Champions League great Jaap Stam has called on Ruben Amorim to get the time he needs to come good at the Dutchman’s former club Manchester United and believes his struggles suggest Erik Ten Hag wasn’t the core of the problems at Old Trafford.

In an exclusive interview with SpaceportSweden, the retired Premier League winner also suggested that Arne Slot could already have the right player to step into the void that would be left by Mohamed Salah should the Egyptian leave Liverpool this summer.

He also responded to Cristiano Ronaldo’s recent claim to being the greatest player of all-time as well as the comments by Gary Neville that identified Stam as a United legend, a label that the Dutchman himself is not so sure about.

Read the full interview below.

Ruben Amorim needs more time and support from Manchester United to be the success he was appointed to be

We can see that Ruben Amorim is playing with a new system, they go from wing back to wing back and they’re not using the midfield in the build up or to create enough opportunities.

They don’t try to find players between the lines and it’s difficult to watch at times. The manager has lost a lot of games and you can see him asking his players to press on the touchline. They don’t always do that because the opposition is clever and that is how they want United to play.

Amorim needs more time, it was a difficult moment when Erik ten Hag left and from what I read he wanted to take over as manager in the summer, working with these players is not bringing him joy at the moment.

The club needs to get to the summer and they need to back the manager. He needs support from the club if he is to be a success. However, if things keep going the same way then it will get very difficult for Amorim. 

Everyone speaks well of Ruben Amorim and his interviews and press conferences, but we need to be realistic about what we have seen on the pitch.

Performances have been far from convincing and Manchester United keep losing games, they are so inconsistent and things have to turn around.

Ruben Amorim’s struggles shows that the manager wasn’t the only problem at Manchester United during the Ten Hag period

When a manager leaves and the team continues to struggle, sometimes coaches might look at the situation and consider themselves right.

But I don’t think Erik ten Hag will be like that, it just tells you that it’s not only the manager that is the issue but how the team is constructed.

You have to look at how decisions are made to bring players in in terms of having the right level of quality and intensity to be a Manchester United player.

Quality elsewhere is no guarantee that they will be able to turn up and perform with a new manager and more has to be done when signing new players.

Manchester United’s owners need to stick by Ruben Amorim and get him to the summer — starting the job mid-season wasn’t his idea in the first place

Ruben Amorim will already be thinking about getting to the summer to start fresh with new players and his own ideas and have time to get those ideas across to players.

He can use pre-season and weeks behind the scenes on training sessions and working on his system. First he needs to get through this tough period.

I was once due to become Clarence Seedorf’s assistant at AC Milan in the summer but he was asked to start earlier after the team was struggling and the manager was sacked in the middle of the season.

Things didn’t go to plan and he was also sacked before the season was over, so his job was gone and my job as an assistant manager was gone too.

Things can change very quickly in football so you cannot afford to look too far forward. But hopefully the owners at Manchester United are not like they were at AC Milan at that time.

Jamie Carragher had a nice complement for Virgil van Dijk

Jamie Carragher saying that Virgil van Dijk is better than the highest level of football is a nice compliment for him, he is one of the top defenders in the world at the moment and it’s good to praise players when they are doing well.

Van Dijk is doing outstanding work and he is so important for his team-mates and them playing well will give him even more confidence. It makes him look even better as a defender.

Gary Neville calls me a Manchester United legend – I don’t think I can agree

I like Gary Neville and it was nice to hear his opinion of me as a defender, he is a very honest and outspoken person too so I take that as a big compliment.

When it comes to being a legend of Manchester United, I always consider that I only played for the club for three seasons. I think a true legend needs to play for six or seven years at the same club and perform at their highest level in every season.

I appreciate how highly Gary thinks of me, but it’s difficult to speak about yourself as a player. I do know that I was rated very highly when I was at the club because people spoke about me and my performances all over the world.

It’s nice when people talk about you after you have retired also, it means they haven’t forgotten about you.

Cody Gakpo can replace Mohamed Salah as Liverpool’s star man

It’s incredible how well Mohamed Salah is performing still, he has been outstanding for several seasons.

For Cody Gakpo, this is his first consistent season of being an important player for the club which is normal when you arrive in a new country.

He has been very impressive and I see a player that is full of confidence with a physicality and a presence. He takes players on and creates opportunities and scores goals.

I would like to see him take over from Salah as Liverpool’s star but he still needs to prove that he has that consistency week in and week out.

I cannot agree with Cristiano Ronaldo that he is the best player of all time

I cannot agree with Cristiano Ronaldo that he is the best player of all time. You have to consider Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, Pele, Johan Cruyff and other players who are talented in different ways.

Ronaldo is of course up there with the best players of all time, even at the age of 40 he is playing at a high level and is so fit and is still scoring goals.

It’s unbelievable the level of football that he is still at and he deserves a lot of credit, he built up his career in Portugal and went to the UK, Spain, you name it. He has written history and changed how he plays during his career.

Having said that, I can’t agree that he is the best player in history. A lot of people prefer Lionel Messi but you have to have respect for Ronaldo and what he has brought to the world of football. He has such a presence and is up there with the best ever.