Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Manchester United chiefs now reportedly accept that their Project 150 dream is doomed to fail with Ruben Amorim’s “hands tied behind his back” at Old Trafford.
Amorim replaced Erik ten Hag at the United helm in November and results were expected to improve, but the Portuguese boss has delivered just ten wins in 25 games as his players struggles to adapt to the 3-4-3 system and a philosophy that he’s unwilling to break from.
Mirror report that ‘there is now an acceptance inside the United boardroom’ that chief executive Omar Berrada’s target of taking the title back to Old Trafford by 2028 to celebrate United’s 150th anniversary was optimistic in the extreme, and ‘the stark reality of the monumental task facing Amorim has since kicked in’.
With Ineos implementing a top-to-bottom overhaul of the club ‘there’s an awareness that the former Sporting Lisbon coach must be given time if he can’t be bankrolled in the transfer market’.
One source said: “Amorim felt he could get more from the current squad when he came in and there have been some encouraging results.
“But there’s no getting away from the fact that overall it’s been a really tough watch – and that it’s going to take a lot of time and patience to get the team to where they should be.
“You’ve got to be brave or foolish to think winning the league by 2028 is doable from where United currently are.”
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The report states that ‘Berrada’s reputation is wedded to Amorim succeeding’ and that the United chief’s ‘bold statement of intent was met with incredulity by some staff members when the Frenchman proposed his timeline to the top’.
The report adds:
‘Within weeks the club had sacked Ten Hag, just a couple of months after handing him a contract extension and a £200million transfer kitty.
‘It was Berrada, the executive recruited from rivals Manchester City, who was the driving force behind the appointment of Amorim – despite warnings from sporting director Dan Ashworth that the squad would have to be revamped to fit the Portuguese’s playing philosophy.
‘Ashworth followed Ten Hag out of the club less than five months after United paid £5million in compensation to prise him away from Newcastle.
‘INEOS are fully aware that if they make another knee-jerk managerial change they risk losing the dwindling goodwill of disillusioned fans. It cost them £10.4 million million to sack Ten Hag and another £11 million in compensation to appoint Amorim.’
