Manchester United had decided to sack manager Ruben Amorim even before his outburst against his role at the club, a report has revealed.
Amorim was sent packing on Monday morning, less than 24 hours after a 1–1 draw with Leeds United which initially appeared to contribute to the decision.
A post-match press conference, in which Amorim rejected his own job title and challenged both the scouting department and sporting director to “do their job,” undoubtedly felt like the beginning of the end, given Enzo Maresca met the same fate at Chelsea in similar circumstances just days earlier.
The Telegraph report, however, that United had already decided to sack Amorim before his spectacular rant, and even before a ball was kicked at Elland Road.
The report claims sporting director Jason Wilcox held a meeting with Amorim before the game which quickly descended into chaos. Talk about the team’s tactics saw Amorim “blow up” and Wilcox left the meeting confident that their relationship was not going to recover.
United ultimately sided with Wilcox, taking Amorim’s disappointing numbers into account, and prepared to part ways with the boss.
Amorim Fails to Survive Ultimatum
As Amorim informed the media of his determination to be United’s manager, rather than the head coach title with which he was formally known, it became clear that he was no longer satisfied with his role.
Managers tend to have greater involvement over every aspect of the club, including transfers, while the modern notion of a head coach is somebody asked to prioritise tactics and challenged to work with the resources provided to them by those upstairs.
Amorim had repeatedly questioned the club’s approach to transfers in a clear attempt to put pressure on United, and club officials ultimately decided against changing their strategy. With such a firm divide, Amorim’s position quickly became untenable.
Former United striker Wayne Rooney, who had questioned Amorim’s suitability for the club in the past, was among those to question his decision to come out firing against his employers.
“I think you need to earn the right to be able to dictate exactly what happens at a football club, especially a football club like Manchester United,” Rooney told his self-titled show before Amorim’s departure was made official. “If [Pep] Guardiola comes into United for instance, I don’t think anyone would question what players he wants to bring in, or the system.
“I feel for [Amorim] a little bit because the squad is not good enough, the players he’s got on the bench are young academy kids—it’s great to see them on the bench, but are they ready at this moment in time? It’s very difficult to put young players on to a football pitch when the team is not very good, so I feel for him a little bit.
“But he’s not Pep Guardiola or Jürgen Klopp. He hasn’t got that history or that background, so I don’t think he should be speaking with that authority in what he is and I just think the words he’s saying are very confusing to me.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘Unsustainable’—When Man Utd Decided to Sack Ruben Amorim Revealed.
