Manchester United’s season has been ruined by the sacking of Ruben Amorim, and things could get even worse for the Red Devils. They confirmed the news on Monday morning and released a short statement saying Mr. Amorim had been relieved of his duties. His comments came less than 24 hours after he appealed to senior management to stop interfering with his role after Sunday’s draw with Leeds United.
These comments traveled like a lead balloon to United’s upper echelons, who wasted no time in giving Amorim the favor. Darren Fletcher will take charge against Burnley on Wednesday, with an interim manager expected to lead the team until the end of the season. United are reportedly unlikely to appoint a permanent manager until the summer, leaving them stuck until nearing the end of the campaign.
In some ways it’s a shame that United acted impulsively and dumped Amorim despite his poor performance at Old Trafford. Last season, he also oversaw a disastrous finish to the Premier League and a disastrous defeat to Tottenham in the Europa League final.
Despite United spending more than £200m on new players in the summer transfer window, things got even worse at the start of this season.
They only scored seven points in their opening six league games and suffered a humiliating defeat for the League Two side in the Carabao Cup, losing on penalties to Grimsby Town.
It would have been easy for United to sack Amorim at that point, but they decided to give him more time and were just starting to reap the benefits of that choice before being sacked.
A memorable win against Liverpool was the first sign that things were starting to look up for the Red Devils. The Premier League improved after this, and with half the season left they are just outside the top five in the division.
But all those green shoots went to waste and United sacked the manager who had finally started to turn things around and were back to square one.
United are reported to have stressed that Amorim’s sacking was purely for footballing reasons and not due to internal power struggles or his explosive outbursts after the game against Leeds. Personally, I don’t buy such things.
Despite Mr Amorim’s insistence that he should take more control, it seems far more likely that those in power knew better and wanted to stick with their flawed way of running football clubs.
In the summer there were whispers that INEOS were refusing to sign the players the manager wanted. The signs were already there.
As expected, internal dissatisfaction appears to have cost Amorim his job, meaning United will have to take over.
But who’s to say that the next coach will do even better? Perhaps the better question is: Would anyone in their right mind want to be in charge of United under a current government that has repeatedly proven that it cannot be trusted to make the right decisions?
There is a good chance that the Red Devils will regress without Amorim at the helm. Sure, he wasn’t perfect and stuck with his preferred tactics for too long, but he should have been given at least until the end of the campaign.
United had a chance to qualify for the Champions League this season, but they will be lucky to qualify for the Conference League. The clown show at Old Trafford continues.
