Yep, I started another thread on this subject. The decline in quality in the last few years has been stark. And those guys weren’t perfect we know but this lot…. Wow.
Ruben Amorim - Manchester United Head Coach
- Thread starter sewey89
- Start date
During his first year, we lost 7-0. He also insisted that Antony is unstoppable and that Wout is doing great as a striker (from that, it was evident that he cannot understand whether his players are good or not, and that's why he spent 600 million on mediocre players that all need to be replaced now).
I didn't see any promises, sorry. I only saw warning signs that ETH is not very good at this job. And now we see that Amorim cannot do anything better with the same players ... so how can anyone be confident that Amorim is a better manager than ETH??? If you give the same players to two different managers, the better manager should be able to do a little better, right? That's the definition of a "better manager": do better using the same players. Everything else is just excuses. We are not talking about winning the league, or playing extraordinary football, we a talking about doing a little better, just a little. Does anyone see anything better than four months ago?
I am not sure why some people have such difficulty to understand that there are worse, better, and world class players --- and there are worse, better and world class managers. Not all the players that we get are great players, and not all the managers that we hire are great managers.
Pogba Matic Bruno Lukaku Martial Mason Rashford
to
Mainoo Casameiro Bruno Hojund Zirkzee Amad Garnacho
Definetely younger, but also less experienced and less prolific
to
Mainoo Casameiro Bruno Hojund Zirkzee Amad Garnacho
Definetely younger, but also less experienced and less prolific
The 4th season they also finished 13th with a -1 GD
It’s a big loss to lose McFred. People are insane here to be so happy to see them let go. We deserve this shit squad.
Bar Mason and Bruno (who is of course already here and in sharp decline) none of these players are any good today. So we were right to move them on, issue is our recruitment has been poor in replacing them
Well i think the thought was to replace them with better players. We got lucky with Mainoo, and i'd consider Ugarte an upgrade. The forwards, however, yikes.
That’s a very simplistic way of looking at it. We gave the squad of one manager to another manager and said ‘go on then, play your very specific system which we knew up front you were going to play, without the players you need, and by the way we’ve got no money to buy any’. It’s a recipe for diasaster. You either back the guy, or you don’t hire someone who plays a very specific way that doesn’t suit your team. If anything the DOF should be looked at here, because it’s clearly a mismatch.
I’m not sure it’s as simple as saying ‘well if he’s a better manager he’ll do better won’t he’, it’s ignoring any nuance or reason he might be hindered. A great coach can fail at one club and succeed at another. It doesn’t mean he was never a great coach.
No but you give him more than a few months and TBH SAF arguably inherited a better squad than Amorin has
Buying players like that is not an option for us.
Smart would have been to sign Wirtz from Köln, like Leverkusen did.
Don’t disagree. You can make a strong argument that the best squad post SAF was under Ole.
Christ. A Richard Key's blog? What kind of masochist would one have to be to read a Richard Key's blog?
Mainoo doesn't have the speed or stamina to play in a midfield two, and Ugarte is too limited on the ball to progress into a top team.
I really wish Ronaldo (my favourite) did not have to return to OT. Ole was on the cusp of something special with that team, I still rate Ole very highly. Finishing second twice in THE LEAGUE, reaching a UEL final, all by playing swashbuckling counter attacking football. The return of Ronaldo brought jealousy and polarised the team and Ole lost the plot. I wish him well at Besiktas. We have been unlucky with managers ever since. Sad.
Whatever players we've been linked with for him, are all good players who would do well in a different system too. I really don't get the fuss about that.
Under ETH we signed bad players, nothing to do with systems and such. Signing Case and Varane at that stage of their careers, Antony/Hojlund being very high spending flops, that has nothing to do with being bought for the system.
That Sporting fan on reddit absolutely nailed it a few months back 
https://www.reddit.com/r/ManchesterUnited/comments/1hcj4fb/from_a_sporting_cp_fan_regarding_r%C3%BAben_amorim/
https://www.reddit.com/r/ManchesterUnited/comments/1hcj4fb/from_a_sporting_cp_fan_regarding_r%C3%BAben_amorim/
Maybe he can make half the Glazers disappear too, so at least something good comes from the cull.
The facts are plain and simple.
ETH took a problematic squad and made it 10 times worse. Absolutely dogshit summer window by INEOS also.
After a king's ransom worth of money, our most valuable players are 2 academy youngsters and a young player bought by Ole years ago.
Amorim has to deal with the consequences.
It's bullshit that we have some sort of top 6 squad that are held back by the system or the "coaching". We have a squad that's barely good enough for midtable.
And don't quote the carabao and fa cup. Any team can do a cup run, I recall Wigan winning it from Championship.
People seem to forget how Coventry had us in the bag, we were saved by VAR offside (VAR offside means it's impossible to see real time). We got found out in CL in the easiest group.
We have 3-4 decent players who blow hot and cold (Garnacho, Amad, Bruno, Mainoo), a goalkeeper who has a mistake waiting to happen in every game. A few permanently injured players ( Shaw, Mount, Martinez). A bunch of average players and a bunch of really bad ones.
They'll be as horrible in 4 at the back.
ETH took a problematic squad and made it 10 times worse. Absolutely dogshit summer window by INEOS also.
After a king's ransom worth of money, our most valuable players are 2 academy youngsters and a young player bought by Ole years ago.
Amorim has to deal with the consequences.
It's bullshit that we have some sort of top 6 squad that are held back by the system or the "coaching". We have a squad that's barely good enough for midtable.
And don't quote the carabao and fa cup. Any team can do a cup run, I recall Wigan winning it from Championship.
People seem to forget how Coventry had us in the bag, we were saved by VAR offside (VAR offside means it's impossible to see real time). We got found out in CL in the easiest group.
We have 3-4 decent players who blow hot and cold (Garnacho, Amad, Bruno, Mainoo), a goalkeeper who has a mistake waiting to happen in every game. A few permanently injured players ( Shaw, Mount, Martinez). A bunch of average players and a bunch of really bad ones.
They'll be as horrible in 4 at the back.
I’m going to take this at face value.
£60 odd million for Gyokeres,
£50 odd million for the number 10,
£50m for the second midfielder, then around £70m combined for 2 defenders.
————
£230m, a snip for the likes of Sir Ineos.
Add the wages you'll need to pay to convince players worth their salt to join a 15th placed United that lost more than they won
He also had to deal with Ronaldo, the player everyone wanted (Sancho) was a malingering dud, the midfield solution (Mount) fooled the physios and medical staff, his best finisher (Greenwood) had some “off field issues”.
Licha, Yoro, DeLigt, Masraoui were improvements.
Antony, Mount, Onana, Zirkzee, Malacia, Højlund, Casemiro were calamitous signings. How many were Ten Hag’s wish list, and how many were the owners saying “it’s this player or no one “? The people who thought those shitty signings were good are still around. I don’t think any manager would pass on getting a new player if there were any hope they’d be better than the current player. Our scouting department, medical staff, and owners shoulder most of the blame.
Do you not subscribe to the theory of coaching, or is it the system part you don’t believe in? There are no goals in this team. The head coach has to address that, and Amorim has not.
Yes, if we ignore the trophies he won, then he clearly won no trophies.
Onana got found out. We got knocked out via goalkeeper clangers. Højlund was surprisingly doing well in Europe. And we were far from the only club that got a lucky decision or rode their luck.
If we need goals — which we do — playing a system that puts our erstwhile scorers further from the goal and supported by an easily overrun midfield with wide players who can’t cross unless it’s a rabona, coaching and formation do matter. That extra defender takes a body out of midfield, and leads to suicidal partnerships like Casemiro and Bruno in a 2. It also nullifies whatever positive influence Bruno (aka the only creator) may have had when played so deep. It’s really not that difficult to set us up so we don’t get manhandled by the likes of Spurs.
This squad was good enough for midtable before our recent flood of injuries. 9th - 11th is our zone.
After watching us for the last two months, this just seems like blind hope at this point.That Sporting fan on reddit absolutely nailed it a few months back
https://www.reddit.com/r/ManchesterUnited/comments/1hcj4fb/from_a_sporting_cp_fan_regarding_r%C3%BAben_amorim/
He "started midway through the season but much later and finished fourth instead of third".
He started in March, and won most of their remaining games only losing to Porto and Benfica. Not quite the same as what's going on here, is it? We're finishing 15th instead of 8th. Maybe the PL is just that little bit more competitive than the Portugese league?
But anyone insisting that he'll repeat this pattern from Sporting here must be excited that we're going to win the title very soon. Considering he did that for Sporting in his first full season there, I'm sure we're on schedule to win the title in his second full season here at the latest.
yeah this is so true, and the way we move in the market just by acquiring young talent also not helping, without good culture this player will become deadwood in the next 5 years, we really do need to buy a leader in the dressing room like ibra back then.
There are people who would have lost out on being billionaires if they hadn't bought that lottery ticket. But it doesn't make it a good plan to bet on winning the lottery.
The fundamental issue with "giving managers time" is that time is finite. A few misguided managerial appointments + time = a decade of failure.
Results did improve when Klopp took over Liverpool, albeit slightly. They went from 1.5 ppt to 1.6 ppt, they were 10th when he took over and then spent most of the season between 7 and 9, finishing 8th. They also had an improved goal difference relative to the previous season as their goalscoring improved. Plus they had two solid cup runs.
City in Guardiola's first year finished with a much higher point tally than previous season (78 to 66), and improved goalscoring record. So they didn't really take a step back.
Yeah pretty much spot on.That Sporting fan on reddit absolutely nailed it a few months back
https://www.reddit.com/r/ManchesterUnited/comments/1hcj4fb/from_a_sporting_cp_fan_regarding_r%C3%BAben_amorim/
Sancho drama was in the 2nd ETH season. He actually contributed in his first.
Everyone wanted him because he looked great in Germany.
Mount as midfield solution is laughable take, he was bought to be attacker.
Greenwood situation is regrettable.
With Ronaldo he dealt in the worst way possible. Insulted one of the best players to wear the shirt. Failed to use properly one of the greatest finishers in world football.
There are no goals in this team, because the players who are expected to score them are just bad. Coach can only do so much.
There is a pattern - in every game we play there is at least one baffling miss and at least one huge goalkeeper howler.
Licha had dreadful and amazing periods. The fact that he always gets injured puts him into average list. But let's agree he and De Liht are some sort of upgrade on Linde amd Maguire. But not by a large margin by any means.
Yoro is potential for the future.....
Mazraoui is another fullback who looks miles better at centre back. Don't really see him as upgrade on AWB.
We won the trophies with huge doses of luck. It's not like we cruised through. That's why I don't see them as any evidence that the squad is good enough. We were 1 inch away from losing 3-0/3-4 to fecking Coventry.
I agree - the squad level is 10ish place. We are slightly underperforming right now.
And that's my point. ETH transfers gradually made a squad that was struggling for top 6 a squad that is struggling for top 10.
He used up a thousand leprechauns worth of luck to get a few results in the process.
I fully concur with this post. In business, the test of a good manager is his ability to maximise the resources at his disposal and there are always early signs, this is why performance review meetings are done monthly. I lost faith in Ten Hag after losing to Sevilla in the UEL, that match encapsulated everything about Ten Hag and I knew he was not going to be a great coach for us. Ruben Amorim has proven much earlier that he simply cannot maximise the resources at his disposal, and his rigidity is quite shocking. Even if he wants to insist on a 3 defender formation (to save face) why not alter slightly to a very well balanced 3-5-2? 3-4-3 is a notoriously unbalanced formation which creates gaps and exposes all players by cutting down their efficiency - marking, positioning, attacking all become unduly cumbersome. The EPL is an unforgiving league, the supposed smaller teams would punish any loopholes available. 3-4-3 can only work in a weaker league where the biggest teams evidently dominate the smaller teams, not the EPL. If Amorim does not start getting consecutive wins, then he can excuse us please, the quality in our team is way beyond 15th place. It's shocking. The board definitely have their shortcoming, however they have been backing our recent managers on the field. £600m+ for Ten Hag is a lot. They also paid £8+ to buy out Amorim's contract at Sporting, that is good commitment from the board, I wish that money was better spent on a dynamic coach WITH EPL EXPERIENCE. I was all out for Thomas Frank or Marco Silva (Iraola had not yet taken the league by surprise then.) It's a difficult situation and I genuinely fear a team as structured in their play and disciplined as Everton (Moyes has taken them above us already.) Hoping for the best.
Just buy Sporting's entire 25 man squad (market value of £384 million) in the summer, and bob's your uncle. Name on the trophy, 2026!After watching us for the last two months, this just seems like blind hope at this point.
He "started midway through the season but much later and finished fourth instead of third".
He started in March, and won most of their remaining games only losing to Porto and Benfica. Not quite the same as what's going on here, is it? We're finishing 15th instead of 8th. Maybe the PL is just that little bit more competitive than the Portugese league?
But anyone insisting that he'll repeat this pattern from Sporting here must be excited that we're going to win the title very soon. Considering he did that for Sporting in his first full season there, I'm sure we're on schedule to win the title in his second full season here at the latest.
Crystal Palace are doing fine under Glasner and they are playing that as well. This point just is wrong.
I mentioned that they regressed in the league in year 3 AND 4.
Forcing him to come mid season. If they’re expecting results straight away and didn’t accept that the players might not fit his system, and that he’d be judged before being backed, then they fecked him over.
The simplest answer is subpar players. Some of them have failed for years under different coaches. Some of them have never achieved anything and were signed by us. Some of them were at other big clubs where they had already failed, and were signed by us. There’s not many “winners” in this team.
Yes, I actually do expect a noticeable improvement.. those who don't are just here to give him more excuses.
Firstly, he has had full week training sessions since mid January anyway, yet there are no improvements from Ipswich game.
Secondly, out of the starting 11, only 2 players were really missing.. Amad and Ugarte. Spurs outplayed us whilst they have had a bigger injury concern.
Stop making excuses for the manager underperforming this badly.
Martinez would also have played, and probably Collyer and Mainoo would have both started ahead of Casemiro.
Spurs didn't outplay us, and they had a lot of their players back and at least on the bench, including the guy who scored for them.
It was still a disappointing display, but we should have have gotten at least a point from the game. Spurs had a majority of the possession, but it was pretty aimless and non-threatening
It's 2-3 from the likely starting XI. But one thing Amorim did well so far has been in game adjustments and subs, something he wasn't capable to do at all this game for obvious reasons
We have rotated our defence this season, Martinez was out before this game anyway. Bruno and Ugarte seems to be his preferred CM pairing.
They created at least 4/5 great chances to score, along with the one they did score. A Spurs team that hadnt won at home in a while too.
This is a poor Spurs team that outclassed us.
As a squad we had injuries, but the starting 11, we were only missing 2 really.
Wise up mate... injuries happen in football. a few injuries and apparently the manager is not supposed to show improvements or win football games.
Shows the standards some of you have.., "We can only improve as a squad if 100% of players are fit in training"
Yes, that was the quote, starting 11 but some people on here struggle to read.