Ruben Amorim was under no illusions that he was taking on a task of epic proportions when he agreed to become Manchester United manager.
Amorim continually emphasised that he was not a miracle worker after walking through the door at Carrington in November. He stressed that what he wanted to achieve at United would take time and called for patience.
But just three months into his spell in charge at Old Trafford, there are already worrying signs, with whispers of his unhappiness surfacing amid suggestions Amorim could consider his future already. United sit 15th in the Premier League table, with the club in the middle of their worst league campaign for 51 years.
Amorim has managed 10 wins from his 21 games across all competitions, with the highs of their draw at Anfield and victory over Arsenal in the FA Cup overshadowed by the much more regular crushing lows. Things are not going to plan, but could Amorim really be pondering a swift exit from one of the biggest jobs in football?
Mirror Football consider the reasons behind his disaffection and outline the unthinkable for the Portuguese boss after a miserable start to his time in the hot seat.
Arguably the biggest reason for unhappiness across the board at United is Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who has embarked upon a disaster class in his first year of owning the club. The petrochemicals billionaire arrived last February on a wave of goodwill, due to the unpopularity of the Glazer family, but public opinion has turned since.
Ratcliffe has spent the past year cutting costs all over the place, making staff redundant – including Sir Alex Ferguson – while generally making himself into a Scrooge figure. His impact behind the scenes cannot have made Carrington a happy place to work for Amorim and his coaching staff.
Those savings have extended into footballing matters, with Ratcliffe making it clear that what he sees as the previous culture of excess needs changing. The January transfer window started with the bombshell that United were willing to listen to offers for any of Amorim’s squad – a stance which set the tone for what was to come.
While United did sign Patrick Dorgu to fill the problem position of left wing-back, they did not bring in the striker that Amorim craved. To compound matters, they actually weakened the position by letting forwards Marcus Rashford and Antony leave on loan.
One of Ratcliffe’s biggest blunders came in the form of Dan Ashworth. United went through a great deal of strife to land Ashworth from Newcastle, paying around £3million to services after a bitter dispute, only to sack him five months later following disputes behind the scenes.
Technical director Jason Wilcox has stayed put, alongside chief executive Omar Berrada, who was also brought in by INEOS, but the impression of a lack of clear direction remains at the very top of the club. That filters down to Amorim and his Portuguese staff, who are unlikely to have a positive feeling about those running the club they joined.
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Amorim was always going to bring his favoured 3-4-2-1 formation with him from Sporting Lisbon to United – and it was always going to take a bit of time for the players to get used to things. But Gary Neville’s exasperated tones on co-commentary during the 1-0 defeat by Tottenham on Sunday summed up the disjointed nature of things right now, with United’s wonky midfield exploited easily by Spurs.
Rumours have followed that United’s players are talking behind the manager’s back, unhappy with the tactics that have been implemented. They are said to be losing confidence with the direction Amorim is taking the side, believing their wins are down to individual quality, rather than the collective.
Amorim admitted in November that he would have preferred to stay with Sporting until the end of the season, before taking over United in the summer of 2025. He wanted a full pre-season and summer transfer window to build things, but was told it was now or never.
His initial doubts about taking over Erik ten Hag’s side mid-season have played out – and it doesn’t take much imagination to consider why he might want to cut his losses now and leave with his reputation largely intact. Amorim is a proud man and, were he to walk away, he would still make the shortlists being compiled by sporting directors across Europe.
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