Manchester United great Jaap Stam has offered to join Ruben Amorim’s coaching staff to help fix the club’s leaky defence.
The Red Devils’ defensive struggles have continued since Amorim took over the reins from Erik ten Hag, with the club managing just one clean sheet in the Portuguese’s opening nine matches at the helm.
After a humbling 3-0 defeat at home to Bournemouth, Amorim will hope to oversee a turnaround in fortunes in the second half of the campaign, starting on Boxing Day away to lowly Wolves, who are managed by Vitor Pereira for only the second time.
Five members of Sporting’s backroom staff followed Amorim from Lisbon to Old Trafford last month, including Carlos Fernandes, who took over as United’s assistant head coach.
Adelio Candido and Emanuel Ferro joined as first-team coaches, while Jorge Vital took up the role of first-team goalkeeper coach and Paulo Barreira arrived as United’s physical performance coach.
Speaking to Sports Lens, former United star Stam expressed his disappointment that he had never been sounded out by the club over a possible coaching role after retiring from the game in 2007.
The legendary ex-Netherlands defender is confident he has the experience and coaching skills to help steer the club towards major trophies again should Amorim be interested in bringing him back to the Theatre of Dreams.
‘I’d love to coach at Manchester United but they haven’t picked up the phone! I think everyone who has been associated with the club would love to go back and help,’ Stam explained.
‘Having been in management myself I have coached and helping them in any role would be great.
‘I’m always open for talks because I’d love to see the club back winning trophies and maybe I could help coach the defence, but with the manager lots of new staff have come in so they have plenty of options. But you never know.’
Stam, an integral member of Sir Alex Ferguson’s treble-winning squad of 1999, is expecting ‘a lot of change’ at United while Amorim figures out which players he is able to trust.
‘Everyone is hoping that Manchester United can compete for the Premier League next season and the manager will as well, but in the meantime it’s very important to win matches and climb up the table,’ the Dutchman added.
‘It’s a transition period and the players need time to adapt, but there is still pressure to win matches with his new style and to be in a decent position in the table.
‘Ruben Amorim will be working hard to see which players best suit his system but until then there will be a lot of change.’
Last week, Marcus Rashford paved the way for a potential transfer move away from Old Trafford as he revealed that he was ‘ready for a new challenge and the next steps’ in his career.
Stam ‘understands’ Rashford’s position but hopes the misfiring England forward manages to resurrect his United career.
‘I can understand why Marcus Rashford is ready for a new challenge,’ Stam said when asked about Rashford’s recent comments.
‘I was in certain situations at clubs in which you are running out of contract or have had two years there and you think it might be time for something new, a new environment. Different people in a different country might help you, help boost your career.
‘He has been at the club a long time and in my opinion he hasn’t been able to show his ability on a consistent level for many years, it hasn’t been enough and for that reason I’d like him to stay and find that consistency.
‘I think saying you want to leave is the easy way out because it’s been a tough period and he’s faced a lot of criticism for his performances, but we haven’t seen enough fight on the pitch.
‘I think if he was showing that then there would be a different mood towards him and more credit being paid to him.
‘Maybe it would be good for both him and the club for him to move on, but I would’ve liked to have seen him give everything for the club.’
According to Stam, an eighth-place finish – and European qualification – should be considered the bare minimum for United this season.
‘It still feels strange to say that Manchester United need to get into the top half of the table instead of pushing to win trophies, you’d always at least hope for a Champions League spot,’ he went on.
‘But I think the minimum this season is to get to eighth in the table and a European spot, which could come through one of the cup competitions. They need to get back into their rhythm and they need to win games consistently.
‘The win over Manchester City was a very important one for everybody to get a confidence boost as well as sending the message to keep fighting until the very end of games.
‘They need to get European football, and if you look at their squad and you look at the other teams around them, they’re going to be making steps and they’re going to get close to these positions. So I’m confident of United doing that, but it’s not good that we need to talk about United in this way.
‘Hopefully within the next couple of months Ruben Amorim’s players can adapt quicker to the system and they can be more consistent in their way of playing.United haven’t been consistent for the last couple of seasons.
‘Sometimes they’ve won games and done well and then dropped points the week after and that has to change.’
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