Ruben Amorim is under increasing pressure as Manchester United head coach after a sequence of results that have cast doubt on his ability to make it to a year in the job in November.
Sunday’s 3-0 defeat at Manchester City left the former Sporting CP coach with a record of just eight wins in 31 Premier League games in charge since succeeding Erik ten Hag 10 months ago. And in terms of the 17 teams that have been in the Premier League since Amorim arrived at Old Trafford, United’s haul of 31 points from 31 games leaves them at the bottom of that 17-team table.
But as the 40-year-old prepares United to face Chelsea at home Saturday, how much of the team’s problems are down to Amorim, and is he really fighting to save his job?
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Mark Ogden and Rob Dawson debate the issues, the positives and negatives, and whether Amorim or the United hierarchy is to blame for the spiral of negativity that the Premier League’s biggest club finds itself in.
SQUAD MANAGEMENT: Is Amorim doing the right things with this team?
Mark Ogden: No, absolutely not. We’ll get into the tactics further down, but in terms of selection, he is making life difficult for himself — and the team — by relying too heavily on some players and overlooking others.
Tom Heaton was solid, confident and a reassuring presence in the team when he played in goal during preseason, but Amorim hasn’t given him any game time this season, despite both Altay Bayindir and the now-departed André Onana making costly mistakes. Heaton is 39 and hasn’t played regularly for over three years, but his experience could have been crucial in the opening weeks of the season. Amorim has left him on the bench.
In midfield, Kobbie Mainoo deserves more minutes, especially with Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte nowhere near good enough to play regularly, while Benjamin Sesko should have been thrown in from the outset rather than drip-fed into the team.
Rob Dawson: I disagree a little here, Mark, because for the most part, yes, he is doing the right things.
Like a lot of United managers, he has tried to fix the culture. Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho are talented players, but they had to go if Amorim and his staff were going to succeed in cultivating a collective spirit. The mood on the summer tour was good, which is remarkable in itself after such a miserable season and defeat in the Europa League final.
Amorim is also battling to keep the dressing room onside, which is a hard thing to do when results are so poor. He could have quite easily pointed the finger at a number of players after the defeat to City, but decided against it; instead, he kept the focus on himself and the collective shortcomings. The flip side, though, is it meant he became the lightning rod for criticism along with his system.
Amorim is trying desperately to keep everything together in the face of immense pressure. Ultimately, none of it matters unless he can start winning more games because, as he acknowledged himself at the Etihad, his record isn’t good enough.
Ogden: I take your point on Amorim wanting, and needing, to keep the squad onside and using himself to deflect the criticism, but that also points to lots of the players perhaps being in a comfort zone where they know they will always have somebody else to take the blame.
In many ways, Amorim is in a catch-22 situation. I can’t imagine he ever wanted to rely so much on the likes of Luke Shaw and Mason Mount to make his system work — two players who cannot be relied upon to stay fit — but as the head coach, it’s Amorim’s job to try everything to make things work and he really isn’t doing that.
TRANSFERS/PLAYER IDENTIFICATION: Have United helped him or let him down? Are the players coming in good enough?
Ogden: United have paid a heavy price in the past for giving managers too much control over transfers. Erik ten Hag and Louis van Gaal, in particular, made some terrible signings that left the club dealing with the consequences for years after their departure from the club. As a result, Amorim was never going to get the same kind of free rein, and there’s now more balance in terms of recruitment.
Amorim has been backed, certainly in terms of outgoings with players such as Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho, but the United coach really wanted an experienced goalkeeper this summer — Emiliano Martínez was his favored option — but the club failed to deliver, instead signing 23-year-old Senne Lammens from Royal Antwerp.
2:51
Why Amorim might deserve ‘the benefit of the doubt’ at Man United
Rob Dawson explains why he thinks Man United should keep Ruben Amorim.
Somebody at Old Trafford should have prioritized a new central midfielder, but the squad is now actually weaker than last season in that department because Toby Collyer has been loaned out to West Brom and nobody has arrived to replace him.
Did United really need to sign three forwards for a total of £200m? Could one of those signings have been shelved in favor of a midfielder, and then Amorim challenged to make his existing players better?
Have the new signings even been good enough? Since the start of last season, when INEOS took charge of football operations, the record has been mixed. Leny Yoro, Noussair Mazraoui, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha look to be good signings, while the jury is out on Sesko and Matthijs de Ligt. As for Patrick Dorgu and Joshua Zirkzee, they are both examples of what you get when signing players from mid-ranking Serie A teams.
Dawson: You brought up money spent this summer, Mark, and I want to focus on that for a minute.
One of the criticisms being leveled at Amorim is that “he’s spent £250m on his players.” Except that’s not correct. United have spent close to £250m on new players since his appointment, but the idea that he single-handedly selected them all isn’t right.
Recruitment is done by committee, with director of football Jason Wilcox and director of recruitment Christopher Vivell both heavily involved alongside the scouting department and the data team. Amorim has a say, but he’s far from the only voice.
Ten Hag was forced to compromise with some of the players signed under his watch, and it’s the same for Amorim. Sources have told ESPN that he’s a lot happier with some signings than others.
The plan to spend the bulk of the summer budget on three attacking players — Cunha, Mbeumo and Sesko — was driven by data that suggested a lack of goals was the biggest reason for the team’s underperformance last season. The consequence is a summer window that’s left the squad looking lopsided. There are too many No. 10s, very few capable central midfielders and three No. 2 goalkeepers.
Ogden: I think we agree on this one, that Amorim has been let down by those charged with recruiting new players. The failure to bolster the midfield means that Amorim simply can’t make his system work.
They also overpaid for Cunha, Mbeumo and Sesko. Had they been smarter, they could have saved around £40m in total, which could have helped pay for a new midfielder or a goalkeeper of the caliber of Gianluigi Donnarumma or Emiliano Martinez.
Dawson: You’re not wrong about some of these transfers, but it’s important to understand that Amorim isn’t responsible for everything that’s happening at United. Having spent a lot of time around him for the past 10 months, he looks like a man who’s fighting fires in all corners. You cannot overstate just how tough the job is.
TACTICS: Do the pieces fit? Should he change his system?
Ogden: Amorim’s refusal to countenance a change to his 3-4-1-2 formation will cost him his job. If it isn’t working — and it really isn’t — then there’s no reason to believe it will suddenly come good with a group of players that have been failing to adjust to it for the past 10 months.
The 3-4-1-2 system needs top-quality wingbacks aligned with power and energy in the center of midfield, and United have none of those. That isn’t Amorim’s fault because the players he has for those positions (Dorgu aside) are all inherited from previous managers. But Amorim really should have realized that months ago and changed his system to suit the players he has.
Let’s be honest. Diogo Dalot can’t defend either as a right back or right wingback, while Casemiro lacks the mobility to play in a 3-4-1-2 or 4-3-3 formation. But Amorim still plays them regardless. And with such unconvincing options in midfield and at wingback, United are unable to control games and create chances for their forwards, so Sesko — and Rasmus Hojlund before him — is isolated up front and barely gets a scoring chance.
Amorim came in believing that the 3-4-1-2/3-4-3 was the solution, but it has now, unquestionably, become the problem.
1:26
Could Man United manage a surprise win vs.Chelsea?
Shaka Hislop discusses the pressure surrounding Ruben Amorim as his team faces Chelsea at Old Trafford this weekend.
Dawson: Here, we agree, because I also think Amorim has gone past the point of no return with his system. There was a window for him to be flexible last season, but that’s been and gone. Changing now — after a full summer working on 3-4-3 — would be viewed as a sign of weakness within the dressing room, and once that happens, there’s only one way it ends.
Amorim will stick with three at the back as long as he’s in the job. He’s pretty clear that he’s not changing and — in his defense — he’s got a point. He got the United job because of what he did at Sporting CP, and he achieved what he did at Sporting CP by playing in a 3-4-3. It’s what he knows and what he trusts. For their part, United knew exactly what they were getting.
It’s becoming noticeable for those who sit in Amorim’s news conferences every week that he’s becoming more and more irked by questions about his formation. Again, you can understand it. He was quick to point out that there were no questions about the system after United played well against Arsenal. Then Sunday’s defeat at City was less about a tactical failure and more about individual defensive errors.
Ogden: I’m sorry, but no top-level coach can only have one system in his locker. We can make all kinds of jokes about the madness of doing the same thing over and over again if it isn’t working, but that’s the reality of Amorim and his system. Whenever I speak to a former player or coach about it, they’re completely bewildered by the lack of flexibility. Nobody other than those charged with speaking on the club or Amorim’s behalf believe it makes sense.
Every time United play, their opponents know exactly what they are going to do and how to nullify them. It’s naive, arrogant and reckless on Amorim’s part to believe that he knows best and his one and only plan will miraculously come good.
Dawson: Let’s be clear about what we’re addressing here. It’s not that Amorim has only one system in his locker — he understands other systems and when he was a player, he never played in a 3-4-3. It’s about what he has tried and tested. You could argue that it’s more reckless to throw his players into a system he doesn’t truly believe in because the players would sense it immediately.
Amorim is trying to keep the message to his players as consistent as possible. You also have to remember that most of these players failed in a different system under Ten Hag. Systems and formations mean nothing if the players aren’t good enough.
OMAR BERRADA: Would sacking Amorim have wider consequences for Man United’s CEO?
Ogden: Berrada drove the decision to hire Amorim from Sporting CP. When other voices were suggesting the likes of Marco Silva, Gareth Southgate, Thomas Frank and Graham Potter, CEO Berrada pinpointed Amorim and did the deal to take him to Old Trafford.
Amorim was the hot ticket in coaching at the time, a bright young coach who had been considered by Liverpool and Barcelona, but his 3-4-1-2 fixation was a factor in both clubs opting to go elsewhere.
1:41
Why Ruben Amorim won’t change his system at Manchester United
On “The Football Reporters” podcast, Rob Dawson explains why Ruben Amorim is sticking to his Manchester United system despite growing pressure for change.
So here are the questions that Berrada must answer: Did he ask Amorim about his tactical approach and challenge him on it? Was it deemed OK for a young coach to take on the United job with only one way of playing? And did he ask Amorim if he had a Plan B?
If the answers are “no,” then Berrada failed to do proper due diligence. If the answers are “yes,” then Berrada will have questions of his own to answer from Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Glazer family.
Dawson: There might be some nuance to it, Mark, but if Amorim does go, Berrada will get dragged into the discussion because he was such a big advocate of hiring Berrada from Sporting CP. In some ways, they’ve become tied together.
However, it would be a mistake to decide that if Amorim isn’t up to the job, it must mean Berrada isn’t. Every managerial appointment is a risk, regardless of vetting, and there’s nothing to suggest that another candidate — even the ones pushed by former director of football Dan Ashworth — would have worked out any better.
Berrada is an experienced football administrator who’s trying to solve a lot of problems not that he caused, but that he inherited. He has had to make tough decisions, including making a series of redundancies.
One criticism of Sir Jim Ratcliffe is that he doesn’t know enough about football. That’s not true of Berrada. He’s well-connected after spells at Barcelona and Manchester City and highly regarded across Europe, while he also did well to squeeze so much financial headroom out of a tight summer budget. Remember, he’s not the one picking the players.
If United are going to eventually get back on track on the pitch and off it, it will be because of Berrada. Forcing him out if, or when, Amorim goes would be gross mismanagement on United’s part.
Ogden: I still can’t understand why a supposedly smart CEO hired a coach with only one way of playing. He either knew that to be the case and hired him anyway or believed/hoped Amorim would be more flexible. Whichever it is, Berrada showed inexperience and a lack of judgment, but maybe it will turn out to be a valuable lesson if, or when, he has to find a new coach.
THE BIG QUESTION: Should Amorim stay or go?
Ogden: Eight wins from 31 Premier League games, the no-show in the Europa League final and the Carabao Cup humiliation against Grimsby all point to one conclusion. United must make a change before the situation gets worse.
Since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, United have developed a habit of avoiding a tough decision on a failing manager for months after it has become clear that they are the wrong person for the job. David Moyes, Van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ten Hag could, and should, have been dismissed long before their ultimate exit because of results, and Amorim is now in the same holding pattern.
Unless Amorim changes his tactical approach, results will continue to be unacceptable and he will lose his job. That’s what happens in football at every level. The question for United is whether they are bold enough to act quickly or if they would rather limp on, allow another season to disappear down the sinkhole and give Amorim another two or three months before doing what they should do now.
1:37
What can be expected from Man United’s annual account announcement?
Mark Ogden looks ahead to the announcement of Manchester United’s annual accounts.
Dawson: My vote is for Amorim to stay, Mark, although admittedly it’s hard to defend a record of eight Premier League wins from 31 games.
Set against Ten Hag, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Jose Mourinho and it looks even worse. Ten Hag won 12 of his last 31 league games in charge. Solskjaer had 14 wins from his last 31 league games, and Mourinho won 16 of his last 31. But here, context is important. Amorim was forced to throw away some league games last season to focus on the Europa League. This season, his two defeats have been against Arsenal and Manchester City.
Overall, there have been signs of progress. United led a lot of statistical categories going into the international break, and there has been a sense that they deserved more from some games — particularly against Arsenal and Fulham. His message throughout the summer was the club could not fix every area of the squad in one window and it has proved to be the case.
Amorim is being asked to take the first steps forward from near rock bottom and it’s going to take time. That said, he needs to buy himself some with some wins.
Ogden: The end is nigh. We’ve both covered United long enough to know how the story plays out.
Since Amorim took charge last November, United have the worst record of any of the 17 clubs who have been in the Premier League for that entire period. It has been almost a year now and I disagree that it’s getting better. I think he will be gone by Christmas.
Dawson: As Mark says, even though there are a lot of other things at play here, Amorim’s status will come down to results. There are signs of life — the data proves it — but progress might not be quick enough and he could run out of time.
Getting rid of him in the October or November international break would still feel too soon. January is the very earliest Amorim’s departure should even be considered. But really, he should get at least the full season.
