There’s a whole lot of blame to go around at Old Trafford. Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos are now bearing the brunt with the Glazers slinking craftily into the background, but the players have been damned individually and collectively for not being fit for purpose and even Sir Alex Ferguson has been catching strays after leaving David Moyes with a title-winning squad to work with over a decade ago. The b*stard.
The widely accepted view is that none of this is Ruben Amorim’s fault. And to be absolutely clear, most of it definitely isn’t. But we can’t get our heads around a situation where a head coach can shirk the blame no matter how bad his team is, so we’re pointing fingers in his direction.
Here are six mistakes we’re laying solely at Amorim’s door..
Joining Manchester United
“My job is so, so hard here,” Amorim said after defeat to Tottenham in El Sh*tico last month, suggesting – not for the first time – that he hadn’t realised the magnitude of the United mess when he took on the job. His predicament has been met with sympathy for the most part, with any pushback from those suggesting he could have stayed in the far sunnier climes of Lisbon shot down with references to Omar Berrada’s ‘now or never’ ultimatum.
He really should have opted for ‘never’. Amorim said he “only wanted one” amid suggestions he could have waited for the Manchester City job or literally anything else, attracted no doubt to the acclaim that will be showered upon him if he’s able to wake a giant he thought was sleeping but now realises is comatose.
He’s now apparently realised his ‘mistake’ in what we are imagining are teary, drunken chats with friends about his crap players, despotic superiors and the depressing Manchester weather, presumably aware that if (when) this all blows up in his face, his CV will feature one big success and one spectacular failure. Anyone thinking this won’t tarnish his reputation is barking up the wrong tree.
Antony
We don’t think anyone expected Antony’s Real Betis loan to go quite as well. Arguably the biggest flop in Manchester United history has three goals, two assists and three MOTM displays in seven appearances which include a win over Real Madrid.
As Antony’s agent says, it’s the sort of form (as with Marcus Rashford at Aston Villa, Scott McTominay at Napoli etc etc.) that “leads us to wonder if the problem really lies with the players”. Ooofff, ouch.
Junior Pedroso was hitting back at Amorim after the head coach’s claim that it was the Premier League’s “physicality” that the Brazilian struggled with when asked why he thinks Antony has got off to such a flying start in La Liga.
We don’t necessarily disagree with Amorim, but – like Pedroso – do wonder whether he really gave Antony the same opportunity as every United player to impress in the “new beginnings” he promised when he arrived, or whether he failed to separate the footballer from the figure of ridicule the 25-year-old had become under Erik ten Hag.
“Of the 15 games in which Amorim managed Manchester United, he only used Antony in nine, with a total of 252 minutes played,” Pedroso said. “This represents only 18.6% of the total possible minutes (1,350 minutes). How can you judge an athlete without a minimum sequence to prove his worth?”
The man’s got a point. Was that enough football to prove physicality was the problem over the way he was used by Ten Hag? Probably not.
Marcus Rashford
While very much welcomed by us and other click-hungry media outlets, we can’t imagine Amorim’s claim that he would rather field his 63-year-old goalkeeping coach than Rashford or anyone else who “doesn’t give the maximum every day” went down too well with the directors looking to farm him out in January.
But he went to Villa, where his supposed lack of training effort doesn’t appear to be an issue despite him playing under a famously tough task master in Unai Emery, who is currently rubbing his hands together along with the Villa chiefs at the prospect of signing Rashford permanently for £40m in the summer.
Amorim was widely praised for how he dealt with Rashford: leaving him out of the Manchester derby over a lack of effort; not playing him again after Rashford revealed he was ready for a “new challenge”. He was Letting The Players Know Who’s Boss, it was A Sign Of His Strength Of Character and all that other authoritarian guff that frankly feels pretty archaic and certainly did Erik ten Hag no favours after he sent Cristiano Ronaldo and then Jadon Sancho packing.
In a happy-clappy New World, maybe soft truths are better than hard ones and arms around shoulders are more effective than slapped wrists, because keeping your best players at the football club – even when the alternative feels easier – is almost always advisable.
READ MORE: Rashford’s value, it can’t get worse, Europa glory: Five reasons to be cheerful for Man Utd
False nine Kobbie Mainoo
In less than three months, Amorim went from using a 6ft 2in muscle-bound goal-machine in Viktor Gyokeres as his No.9 to a diminutive box-to-box midfielder in Kobbie Mainoo, because “sometimes the team creates situations by using the right characteristics”.
“It’s not against Rasmus [Hojlund] or Josh [Zirkzee],” Amorim added ahead of the inevitable defeat to Crystal Palace, but it definitely was, and has almost certainly played a part in what might be the lowest confidence ebb we’ve ever seen in a footballer (Hojlund).
It’s also not helped a narrative – which came into sharp focus courtesy of interest from Chelsea in January – that Amorim either doesn’t know how to get the best out of Mainoo, or can’t. You would need less than a hand to count the half-decent performances of the academy graduate since the new boss arrived at the club.
READ MORE: Man Utd need £150m far more than they need Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho
Christian Eriksen and Casemiro
Remember this? Christian Eriksen and Casemiro against arguably the most dynamic and in-form Premier League midfield at the time in Sandro Tonali, Joelinton and Bruno Guimaraes. Inexcusable.
3-4-3
He made a rod for his own back by insisting he would stick rigidly to his system and philosophy no matter what when he arrived at the club. The ‘what’ currently looks like avoiding relegation from the Premier League, which is apparently success enough for Amorim to plough on with a failing formation that this group of players are either incapable of playing in or he is incapable of coaching them to play. Neither reality reflects well on a supposedly elite coach.
Because if Amorim is the best and most talented person at Manchester United right now then surely it would make more sense for him to change to suit the players rather than the other way around? Why not put his own ability to the test rather than dooming his players to fail?
Stubbornly sticking to a philosophy isn’t an indication of Amorim being some sort of misunderstood tactical genius. World-class coaches adapt their styles based on internal and external factors. Manchester City’s treble-winning team bears very little resemblance to the Barcelona side that achieved the same feat in 2009, with only the underlying principles of possession and pressure remaining after a series of tweaks over the years from Guardiola led to two sides that are worlds apart in physicality, structure and in the methods they use to attack and defend.
If Amorim expects to use the very same tactics he used at Sporting to lead Manchester United to glory then the best-case scenario is that glory is ten years down the line.
