Ruben Amorim was told it’s ‘now or never’ when he asked Man Utd ‘if they could delay his arrival until the summer’, according to The Telegraph.
Amorim replaced Erik ten Hag as Man Utd head coach in November, months after the Dutchman signed a new contract.
The Red Devils recorded their worst-ever Premier League finish in 2023/24 but Ten Hag saved his job by winning the FA Cup, which saw the club qualify for the Europa League.
The club’s start to 2024/25 was shocking and Ten Hag was dismissed after a 2-1 defeat at West Ham last October.
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Amorim was swiftly identified as Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s top candidate for the job, with assistant coach and legendary striker Ruud van Nistelrooy – who was brought to the club by Ten Hag months earlier – in caretaker charge.
Performances have not improved under the former Sporting boss, who has persisted with his 3-4-2-1 formation, which his squad is clearly not suited to playing.
He was unable to spend freely in the January transfer window but did get young wing-back Patrick Dorgu in from Lecce.
A new attacker was another priority for Amorim but one could only be signed if a significant sale was made.
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Alejandro Garnacho came close to being sold amidst interest from Premier League rivals Chelsea and La Liga giants Atletico Madrid, but an exit did not materialise.
It is a miserable time at Man Utd – who are now 15th with 29 points after 25 matches and have lost four of their last five Premier League matches.
The problems are not only on the pitch, with an alarming number of issues raised in an unbelievable report from The Telegraph.
The report looks at Ratcliffe’s first year as co-owner and the ridiculous cost-cutting decisions he has made.
It has been revealed in the report that Amorim had reservations about taking the job mid-season and wanted to wait until next summer.
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Ratcliffe – or one of his team – told the Portuguese it was ‘now or never’ for him and Amorim reluctantly left Sporting.
Amorim is at least popular with what members of staff have not been let go, with the 40-year-old sympathetic with those who have been made redundant following Ratcliffe’s minority takeover.
Amorim certainly has his work cut out. He had asked United if they could delay his arrival until the summer, conscious of the perils of taking over a squad ill-suited to his 3-4-2-1 system in mid-season, only to be told it was a case of now or never.
His concerns were well founded. United are a mess on the pitch and, for all of Amorim’s determination to put a brave face on things, he must wonder what he has walked into.
Despite his struggles to get a tune out of the players, staff have appreciated the empathetic tone he has struck, with the Portuguese coach even going as far to admit before the Spurs loss on Sunday that it was ordinary staff who were paying the price for the myriad failures at first-team level.
Such candour has been well received, even if the commercial staff pitching for business in Davos last month could probably have done without the head coach claiming he is managing arguably the worst United team in history the day before the World Economic Forum began.
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