Or the unprofessional ones.
Ruben Amorim has been wrecking the Man United dressing room after the manager has gotten rid of quite a few players, most of whom needed to go.
Alejandro Garnacho, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Antony and Andre Onana. These were all players who are considered flops or were unprofessional espcially towards the end of their time at the club.
While I was upset with the lack of outgoings made during the transfer window and the deals we got for them (you can read my transfer window rating here or watch it here), but what I cannot deny is the simple fact that we got rid of them.
For so long, such personalities and low quality players have plagued the dressing room to a point where we've had the term 'player power' being brandished at our club for the sheer amount of times where it appeared as if the player/s held more power than the manager. The club also never did anything to rectify this,
until now.
With a new footballing structure as part of INEOS's takeover, we've seen a shift in terms of how things are done at United. Some things we know have been kind of awful while others have been exactly what we've been calling for.
This removal of a lot of players who aren't fit enough to be United players for one reason or the other is an indication of the club backing a manager.
We haven't seen something like this before. Usually, the manager is the one to get the axe rather than the players. Amorim is receiving the support other previous managers hadn't and it is kind of unusual terrirtory for us all.
As we know, there are many players that you and I deem not the level required to be at United. Some names may differ but I do believe most of the fan base are in agreement with a lot of those who need/needed to be moved on.
The thing is, while we may have all disagreed with Amorim coming out and backing some of these players, that didn't mean that he was going to keep them, as has come to pass.
Here are some of his quotes on Onana:
“He [Onana] has saved us many times, so we should have found a way to turn things around and score two goals to support our goalkeeper." This was after his mistake in the loss to Forest in which Onana completely missed a shot that was straight at him.
“Andre Onana will return as goalkeeper for the Europa League quarter-final second leg against Lyon…" Even though it was the then no 1's mistake at the end of the first leg that allowed Lyon to get a late 2-2 draw, the manager came out and backed his goalkeeper by putting all rumours to bed about his potential dropping from the team by saying he will start that now famous second leg at Old Trafford which highlighted Amorim's trust of the shot-stopper.
Yet Onana has only started one game this season which was the defeat to Grimsby in which he put in a typical Onana performance. He's played no minutes in the Premier League. Onana is now on his way to Turkish side Trabzonspor for a season-long loan.
On Antony, the manager said this:
“He did a great job improving in that position. He has to defend more but he has the ability to do it and has to do it himself." This was to encourage self-improvement and his responsibility in the team.
Amorim even said that "I want to keep my players" in mid-January although admitted that he doesn't know what's going to happen for the rest of that window. We know Antony went to Real Betis on loan and has now joined them on a permanent transfer.
In April, the manager defended his striker Rasmus Hojlund by saying that “I think if you look at the games, we have several players that missed big chances, not just Rasmus" emphasizing the need to improve collectively rather than him individually.
After the loss to Chelsea at the end of last season, Amorim was full of praise for the hard work shown by the Dane: “I’m happy… The way he ran, he fights for every ball… He needs to improve the connection but he’s improving so I’m really happy with him."
Even for the most notorious of them all, Amorim showed support for Garnacho: “He changed right away since that game against City. The way he understands things and understands that I just want to help him." This was after he was dropped from the matchday squad for the Derby in December.
“Garnacho’s performance was notably better compared to his recent games" - Amorim for Garnacho's performance against Arsenal.
All of these players were backed. All of these players are gone.
I suppose the manager has to come out publicly and back his players whether he believes what he's saying or not but the difference is, Amorim has then removed them from the club. Previous managers were themselves removed before any of the players as some of them are still here. We've heard the likes of Erik ten Hag, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Jose Mourinho say similar things to Amorim yet they were gone all the same and those players remained afterward.
So the next time we here Amorim praising and supporting a player who is shite, just remember these quotes.
Another quote comes to mind which emphasizes this cultural shift even further. Back in January 2024, Fabrizio Romano said something about incoming CEO Omar Berrada that pricked up all our ears.
He said that “Berrada knows that you have to perform, otherwise in 1-2 years, you have to leave the club" [The People's Person]. Romano added that players who remained at United for 3-4 years and never leave is unacceptable and "won't happen with the new board" which at the time, was still being created.
Now that Berrada is CEO and has been for a year, he is keeping true to his word. All those players mentioned above (Onana, Antony, Sancho, Hojlund) have been at United in this allotted time frame (1-2 years). While Sancho signed in 21/22, he was on loan all of last season and hardly played in 23/24 because of issues with ten Hag. This would mean he's only played for 1-2 years and in that time, has shown little and less of the player we thought we were getting from Dortmund.
It's similar with Antony. He was on loan at Real Betis for half of last season and in the previous 2-and-a-half seasons, was also nowhere near good enough to play for United. Hojlund and Onana both signed in 23/24 which makes this their third year at the club.
There's also been the removal of players like Christian Eriksen and Victor Lindelof who were also at the club beyond those 1-2 years with Lindelof being at Old Trafford since 17/18! Neither of them displayed the quality required and as there were no suitors for them, their contracts were allowed to expire before they eventually left.
Here is my ranking of the players signed and brought through by Erik ten Hag.
This is a list of all the players that have been let go of during INEOS's time at the club:
Scott McTominay - £25.7m sale to Napoli
Mason Greenwood - £23.2m sale to Marseille
Aaron Wan-Bissaka - £15m sale to West Ham
Willy Kambwala - £4.63m sale to Villarreal
Hannibal Mejbri - £5.4m sale to Burnley
Facundo Pellistri - £5.1m sale to Panathanaikos
Alvaro Fernandez - £5m sale to Benfica
Donny van de Beek - €500k to €12.7m
Raphael Varane - free transfer
Omari Forson - free transfer
Anthony Martial - released as free agent
Brandon Williams - released
Sofyan Amrabat - returned to parent club
Marcus Rashford - loan (buy option included)
Jadon Sancho - loan
Antony - £19m sale to Real Betis
Tyrell Malacia - loan to PSV
Alejandro Garnacho - £40m sale to Chelsea
Andre Onana - loan to Trabzonspor
You can't tell me that all of those players didn't deserve to be moved on? For differing reasons, each of those players had to find new clubs because they were just not what we needed at the time. Some of them were also on high wages which was money being wasted by the club. Removing them meant saving a hell of a lot from their pay.
The problem is, while all those players needed to be moved on, there is still more that have to go if you look at Berrada's time frame:
Altay Bayindir (not good enough, signed in 23/24)
Diogo Dalot (inconsistent form, signed in 18/19)
Harry Maguire (inconsistent form, is 32-years-old, earns £190k-a-week, signed in 19/20)
Tyrell Malacia (not good enough, signed in 22/23)
Luke Shaw (inconsistent form, injury prone, earns £150k-a-week, signed in 14/15 [good lord!])
Mason Mount (inconsistent, injury prone, earns £150k-a-week, signed in 23/24)
Casemiro (not good enough, is 33-years-old, earns £250k-a-week, signed in 22/23)
That is so much business that still needs to be done but if we truly want to change the culture, I believe that all of these players need to go as well. They were part of old regimes and have never really been consistently good.
From our current squad of 34 players, I deem just 14 good enough to stay at United. Some like Ugarte for instance, is on thin (ish) ice as he's only been here for a year yet has displayed inconsistent form himself. Having only signed last season, it gives him some leeway although he really does need to step things up.
But with this clear-out, it's at least a start. To have removed so many that shouldn't be at the club for whatever reason (quality, professionalism, character, injuries), is what we've been crying out for for a long time. This shows the board backing the manager and it also means we need to sign new players, who are hopefully better than those who left.
The signings of Cunha, Mbeumo, Sesko and Lammens are also indicators of this shift in culture at United. These are some of the better players in their position although admittedly with Sesko, he is still young and developmental despite being considered as perhaps the best young striker in football whereas with Lammens, he is the great unknown. Should be better than what we have though 🤣.
But what do you make of INEOS removing such players? It's about time we started to see something like this, isn't it?
Jadon Sancho and Antony | Creator: Eddie Keogh | Credit: Getty Images Copyright: 2023 Getty Images via Man Utd News
Andre Onana | Creator: Michael Steele | Credit: Getty Images Copyright: 2025 Getty Images via Man Utd News
Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford | Creator: Naomi Baker | Credit: Getty Images Copyright: 2022 Getty Images via Man Utd News