Ruben Amorim has no axe to grind with Sean Dyche ahead of Manchester United’s trip to Nottingham Forest

Ruben Amorim bears no ill will towards Sean Dyche and admits the new Nottingham Forest boss could have been right: perhaps Manchester United would have won more games with him in charge.

Dyche made the claim in May on the Stick to Football podcast, four months after his sacking by Everton. At the time, United were 16th in the Premier League and struggling and Dyche was adamant he would be doing a better job at Old Trafford.

He said: “He [Amorim] is not going to change the way he plays. He better win some games – pretty quick.

“I reckon if I went there and played my way, we’d win more games. Just 4-4-2 – give them basic rules of principles. We’re all going, ‘Fair play’ – but, he’s been there a while now so you better start bringing some wins soon.”

Pressure flips to Dyche after Amorim remarks

Amorim takes his revitalised side to the City Ground on Saturday with United sixth in the table having won four of their last five games in the Premier League.

Dyche has taken charge of Forest for two matches since succeeding Ange Postecoglou – a 2-0 Europa League win over Porto and a 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth in the league.

Asked about Dyche in his press conference today, Amorim dismissed any talk of an issue between the pair and even admitted the former Toffees boss may have been right.

Amorim said: ”First of all, maybe it’s true if we play 4-4-2 we would have won more games, but I always said that I have a way of playing that is going to take a while, but in the future it’s going to be better. So we don’t know that.”

Dyche the manager is different to Dyche the pundit

There has been a lot of noise around United since the Portuguese took over but he accepts that punditry requires a certain role, as does management.

He added: “I can look at Sean Dyche as a manager and then as a pundit.

“If you are a pundit and you don’t say very strong things, I don’t want to watch you! So I can understand that it’s a completely different job. I know that Sean Dyche is really smart and he knows how to play the game.

“And he also understands that one thing is when we are seeing the game and talking about the game, the other thing is to coach a team. So I understand that, I have nothing to say, I just want to win the next game.”

It has been a big journey at United – Amorim

Saturday marks Amorim’s one-year anniversary at United and, while it has definitely not been plain sailing, there are shoots of recovery starting to poke through.

“It was a journey – a big journey,” he said.

“It was really tough, good moments and bad moments. I learned a lot.

“I found that even in lower moments, I can stick with the things I believe.

“Today the answer is better than three weeks ago. It’s one of the biggest honours of my life, I want to stay here for many years.”

Amorim knows what to expect at Forest

A win at Forest would be another sign that United are finally getting their act together but Amorim knows it will be far from straightforward against a Forest side that will revert back to the pragmatic style that served them so well under Nuno Espirito Santo.

Asked if he knew what to expect against a Sean Dyche side, he said: “More or less, I watched the last game, it was one of the first ones here that we won [against Everton], we were so lucky in that game.

“I watched against Porto, I watched against Bournemouth, the style of play is similar, with different characteristics.

“We need to be prepared for a different game [than] against Brighton. We had space to play. We are not going to have that space.

“You need to understand that we are not being the same team away and at home, so we need to improve the way we control the environment. Every tackle is a big moment for the opponent’s fans, so we need to play better away.”