Incoming Manchester United manager Rúben Amorim was dragged into a cringeworthy press conference exchange after one journalist demanded he answer a question in English.
Amorim remains the manager of Sporting CP until Nov. 11, when he will officially take over as head coach of Manchester United. This week, prior to his final home game with Sporting CP, the 39-year-old manager conducted their pre-match press conference from Lisbon, in Portuguese. Sky Sports reporter Gary Cotterill, however, seemed bothered by Amorim answering questions in Portuguese, despite the fact that he is still the manager of Sporting Lisbon.
Look how well Rúben Amorim deals with Sky Sports’ Gary Cotterill after ridiculous questions about speaking English…
Gaffer 👏
[via @BeanymanSports]
— UtdDistrict (@UtdDistrict) November 4, 2024
“Rúben, hello. Do you know what we miss?” Cotterill asked the football manager, prompting Amorim to respond with “What?”
“Your wonderful English,” Cotterill said. “Can we have one answer in English for all people who are going to be watching this game interested in Manchester City, in Sporting and in Manchester United? One answer in English?”
Amorim responded with a smile as someone off-camera informed Cotterill the football manager would conduct press conferences in English once he takes over Man United. But Cotterill continued to press Amorim, bizarrely questioning if Man United mandated him to not speak in English.
“No, no, no,” Amorim said.
“I wondered if you were aware that obviously to win tomorrow night will be brilliant for your current club, but also brilliant for your new club. You could be a hero even before you get on a plane to Manchester. Has that crossed your mind?” Cotterill asked before insisting. “In English please.”
“Hmm, sorry. I cannot speak in English now,” Amorim responded while maintaining a pleasant smile.
Amorim repeatedly apologized as Cotterill pestered him with questions of “why?” before the football manager eventually said, “They will miss me in Portuguese, so I have to speak Portuguese.”
“They’ve had about 25 minutes in Portuguese, we want 10 seconds in English,” Cotterill said, prompting the person off-camera to again reiterate Amorim will conduct interviews in English next week when he officially begins coaching Man United.
“It’s like the cold shoulder to all your English fans,” Cotterill said before finally ending the awkward exchange and giving up on his quest to have Amorim speak in English.
According to the Daily Mail, Manchester United was disappointed by Cotterill’s exchange with their new head coach, but they’re not expected to launch an official complaint.
Maybe Cotterill was sent to Lisbon by Sky Sports with the sole purpose of getting Amorim to answer a question in English, but his hostile approach was strange nonetheless. Cotterill was in Portugal, speaking to a manager who was still coaching a team located in Portugal, demanding that he stop answering questions in Portuguese. The gripe may have been different if they weren’t allowing Cotterill to ask a question in English, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Amorim was answering questions in Portuguese because that’s what his current team, Sporting Lisbon wanted him to do.
