-16.
And, according to the Manchester Evening News, the Portuguese coach is not particularly close to many of United’s stars.
In fact, the report claims that former boss Erik ten Hag was tighter with his players.
Ruben Amorim has reportedly distanced himself from his own Manchester United players
Amorim is keeping a professional relationship with United’s stars, three months into his tenure
Despite Erik ten Hag’s serious nature, he was close to several players like Alejandro Garnacho
This is despite the fact that the Dutchman was seen as a serious character that had high-profile fallouts with a number of players, most notably Cristiano Ronaldo.
It is said Ten Hag had strong bonds with his squad, particularly the likes of Andre Onana, Antony and Lisandro Martinez who he had worked with at Ajax.
He similarly oversaw the development of academy graduates Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo – and was subsequently viewed positively by the pair.
It is also believed United’s stars were huge fans of Ruud van Nistelrooy’s man management during his four-game stint as caretaker boss in November.
The report goes onto say that one senior United player labelled the former striker’s skills as ‘excellent’, while Casemiro was said to value his attempts to communicate in fluent Spanish.
Amorim is keeping a distance given a major squad upheaval is planned for the summer as he attempts to get United back on track.
Over recent months, several out of favour stars have been moved on by the club, including the likes of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Antony, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Facundo Pellistri.
More exits are likely to follow, while the 40-year-old – who exiled Rashford after being unhappy with his attitude and training performances – will also hope to bring in players better suited to his system.
Amorim has endured a difficult start to life at Old Trafford, losing eight of his first 20 games
The Portuguese is believed to be close to compatriots Bruno Fernandes (left) and Diogo Dalot
United’s players were said to appreciate the man-management skills of Ruud van Nistelrooy
The report adds that he is closest with United captain Bruno Fernandes and defender Diogo Dalot, with the fact they are all Portuguese helping to boost their relationship.
Speaking in January, Amorim had admitted that the nature of his appointment during the season, coupled with United’s chaotic fixture schedule, had impacted his ability to build close relationships with his players.
‘Sometimes, that detail is really important,’ Amorim said. ‘Pre-season, creating, spending three weeks together, creating something, and then you want to create something new with the players.
‘I want them to know me in a different way, not always preparing the matches with stress, we don’t have the time to do that. I think it’s really important and I think it’s the secret of teams.
‘Even when you have the best players, if you don’t you have that feeling it’s really hard to win so I want to build something like that here. But we need time from that.’