Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United tenure has been underwhelming since his arrival at the back end of 2023 with his players struggling to adapt to his playing style at Old Trafford.
United are slumped in the bottom half of the Premier League and their latest loss to Newcastle this weekend did little to suggest they will move up the table before the season reaches its conclusion.
It was widely reported Amorim’s preference was to take the United job at the end of the current campaign but INEOS were adamant he started his reign after the sacking of Erik ten Hag.
Amorim has since been left in no doubt of the size of the task ahead of him but it has been suggested he might now be regretting his high profile move to Manchester.
As reported by Football Insider, former Premier League defender Martin Keown believes the United head coach looks disillusioned with what he seeing from his side and could be pondering an early exit.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Keown said he isn’t seeing the required progression from Amorim either personally or in his team’s performances.
“He looks like he’d rather be anywhere else but there. I’m not seeing that he’s really in this,” Keown said.
“He looks like the team – passive, everything going on around him, and he’s not getting his messages across. The defence is error-ridden, there’s no pace in-behind. It must be a joy to play Man United because you can just roll over them.”
Keown slammed United’s league record this year, labelling the 14 defeats as “unacceptable”, with 10 of the 14 coming under the guidance of Amorim.
Despite its heavy nature, Sunday’s defeat would not have taught Amorim anything new about his players, with the majority fighting for their careers at Old Trafford after a wretched campaign.
The lack of quality in key areas is clear to see and a massive summer lies ahead for both Amorim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS consortium who will be charged with providing their new head coach with the tools to bridge the ever growing gap between United and the top sides in the country.
United are now relying on success in the Europa League to save their season and in doing so, help their summer plans by providing a boost to the transfer kitty through Champions League qualification.
It’s expected Amorim’s United will be a different animal going into his first full season in charge, with a full pre-season with players suited to his style providing the key to a successful reign in Manchester.
Featured image George Wood via Getty Images
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Conner Botterill
Conner Botterill has been with The Peoples Person for two years. A keen match-going red with degrees in Sport and Journalism and Philosophy and Psychology, Conner still believes he has a chance of making United’s first team through his 5-a-side career.
