Man Utd star lifts lid on what squad really think of Ruben Amorim's criticism - 'It hurts a lot'

Diogo Dalot - who is winning his fitness battle to be ready for the Europa League final against Tottenham in Bilbao - has detailed what he thinks of Ruben Amorim's approach

Manchester United defender Diogo Dalot insists that Ruben Amorim’s honesty is the best policy for the club.

Amorim has been brutally realistic about the quality of the squad he inherited six months ago - and the magnitude of the task he's facing. The 40-year-old has even questioned whether the job is too big for him, with the Reds set for their worst league finish for 50 years despite the prospect of still qualifying for the Champions League by beating Tottenham in Wednesday night’s Europa League Final in Bilbao.

Now Dalot has lifted the lid on Amorim’s style - and has promised the fans that the good times will return once United have ridden out the storm. Dalot, who believes he is winning his fight to be fit to face Spurs, said: “Personally it hurts a lot when the manager says what he’s said.

“But it is just something he is really honest about. He doesn’t hide his emotions. He doesn’t hide the type of communication he wants to express - and that makes him an honest guy, an honest person.

“It is really hard these days to find managers and players like him. But if it hurts you, it’s a good sign because it means you want to change things. He is speaking about my team, my team-mates, my club. I don’t want to hear my manager and anybody else around the club feeling like that.

“So what can I do to change that? That is what I focus on the most. I try to evolve as many team-mates as many people as I can into having the same energy - but then you have to fight.

“It is obviously something the club will address, the players have to address also. We have to look at ourselves and see what can I change to be better and try to get in the same pattern that the manager wants.”

Dalot, 26, has seen Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erik ten Hag all fail where Amorim hopes to succeed in the seven years he has been at Old Trafford following his £19million arrival from Porto.

Amorim arrived with a big reputation in November after winning two titles in four seasons at Sporting Lisbon. But his determination to impose the same playing style in Manchester that served him so well at the Estadio Jose Alvalade has been a tough transition.

Dalot insists his countryman will live or die by his beliefs - and rubbished suggestions that Amorim is too nice to be a winner in the Premier League.

The full-back also reckons that the manager’s gesture in buying tickets for the Bilbao final for members of staff who had been told by the club that they would have to pay their own way is typical of his leadership style.

Dalot, who is battling to shake off a hamstring problem, said: “Don’t get me wrong, the manager is a nice guy - but when he has to give a stick to everybody, he gives a stick.

“He isn’t afraid to say what he thinks. I think you saw that since he came that he has his own ideas, he will not change for anybody because he thinks he is best for the club - and I can guarantee you it is the best for the club.

“It will take a little bit of time. Everybody made a headline when he came about the big storm we needed to go through but that is what we are facing now and we will get through it and people will look back to this time as something that was big for the club.

“We just have to keep building because I believe together we will do great things. The manager showed how much he wants to keep the club united by literally paying to make sure everybody will be together at the final.

“I think it is an amazing gesture. It could have easily been all the players doing it but by doing it by himself it is so incredible.”

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