Former Man United defender O'Shea backs Amorim but says players have to buy in

Former Manchester United defender John O'Shea has warmed to new coach Ruben Amorim, but warned that the Portuguese must get his ideas across quickly to turn around the club's form after two wins from five games in all competitions.

The 39-year-old arrived last month to succeed Erik ten Hag and has lifted the mood at Old Trafford with his charisma. However, O'Shea, who played for United from 1999-2011, said the players had to be convinced of the manager's capabilities.

"In terms of a personality I really like (Amorim)," O'Shea told a small group of reporters recently. "(But) it has to not be everything. You're not going to get away with just being able to talk well in the media.

"You have to have the respect of the players when you go in and try and explain how you're going to approach a certain team, why you're going to do this today, why we were doing this last week and not doing it this week.

"You're getting that balanced approach right and getting the belief into the group again, and you're trying to do that when you're changing four or five players a game because there's fitness issues at the minute with the team.

"You're hoping that certain players stand up quickly and be counted. That's what's needed especially," O'Shea added, speaking in his role as ambassador for the club's 'United We Play' initiative.

With losses to Arsenal and Nottingham Forest in their most recent Premier League games, United will be looking to turn things around on Thursday when they play Czech team Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League.

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