Ruben Amorim was sacked after just 14 months as Man United manager but key figures at Old Trafford insist it wasn’t a total disaster.
Omar Berrada was possibly the loudest voice in the room when it came to Manchester United’s decision to appoint Ruben Amorim in November 2024, so it should probably come as no surprise that the chief executive is unwilling to write it off as a wasted 14 months.
That was the length of Amorim’s tenure at Old Trafford, and there was little evidence on the pitch that he would ever get things right before he was dismissed at the start of January, signing his own P45 after a bust-up with director of football Jason Wilcox.
Amorim’s tenure was put in context by the results delivered by predecessor Michael Carrick, who restored Kobbie Mainoo to the team, played Bruno Fernandes as an attacking midfielder and returned the side to a more natural back four.
But Berrada has insisted that Amorim’s time wasn’t a write-off, and even though he has skin in the game, he isn’t a lone voice at Old Trafford pointing out that the Portuguese head coach left Carrick with something of a legacy.
Asked if the appointment was a mistake, Berrada said: “I don’t see it as black or white in the sense that, yes, because it didn’t work out in the end the way we expected it to do, then you know you can look at it in hindsight and say it wasn’t the right appointment, but I actually think that Ruben deserves a lot of credit for many things.
“He went through a very difficult season last year. He was put under difficult circumstances, but he did help raise the standards in the dressing room. So, I think he deserves a lot of credit for that.
“I do think that he’s going to be a successful coach, and I wish him all the best. But, we did feel that we needed to make a change, and in the end, it’s worked out with Michael.”
Amorim is yet to return to the dugout following his departure from United, and he has kept his counsel since leaving the club, which is a shame given how open and volatile he could be in his media dealings while he was in the job.
Berrada refers to “difficult circumstances” that Amorim was put under, which might well relate to being appointed in the middle of the season, leaving Sporting for United after Erik ten Hag was sacked. Amorim wanted to move at the end of the season and, in hindsight, that would have been the right call.
He will have something to prove when he does return to work. His strict adherence to a 3-2-4-1 system didn’t work and a lack of flexibility didn’t enhance his own coaching credentials.
But Berrada is right to talk about Amorim raising standards in the dressing room. That is a view shared by those even closer to the dressing room than the chief executive.
Amorim was responsible for cutting adrift the likes of Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho, laying down the law to the squad through his non-negotiable attitude towards both when they didn’t conform to the standards he expected.
There is no doubt that United’s dressing room culture is better now than it was when Amorim arrived, and he has to take plenty of credit for that. Carrick is the man benefiting from a squad now pulling in the same direction, and one that is far easier to manage.
Berrada might understandably be keen to point out Amorim’s strengths, having pushed so hard for his appointment as his first major decision at Old Trafford, but it is a fair case to make.
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