Ruben Amorim sacked: What went wrong at Man Utd for ‘hard-working’ head coach after club confirms Old Trafford exit | Football news

Aerial sports Writers give their assessment of what went wrong for Ruben Amorim at Manchester United after the club confirmed the Portuguese will leave his role after 14 months in charge at Old Trafford.

Amorim was hardworking and honest – but he had to leave

The dismissal of Ruben Amorim was inevitable and predictable.

There was a huge amount of optimism when he arrived, both from Manchester United bosses and supporters.

But in reality, he never seemed comfortable in this profession.

The United hierarchy were desperate to give him a full season before putting him on trial – partly because of the cost of his sacking, which will now stand at £12 million, but also because of the recurring instability that inevitably occurs if you regularly change the man at the top.

Since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013, Amorim was the 10th manager to be appointed. But the results were so poor that they never afforded the club’s management, nor Amorim, the luxury of time.

Despite spending over £200 million on attacking talent over the summer, despite the Portuguese manager having had a full pre-season to get his message across, despite numerous statistics indicating an improvement in the team’s performance levels, despite the fact that the man himself had coped well with media scrutiny and was highly regarded in all areas of the club… the results were horrendous.

Amorim is a decent, honest and hardworking guy. But he had to leave.
Rob Dorsett

Fernandes, the catalyst for Amorim’s demise at Old Trafford?

Stubbornness provides the very basis on which many fans will feel that Amorim was wrong. But could the Portuguese coach’s downfall be attributed to a specific decision? The importance of Bruno Fernandes to Manchester United goes without saying.

His 100 goals for the club are testament to the level of consistency and performance he has shown since arriving at Old Trafford almost six years ago.

Ask anyone who United’s best player is and the majority will say Fernandes. However, this summer there was an opportunity to get away from him.

Rightly or wrongly, representative of an era at United, Fernandes had received an offer to move to Saudi Arabia, which would have seen United potentially earn £100million from his departure. That money could have been reinvested to plug the overrated holes in United’s midfield.

Instead, the player became a symbol of Amorim’s harsh approach. Amorim’s insistence on deploying him as one of his two midfielders hampered United.

As captain, Fernandes is Amorim’s go-to guy in midfield and for the former Sporting coach, he fought for the job with Kobbie Mainoo.

It’s a scenario that has seen the England international and fan favorite struggle to find minutes, which hasn’t helped Amorim’s case with the Old Trafford faithful.

Stubborn by nature, Amorim would tell you that he would make the same decision to keep Fernandes, knowing what his fate would ultimately be. However, it is now clear that Fernandes was the catalyst for Amorim’s demise at United.
William Bitibiri

Ratcliffe’s Ten Hag Delay Causes Amorim’s Troubles

Amorim has had an uphill task since day one – and that’s down to Manchester United’s hesitations over Erik ten Hag.

The Dutchman looked ready to go after salvaging an FA Cup victory at the end of a disappointing 2023/24 season. It was a chance for him to get off to a good start and for the club to move forward. But instead, after studying various alternatives, United decided they could not find a better option and so awarded Ten Hag a contract extension – and a sum of money in the transfer window.

He also had a say in the names of the players to be recruited. “He had a voice, that’s why there were one or two Dutch players,” Sir Jim Ratcliffe memorably said. Players that Ten Hag had coached at previous clubs were also added to the team.

Nine games into the new 2024/25 season, United’s decision-makers changed their minds again and sacked him before installing Amorim.

A new manager in a new league, trying to implement a new system with players signed for another manager… what could go wrong?

It now seems madness to have not given Amorim a full pre-season and transfer window in the summer of 2024 to change the club’s playing style and approach. The good feeling generated by the FA Cup victory could have provided a welcome launching pad.

“It was a bad decision,” Ratcliffe concluded of the whole Ten Hag mess.

Before Amorim’s appointment, there were reports that he preferred to wait until the end of the season before leaving Sporting for United. If he had had real experience from his first campaign, the transition could have been much smoother and more successful.
Pierre Smith

Recruitment – ​​or lack of – played its part

Manchester United have scored just 44 league goals in 2024/25 – their lowest recorded total since 1973/74, when they were relegated from the First Division – so this summer it was all about establishing a new forward line and in came Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko.

An impressive triple capture, which cost £207.2 million. This represented a huge expense for a club without European football, but illustrated how keen they were to ensure the absence from Europe lasted just one season and one season only.

But how much did it cost the midfielder to not be treated with the same urgency? Amorim did not sign a single midfielder during his tenure.

Fernandes is one of the first names on the team sheet, and rightly so, but the options for partners are limited.

It’s a similar story in purpose. Andre Onana only played three of the last seven league matches last year before being loaned to Trabzonspor. Amorim initially persisted with Altay Bayindir despite the arrival of Senne Lammens for £18.2 million. Lammens’ signing has raised eyebrows, with just 54 league appearances under his belt, but he has been United’s number one since October.

One problem was solved, but the lack of similar work elsewhere played its role.
Dan Long

Don’t blame the system, blame those behind it.

Amorim, INEOS, the Manchester United team, no one comes out of this mess in good shape. But think about 3-4-3.

The mere mention of the formation is likely to cause United fans to break into a cold sweat. The depths their team has dug to try to master the system have been so shallow that some pundits have insisted it could never work in the Premier League.

But that’s not true. Chelsea won the Premier League in 2017 playing a 3-4-3. Crystal Palace enjoyed remarkable success under Oliver Glasner with this system. And let’s not forget that Amorim’s exploits at Sporting using the 3-4-3 earned him the job at Old Trafford.

The problem wasn’t the system: it was United’s team’s inability to play it and Amorim’s bizarre refusal to adapt that doomed his reign.

As Adam Bate pointed out here, data analysis suggested that the 3-4-3 was far down the list of formations that suited the team Amorim inherited. The system requires athletic fullbacks capable of contributing in both boxes, versatile No. 10s and an efficient No. 9.

The team Amorim took over had almost none, but he kept going. Mainoo in front? Fernandes as number 6? Mason Mount at wing-back? All in the service of the system.

Should United’s players have adapted better to their head coach’s demands? Certainly. Should INEOS have foreseen Amorim’s incompatibility with the team entrusted to him? Without a doubt. And Amorim’s refusal to change had long since passed the point of failure.

But the 3-4-3 formation has worked before and will work again – but don’t expect to see United using it any time soon.
Joe Shread

Is the job at Old Trafford a poisoned chalice?

Amorim now joins an ever-growing list of names who have tried – and failed – to return Manchester United to their former heights.

David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ralf Rangnick, Ten Hag and now Amorim.

A compiled list of names with varying levels of experience and achievement, but there is a common theme from their time at Old Trafford. It ultimately didn’t work.

Rangnick spoke about the ‘open heart surgery’ United needed during his time at the club from December 2021 to May 2022 – but what else can be done?

The ownership structure changed, new head coaches came in with their own ideas and new investments were inserted into all areas of the team over the years. But the same problems persisted.

At some point you have to ask whether it is possible to replicate Sir Alex Ferguson’s success in Manchester almost 13 years ago.

Their past glory, although historic and forever enshrined in the history of English football, casts an immediate shadow over those in the hot seat and the resulting expectations, although outdated, set them up for failure, regardless of training, signings and results.
Patrick Rowe