Ruben Amorim was forced to correct himself after making an awkward comparison involving an aeroplane accident while explaining how his team learns from setbacks during a press conference on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
The 41-year-old former Manchester United head coach, who was appointed AC Milan manager in June, was discussing the process of implementing his philosophy with his new side when he turned to the analogy.
He said: ‘I think we should improve in every training session. I expect that my players understand, it’s like when you have an accident with an airplane, you learn something from.’
Amorim then quickly added: ‘It’s not a good comparison, you understand what I mean.
‘If something wrong happens, we take a lot of information and we put it in training sessions.’
Amorim has courted controversy with his comments in the past, including when he called his United side the ‘worst team in the history of Manchester United’ after a Premier League defeat to Brighton last January, a remark for which he later apologised.
The 41-year-old former Manchester United head coach was discussing the process of implementing his philosophy with his new side when he turned to the analogy
‘I’m a young guy and sometimes I make a mistake,’ he said at the time. ‘And that’s why I don’t (usually) talk after the game. This game, I needed to talk and maybe it was a mistake and then I get more nervous and go to the (news) conference really nervous and say things I shouldn’t say, that’s it. Sometimes I’m a young guy and I make mistakes.’
The Portuguese manager presided over United’s lowest-ever Premier League finish (15th), and won just 38.1 per cent of his games in charge in all competitions, the worst rate of any United manager in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.
His time in charge saw a constant back-and-forth with former players, including Gary Neville, Roy Keane and Paul Scholes. As United’s results deteriorated, the pundits regularly criticised his tactics, while he was repeatedly drawn into the debate.
Amorim’s move to Milan appears to have brought a familiar challenge, with many of the club’s former greats holding influential roles in the media.
Discussing the influence of club legends in the media, Amorim said on Friday: ‘I was in a club in the past with a lot of legends, and they have big opinions, and they talk a lot about things. They lived in a time that was completely different.’
