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Ruben Amorim will reportedly “break his silence” over his explosive sacking as Manchester United head coach – but only once the season ends, according to well-placed sources in Portugal.
New year, new coach
INEOS’ decision to take the ax during Amorim’s tumultuous period in early January sent shockwaves through the Premier League.
Despite fourteen months of loyal support for the 40-year-old coach – appointed after impressively re-establishing Sporting Clube de Portugal at the top of Portuguese football – the hierarchy felt there was no alternative after a bleak Christmas period. Amorim’s much-maligned 3-4-2-1 system was the subject of intense scrutiny during his time at the club, with figures at Old Trafford – including recruitment director Christopher Vivell – believing United were too predictable to play against.
Amorim had previously said only the Pope could get him to change his approach, based on three centre-backs and full-backs instead of wingers.
But in the Boxing Day match with Newcastle United, divine intervention struck the Theater of Dreams, heavily affected by the absence of a number of key players through injury or international duty, as United lined up with a 4-2-3-1 – and secured an unlikely 1-0 win as a result.
The move sparked a wave of optimism at the club, both in the fanbase and in the boardroom, that Amorim was ready to adapt his dogmatic system, with a sub for Antoine Semenyo sanctioned when United told the Ghana international he would play on the left wing – an indication that a change in form would remain.
However, the Bournemouth talisman rejected these advances in favor of a move to the blue half of Manchester, with a sense of frustration from Amorim that more was not done to get him one of his top targets: a player with the physicality and work-rate to replicate the effect of a full-back from a more advanced role.
For the next match, against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Amorim overruled the Papacy and returned to his familiar three-back system, despite the Black Country side being stranded at the bottom of the table. Under the bright lights of Old Trafford, a 1-1 draw against the worst side in the league in a performance devoid of attacking intent saw INEOS highlight this decision.
Sporting director Jason Wilcox met with Amorim three days later. This was standard practice for their working relationship, but there was nothing usual about the Portuguese coach’s reaction to it.
It is believed Wilcox requested changes to his system; the need to develop and improve it. Amorim’s reaction was furious, he told the director that the players needed to change, rather than his approach, and threatened to call his agent to facilitate an exit. Three days later, after a 2-2 draw against Leeds United at Elland Road and a bombastic post-match interview, Amorim got the second half of his wish.
Sources at the club insist that the reason behind the decision was a lack of progress on the pitch, while others point to this explosive outburst between Amorim and Wilcox as the straw that broke the camel’s back. Either way, the result was the same: INEOS swung their scythe and the king was dead.
Carrick the manager
In the wake of Amorim’s departure, under-18s coach Darren Fletcher took charge of the senior side on an interim basis, before Michael Carrick returned to the club as permanent caretaker until the end of the season.
The transformation the former England international has experienced – three wins against Manchester City, Arsenal and Fulham – has been nothing short of remarkable.
And the fact that he has achieved this by making simple adjustments, such as reinstating Kobbie Mainoo into central midfield and pushing Bruno Fernandes into the number 10 role, puts further scrutiny on Amorim’s decision-making process.
United’s ethos as a football institution is difficult to describe in precise terms; Attacking football that is as daring as it is courageous, using flying wingers and a back four, and a determined commitment to making young players the beating heart of the team, would be a loose approach to this underlying identity.
Performance under Amorim was often as turgid as it was ineffective; the decision to deploy wing-backs rather than wing-backs, to create width, eschewed all conventional tactical insights; and the Portuguese coach’s attitude towards young players raised alarm bells among the club’s leaders.
Whoever is chosen as his long-term successor this summer, whether it is Carrick or, more likely, a new head coach, he will be expected to maintain the changes the 44-year-old has introduced and implement a system that fits with the club’s traditions rather than deviates from them.
Ruben waits to strike
There has been a certain peculiarity to Amorim’s radio silence since his departure, with the former Sporting Clube de Portugal manager having quietly returned to the Portuguese capital along with his young family.
However, sources in Lisbon indicate he is simply biding his time in a bid not to destabilize United’s push for European football this season. Once the campaign ends, he plans to “break his silence on how things quickly deteriorated” at Old Trafford, the newspaper said. Daily mail.
It is clear that Amorim has “no desire” to negatively impact the Red Devils when there is still so much to play for. And while this may seem like a noble intention on paper, it signals a belief that his ‘side of the story’ will prove to be such a bombshell that it will cause a stir in Manchester.
The 40-year-old tactician has been heavily linked with a quick return to the dugout, with Benfica said to be keeping an eye on him as Atletico Madrid also prepare for the possible departure of Diego Simeone.
Amorim remains a talented young coach who will undoubtedly find success at another club; his philosophy was simply at odds with Manchester United’s identity, and his stubborn refusal to accept this led to a fair dismissal, whatever interpretation he might give this summer.
Featured image Carl Recine via Getty Images
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