FORMER Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has admitted to making “mistakes” at Old Trafford and says he is learning from them with AC Milan.
continued his unbeaten start to the season at the weekend with a 3-0 win over Lecce.
It left fifth in the table with 11 points from five games.
The 41-year-old admitted after the match that giving the players more freedom was the key to victory.
He also said it was a learning curve from his time at .
Reflecting on the performance, Amorim explained: “I think we improved a lot. The freedom in the players, the movement, especially the runs behind, so we are not just a team that has the ball, we are a team that is dangerous.
“We have space to run into and that is a good thing. We controlled the game, we understood the opposition were waiting for our mistake, but we defended quite well and deserved the win.”
Asked what sparked the change, he continued: “It’s an observation of the games and the characteristics.
“Of course I listen to the players, but a manager especially in a big team is always listening to the players, seeing and understanding them, but every players wants to push the game towards their characteristics, and if you want to have an identity, that is hard.
“It’s always my decision. What I felt in the last games is the same that I felt at Manchester United, and I cannot make the same mistake.
“Sometimes we don’t have the perfect characteristics to play in that way, and if we don’t have it, we have to adapt.
“I think today worked, in another game we can return to the build-up with three, the important thing is to have different ways of playing.
“That’s especially important in Italy, because the managers are really smart, they mark really well one against one, and when they lost the reference of what we want to do, it’s harder for them to understand the mobility, just as they make it harder for me to understand their teams.”
Amorim is the first coach since Nils Liedholm in 1963 to pick up 11 points in his opening five Serie A games.
“It’s a good statistic, but this is a different time,” he said. “We have a lot to do, but we are improving and we are learning.
“We had difficulties in the last games, because the structure was really blocked in the positions, but the players had a little more freedom, and they played better with a little more freedom.”
Amorim managed seven points from his opening five games with Man Utd last season.
He was in January, ending his 14-month stay at Old Trafford.
