Arsenal legend Paul Merson thinks Ruben Amorim’s approach at Man Utd “is insanity” and that Sir Jim Ratcliffe will be questioning why he bought a stake in the club.
Amorim replaced Erik ten Hag in November after the Dutchman was sacked by the Red Devils hierarchy following a poor run of results.
Man Utd have barely picked up under the Portuguese head coach with two promising performances against Liverpool and Arsenal soon forgotten after back-to-back poor displays against Southampton and Brighton over the last week or so.
Despite beating Southampton 3-1 eight days ago, the Red Devils were trailing for 82 minutes of the match against the Saints in a poor performance, before looking second best in a 3-1 loss against Brighton on Sunday.
Man Utd did beat Rangers 2-1 at Old Trafford in the Europa League group stage on Thursday night too but they needed a Bruno Fernandes strike two minutes into stoppage time to beat the Scottish Premiership side.
And now Merson reckons there will be “nothing but a Fulham win” on Sunday with the Red Devils travelling to Craven Cottage to take on Marco Silva’s 10th-placed side.
Arsenal legend Merson is convinced that Man Utd boss Amorim “needs to adapt to the league and change his system” before the Red Devils slip further down the Premier League table.
Making his prediction for Fulham versus Man Utd, Merson told Sportskeeda: “Nothing but a Fulham win, no I’m not joking here! It sounds crazy because we are still in an era where Manchester United dominated England. But this team isn’t like that. They don’t turn up to games like Liverpool, Arsenal or Manchester City.
“I know they did not lose to any of those three teams under Ruben Amorim. In the Arsenal game, Martin Odegaard missed a penalty. City shot themselves in the foot in the derby and if not, they could have lost that game too!
“Liverpool game is the only exception with Harry Maguire missing that golden chance to get the win. So you could say these results don’t really paint the accurate picture about where Manchester United are as a football club.
“Amorim isn’t wrong, this is one of the worst United teams. But he has to be more flexible though. If you keep playing three at the back when you don’t have the right players, you will be in trouble.
“There’s a life lesson that I follow – If you keep doing the same things and expect a different result every single time, it is insanity! Amorim has done a good job in terms of getting rid of players he doesn’t want, but he also needs to adapt to the league and change his system when required.
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“This rebuild will take years because they are a million miles away from Liverpool and Arsenal. Manchester United are chasing the likes of Bournemouth, Brighton, Forest and Chelsea now. I think the Financial Fair Play (FFP) rule will limit Manchester United so much.
“You just can’t go and throw money around whoever they want, there is a huge element of risk involved. They will have to operate on hope and luck when getting players, more like fantasy football!
“Take Viktor Gyokeres for example, he struggled in England and went to Sporting and became a success. That doesn’t mean he will set the stage on fire if he returns now.
“I don’t think Amorim knew the size of the job he had in his hands when he first arrived. In Portugal, it’s just three big clubs fighting each other but it’s not the same here in England. This is a massive club in a massive league.
“Jim Ratcliffe must be sitting there thinking, ‘what have I done buying this club?’. Manchester United are one of the most famous sports teams ever, but if they don’t start winning, they will not be in that conversation anymore. Kids who grow up watching football will now start to support Liverpool or Arsenal because no one wants to support a team that’s losing!
“Manchester United are 13th in the table for a reason and I think they will lose again. Prediction: Fulham 3-1 Manchester United.”
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