Rio Ferdinand was not happy with one of Ruben Amorim’s early decisions at Manchester United as the head coach enters his first full year at Old Trafford
One of Ruben Amorim’s first decisions as Manchester United manager did not go down well with Rio Ferdinand. Today marks one year since Amorim officially started working for United, having been appointed earlier this month.
By that point, he had already made the cruel decision to sack club legend Ruud van Nistelrooy from his coaching staff and bring in his own talent from Sporting CP. The Dutchman took charge of four games on an interim basis following the sacking of manager Erik ten Hag, winning three and drawing one.
As a result, many United fans were hoping the former striker would stay on in some capacity. The decision to sack Van Nistelrooy drew criticism from Ferdinand, one of the Dutchman’s former United team-mates.
Ferdinand said on his Rio Ferdinand Presents YouTube show that the move risked alienating the players: “His audition couldn’t have gone any better and knowing him, I think at the heart of it was a steely determination to either stay at the club in some capacity or someone else say they need you as a manager, or I’m going to put myself in the best position.” He saw the role and produced it.
“The players needed it. We were in a period where there was a lot of turmoil, the relationship between the manager (ten Hag) and some of the players was fractured and seemed irreparable, but the fans seemed to have decided it was over.”
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“Then a new manager comes in and there’s always that kind of momentum, but this one seemed a little different than the momentum. The players really liked him and appreciated the way he taught them different things tactically, individually and as a team. And there was a real ‘we want to do well for this player’ feeling.”
Another former United star, Owen Hargreaves, felt that Van Nistelrooy should have been retained to work with attacking players like Rasmus Hojlund, Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford. “They need to learn from the greatest player of all time. You don’t have to be the protagonist, you don’t have to be the coach, but he can help them learn the details.”
Ferdinand agreed, adding: “We are sitting here waiting for the manager to communicate with the players. We have a manager now. Why are we going to sack him? The biggest hurdle and question mark will be the manager. It’s up to the manager to decide whether to keep Ruud or not.”
“It’s a difficult decision because it takes a tremendous amount of personality and character and confidence in what you do to say, ‘I don’t care who’s next to me, I can do this.’ We have to figure out if he’s going to be an added value or a distraction.”
It has been a tough road for Amorim, who held on to his job until the international break in October, but he was not afraid to make big decisions that could be unpopular. In particular, Hojlund, Rashford and Garnacho all didn’t fit into his plans and were moved on. And after a strong start to the season, there were signs of progress ahead of the current international break.
Van Nistelrooy soon returned to work, joining struggling Leicester City as manager, but resigned after failing to keep the Foxes in the Premier League.
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