Ruben Amorim said Manchester United must accept criticism of their Premier League form, but insists he has had to sacrifice domestic games to chase Europa League glory.
United booked their place in the Europa League final on Thursday after sealing a 7-1 aggregate win over Athletic Club.
But their form in Europe is at odds with their record in the Premier League, where Amorim’s team haven’t won a game for nearly two months.
Roy Keane has branded United’s league results as “disgraceful.”
And while Amorim says the former club captain is right, he insists he’s had no choice but to prioritise the Europa League.
“We are trying to do our best, but I agree we can do better,” Amorim said.
“I don’t have anything to say about the criticism, because we deserve it. If we cannot accept everything in this kind of season, I think we are in the wrong business. I fully acknowledge that and I agree with all the critics.
“We have to be smart and we have to take a risk. We have to take the risk to get a lot of criticism from everybody, because the standards of Roy Keane and all these guys are really high. But I have to make a choice.”
United have got two league games against West Ham and Chelsea before the Europa League final against Tottenham in Bilbao on May 21.
Amorim said he will protect his players before facing Spurs.
Noussair Mazraoui and Harry Maguire are carrying injuries and are unlikely to start against West Ham at Old Trafford on Sunday.
However, the Portuguese coach said he won’t completely wrap the rest of his squad in cotton wool before the final.
“Sometimes it’s better to play,” he said.
“What I will protect is the players that can get an injury. We want to be competitive also in the Premier League. Bruno [Fernandes] doesn’t have the problem of any injury, but Harry has. So we will have to manage that, but they have to play. And it’s better to play than to stay out.
“We will not have a lot of training. They will fight for the place in the final in these games. I think against Brentford we had some mistakes.
“I felt that some of our players were thinking about this game [against Athletic Club].
“So we have to manage that. But we also have to acknowledge that we are Manchester United. We need to win games, also in the Premier League.
“We have to use every game to improve, even to prepare for the final, but especially to prepare for the future.”
