Paul Merson reckons Ruben Amorim “is running out of ideas” at Man Utd and could face the sack over his decision to loan out Marcus Rashford.
The Red Devils have had a rotten season so far with their 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace at Old Trafford seeing them move down to 13th in the Premier League table.
Man Utd have won just eight of their 24 matches in the Premier League this season and only four clubs have scored fewer goals than Amorim’s side this season.
Amorim gave the green light during the January transfer window for Rashford to leave after he omitted the forward from all but one squad since their Manchester Derby win over Man City in December.
Reports revealed that the Man Utd boss and Rashford were not on speaking terms after he publicly criticised Rashford’s performance in training.
That led to Premier League rivals Aston Villa securing a loan move for the Man Utd forward before deadline day with the Villans reportedly having an option to buy the England international for around £40m.
Rashford has scored more Premier League goals than Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee this season and Merson reckons the decision to allow the Man Utd academy graduate to leave could have serious consequences for Amorim.
Merson said on Sky Sports: “I think the manager is running out of ideas. What he has done with Rashford is mind-blowing.
“I think his job is on the line with Rashford. If he gets 10 [goals] in 10 [games for Villa] you would be seriously asking questions, ‘what are you doing?’”
Jean-Philippe Mateta scored both Crystal Palace’s goals as the Eagles beat Man Utd on Sunday and Merson reckons the Frenchman would be an ideal signing for the Red Devils.
Merson added: “United need a big strong lad up front. They should go and get [Jean-Philippe] Mateta. But they won’t because he plays for Palace.
“He is 100 times better than what they have at Man Utd, apart from [Amad] Diallo.”
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Man Utd defender Mikael Silvestre has accused Amorim of being “disrespectful” to Rashford by outing him publicly for his performance in training.
Silvestre said on beIN Sports: “I think it’s too much. I think it’s disrespectful.
“You can say over the time he’s been in charge, his communication has been difficult for him. Losing games, having player selection difficult, injuries.”
Silvestre added: “But talking about Marcus in such a way, nine years old he joined Manchester United, I think this type of conversation, you can have it privately. In public, I don’t think that does anyone any favours, the team, the owners or Marcus.”
