Ruben Amorim claimed after Manchester United's defeat at Brentford that he is never worried about losing his job and that is just as well because, sooner or later, he is going to get his marching orders at Old Trafford. The results speak for themselves. His team have lost 17 of their 33 Premier League matches while winning just nine times. If you want to find a United coach with a worse win percentage in the league, you have to go back to before the Second World War.
While United's fan base is far more supportive of coaches than at most other top clubs, patience with Amorim is running thin. After the limp surrender at the Gtech Stadium, social media was awash with calls for the Portuguese to be sacked. The pundit class were also baffled as to how the Portuguese could continue to struggle on with results as bad as they are.
"You look at it and he only has a win percentage of one per cent more than Graham Potter, who has been sacked. How is he still in the job?" asked Martin Keown on the . "We can talk about the owners backing him, but ultimately it's just not working," said Micah Richards. "I don't see where Manchester United go with this unless they change manager," added Ashley Williams.
They are not the only ones. GOAL lays out six reasons why United need to end the Amorim experiment right now…
Getty Images SportHe refuses to change
While all good managers should have a vision and a philosophy, adapting to your players' strengths and trying to make the most of them is part of the job. Amorim, though, has refused to stray from his 3-4-3 formation and he has made his stubbornness his unique selling point. In his first press conference he proudly declared "there is no second way", and the drudge of terrible results since has not made him reassess his methods. Last week he claimed that not even the Pope could convince him to change his mind about how his team should play.
He has had more than enough time for his players to get used to the formation and his style, including a whole pre-season campaign and now full weeks of training sessions due to a lack of European football. But his message is not getting through and Amorim is resembling a captain who is refusing to change direction as his ship heads towards an iceberg.
Amorim has repeatedly stated that the only way for United to change their way of playing is to get rid of him. And he is giving them no other option.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportAlienating top players
The suspension received by Casemiro for getting sent off against Chelsea gave Amorim a choice between Kobbie Mainoo and Manuel Ugarte. Yet again, he ignored the homegrown midfielder who many fans saw as the club's future and picked the Uruguayan, who has none of the technical ability of the England international.
That Amorim refused to give Mainoo his first league start of the season was hardly surprising. He has never rated a player who is among the most talented in the squad, largely because he doesn't fit into his rigid system. Mainoo knows this, which is why he asked for a loan move towards the end of the transfer window.
That he requested a loan rather than a permanent move says it all: he does not want to leave United, but he sees little future for him while Amorim is in charge. And when he made the request he likely assumed that the coach would not be sticking around for much longer anyway.
Mainoo is far from the only talented player who Amorim has alienated. He forced Marcus Rashford out of the club and then did the same with Alejandro Garnacho. He also gave up on Rasmus Hojlund, even though the striker was willing to fight for his place. The club and coach need to part ways before he drives away any more stars.
Getty Images SportNo momentum
Amorim revealed the day before the Brentford game that all week he had been stressing to his players the importance of building momentum. The win over Chelsea gave the team the chance to win back-to-back league games for the first time under their manager, and for the first time since May 2024.
"It was everywhere," he said. "I think if we as a team don’t understand the momentum now, we have a big problem. So for me since we started the first training session we started talking about that. We need to understand the opportunity we have to win the next game [and build momentum]. The responsibility is on us. We need the sense of urgency that we need to win, no matter what."
But despite him hammering the message home, it did not get through. And Amorim is right. United have a massive problem if they cannot string two wins together for more than a year. Without any momentum there is firstly no prospect of picking enough points to get close to securing European football. Worst of all, though, there can be no hope of any lasting improvement.
Getty Images SportBasic mistakes
Amorim has said on a few occasions that his system is not the problem and in certain instances you have to agree with him. It is not a system problem which has led to Andre Onana and Altay Bayindir gifting the opposition goals, sometimes directly from corners. Harry Maguire cannot blame being in a back three for playing Igor Thiago onside at Brentford or for allowing Erling Haaland to destroy him in a race in the Manchester derby.
Nor can Bruno Fernandes' failure to score penalties at Brentford and Fulham be linked back to the coach's tactics. And yet, worrying things keep on happening on Amorim's watch and he has to take responsibility for them.
"The goals today, we worked on during the week. That is frustrating," he said. "I see the guys in training. I feel sometimes in the games, when things are really hard, they are not the same. But that is the pressure of the club."
There might be an element of truth to players' caving in under the weight of expectation which comes with representing United. But it is the coach's job to help them cope. And Amorim is not succeeding on that front.