RUBEN AMORIM AND THE QUOTE OF THE SEASON
"We are the worst team maybe in the history of Manchester United."
Thus spake Ruben Amorim, etching his name into the Old Trafford annals. He would be far from the first manager to break the taboo of openly blaming his players, but his wording was harsher than any castigation I can think of.
Ruben Amorim is up against it at Old Trafford |
Was he right? No, unless you think football began with the Premier League in the early nineties.
After losing to Brighton, United are 13th in the table but even if the unthinkable happens and they do go down in May it would not be for the first time.
As Denis Law's death reminded us, United fell a division in 1974, condemned by their former idol's back-heel for Manchester City. It was actually the fifth time the Red Devils had been relegated from the top flight since they were formed in 1878, although one trip through the trap door came in the green and yellow colours of Newton Heath in 1894. They have never made it to the third tier, although they needed a last day win in 1934 to avoid making the old third division.
So factually speaking no, this is not the worst United side, and Amorim's are obviously not that bad if they are the F.A. Cup holders and in the last month have knocked Arsenal out of the same competition, while in the league drawn away at Liverpool and won at Manchester City. Are everyone's memories that short?
Erik Ten Hag's Finest Hour was the 2024 F.A. Cup Final Defeat of Manchester City |
Should Ten Hag Have Stayed?
And yet, there has not been the expected bounce a new manager usually brings and many are wondering whether Ten Hag should have stayed. Six losses in his first 11 league matches places the Portuguese dead last in the list of the half dozen who have taken the poisoned chalice of the Man United job since Sir Alex Ferguson retired. So far so bad then, but not the worst team in their history.
The quip was thus deliberately provocative and designed to spread widely. "I know you want headlines...Here you go - your headlines," confirmed Amorim, but the question is whether this tactic will work or backfire. Will his players react by doubling their efforts to save their jobs and reputations or resent being blamed so callously and decide to throw their manager under the bus instead. It is certainly a gamble, but Amorim feels exasperated.
United's players will surely be asked to comment on that comment from now on, which will make for awkward viewing. United's press officer will find it hard to enact any type of media strategy this season beyond damage limitation, but shifting the blame may take some pressure off the manager.
Amorim has probably got the fans on side by speaking so candidly, adding cleverly, "Imagine what this is for a fan of Manchester United," and more importantly his fury was meant to send a clear call to the board to give him some transfer money quickly before the January window closes.
3-4-3 or Bust
As regards the team, fingers are being pointed at the new coach's insistence on bringing the 3-4-3 shape he has always used to Old Trafford. Clearly the current squad are inept at it, which may mean another couple of transfer windows to recruit the right players for that system.
The beleaguered board have only just recovered from handing Erik Ten Hag a £617 million transfer kitty only for the team to slip into 14th spot by October 2024, yet given United's ongoing travails and Amorim's stubbornness over his method, they will have no choice but to shell out again and sell some fan favourites to balance the books. As a storied name with the league's biggest fan base and stadium, United are just too big to let fail.
Football is a results-based business and every manager must bring the wins or lose their job at some point. The board are not planning on firing Amorim but if he has lost the dressing room with an ill-judges swipe even he could receive his marching orders if relegation is a real worry by early spring.
At this stage in the season, the switch from Ten Hag to Amorim looks like another fine mess from on high and United post-Fergie remains a genuinely impossible job. Before we condemn Amorim, it is worth remembering the challenge was too much as well for David Moyes, Louis Van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as well as Ten Hag.
The Portuguese has thrown the cat amongst the pigeons with his latest comment and the task in hand has become more urgent.
Whatever some fans might say, it is never boring at Old Trafford.
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(c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile