Ruben Amorim ‘remarkably relaxed’ about terrible Man United season after Man City
Ruben Amorim’s “remarkably relaxed” view of Manchester United’s poor season is drawing criticism with the club 13th in the Premier League.
The Portuguese coach took charge in Manchester following the sacking of Erik ten Hag and departure of interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy, having attracted interest from his success with Sporting Lisbon.
Amorim won five titles across four years with the Leões, including two Primeira Liga Titles, two Taça da Liga and one Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira.
However, the 40-year-old has been unable to show many glimpses of restoring glory to Man United, with his side sitting just one place better off from Ten Hag’s final game as manager which saw them lose narrowly to West Ham.
Former Crystal Palace chairman and talkSPORT pundit, Simon Jordan, has suggested that Amorim is far too comfortable when saying that Man United have had the worst season in the club’s history and that so far, the new coach is underpromising to the fans in the hopes he can over deliver.
Amorim too accepting of Man United’s poor season
Speaking live on talkSPORT on Monday (7, April), host Jim White asked which of the Manchester clubs had fallen further from their standards this season, in which Jordan replied: “Oh, United. I don’t like the way that Amorim is too comfortable to keep on saying it’s the ‘worst season’. I know it’s a way of disarming the questions that are inevitably coming, because it will either be them [the media] or him saying it.
“[But] he seems to be remarkably relaxed about keeping on trotting out that line. I’m sure that everyone gets the picture that he probably didn’t want to come in midseason and ultimately it’s not his team and he has a style of play, but the object of the aim was to raise the room, not dampen the spirits, not manage people’s expectations so you underpromise and over deliver.”
Man United in the same situation they were prior to Ten Hag sacking
Football Insider verdict
Despite winning the FA Cup against local rivals Manchester City last season, the expectations coming into this campaign under Ten Hag were not high.
Many believed that in spite of his triumph, the Dutch coach would be moved on during the summer months, with the decision to hold onto him now looks to have had a knock on effect on the whole season.
It’s difficult for any manager to hit the ground running without a full preseason, as this period can prove crucial in implementing new tactics and recruiting potential signings.
Even though Man United have made significant investment in the past with the likes of Anthony, Rasmus Højlund and Casemiro all commanding huge fees to sign, Amorim is yet to put his own stamp into the squad.
| Ten Hag’s most expensive signings | Fee |
| Anthony from Ajax | £82m |
| Højlund from Atalanta | £72m |
| Casemiro from Real Madrid | £62m |
However, even when considering these factors, Amorim needs to focus more on getting the best out of the players he has available.
His preference to play a 3-4-2-1 formation simply does not suit the personnel he currently has, with one recognised out and out wing-back in January signing Patrick Dorgu in the team and only Bruno Fernandes capable of playing as one of the attacking midfielders behind the striker.
It feels as if Amorim’s reluctance to deviate from his style at Sporting is his downfall so far during his time in England, and there will only be so long he can avoid the “worst” tags being directly his own fault.