'I saw Ruben Amorim get upset in training - he felt very powerless'

Mauricio Larriera has recalled an incident during Ruben Amorim's playing days in which he felt powerless during training, highlighting how they would resolve any issues he had on the pitch

Ruben Amorim was left feeling 'powerless' and 'upset' after being sent off during his playing days, according to ex-coach Mauricio Larriera.

While Amorim is poised to lead Manchester United from the sidelines on Sunday when the Red Devils travel to Portman Road to take on a struggling Ipswich Town, it's not too long ago that the Portuguese mastermind was enjoying his own playing days. The 39-year-old broke through the youth ranks of Beleneses in 2003, before making the move to Benfica five years later.

And while the midfield maestro achieved just six goals and 14 assists for the Portuguese giants, he also spent two stints on loan to Braga and Al-Wakrah. It was at the latter where he worked with Larriera, learning from the Uruguayan legend between 2015 and 2016. However, according to the manager, Amorim's time in Qatar wasn't always sunshine and rainbows.

In a recent interview with O Jogo, Larriera confessed: "He always played very well, but unfortunately he was sent off in one game. No, in two. And he apologised to me for it. It's part of the game, but he was even more upset than me when things didn't work out. The impotence he felt overcame him.

"In one game he got two yellows and we ended up losing. In the other it was for a foul, a bit due to tiredness and a bit due to impotence. He felt very powerless. In training he'd get upset and we'd say to him ‘Ruben, please don't get upset’. Sometimes it was him ‘Mauricio, please don't get upset’.

"He didn't understand certain things, Qatar was in the process of growth. When he was angry, I'd hug him and say ‘Relax, Qatar is like that’. He'd tell me the same thing." While Amorim was able to learn from Larriera during his year-long stint with Al-Wakrah, in which he scored a solitary goal in 10 appearances, the coach also admitted that he had the chance to learn and better his own management skills from the midfielder.

He added: "It allowed me to raise the level and quality of my training. He helped me perform some highly complex exercises. We lived in the same place, drank mugs of black coffee and talked for hours, sharing many things. He allowed me to get to know an exceptional human being and a class A footballer.

"I could see that he was very interested in all our plans, game plans, everything, but I didn't realise he was thinking of becoming a coach. He retired there and I think he was 32, very young. I wanted him to stay there and he didn't. I wasn't with my family, it was tough when he left... he told me to stay, that I was fine, that they knew me.

"We lived in the Four Seasons, I met his wife, she was pregnant. We went for lunch and dinner a couple of times, we talked about a lot of things, football too, but above all about life. We were together in a place in the world that was very strange to all of us. I didn't suspect that he would become what he became, an elite coach in Europe and the world.

"Ruben was always very open with us, he opened his heart and his wisdom to me. I don't know if we had any footballing arguments, there could have been, but there was always a complicit smile." Shortly after hanging up his boots, Amorim made the move into the world of football management, taking a job at Casa Pia in 2018.

After impressing with the side, the coach then made the move to Braga in 2019, going on to win a Taca da Liga in his maiden season. A move to Sporting CP ensued in 2020, with Amorim enjoying four highly-successful years with the Portuguese giants - achieving two Primeira Liga titles and Taca da Ligas apiece.

Earlier this month, Amorim was announced as Erik ten Hag's successor at Manchester United as an era of uncertainty for the Dutchman finally drew to a close. Ten Hag has left Amorim quite the task at Old Trafford, with United languishing in 13th place in the Premier League after 11 games played.

The Red Devils currently have a record of 4-3-4, and with morale evidently low at Old Trafford, Amorim may have to work quickly to ramp up the feel good factor and get fans on his side. A match with 17th-place Ipswich on Sunday may prove the perfect opportunity to change the tides at United, though Kieran McKenna's side proved they could be tricky customers with a shock 2-1 win against Spurs before the international break.

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