WOW 😮. What. An. Interview 🤯!

Out of all the things to come out after the draw to Leeds, few would’ve expected an explosive interview from the current Man United manager regarding the current situation at Man United.

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Soooooooo much to breakdown from this post-match presser which for me, suggests that recent reports about disagreements between manager and club hierarchy could be true.

During the week, we saw news about how Amorim and Jason Wilcox are at odds:

“The TENSION between Ruben Amorim and Jason Wilcox is RISING.  

While the pair are in constant dialogue. Amorim’s recent comments suggest these chats are becoming increasingly "fraught".

The usual smiles and jokes were noticeably absent on Friday, and Amorim’s downbeat update on January transfers has only fuelled reports of increasing tension”, [NathSalt1 via The United Stand].

This was a few days ago.

After the Leeds draw, Ben Jacobs backed this up by saying:

“Understand there is growing tension between Ruben Amorim and Manchester United director of football Jason Wilcox.

Sources close to #MUFC say Wilcox would like Amorim to be more tactically adaptable, while the Manchester United boss is disappointed at the lack of planned activity in January having been told last year incomings were possible. Remains to be seen whether any senior arrivals come this month.”

There was even discussions about Head of Recruitment Christopher Vivell and issues with him and Amorim:

"Following the 1-1 draw away to Fulham in August, Christopher Vivell according to sources, was irritated at how United’s system was so brazenly explained and exploited.

Vivell was understood to have been so surprised at the comments [made by Marco Silva & Alex Iwobi] that he sent them to the WhatsApp group of United’s senior leadership and is said to have outlined the need to evolve to a less predictable system” [NathSalt1, MailSport via UtdXclusive].

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Going back to that first quote, the fact that it looks like we may not be doing business in January is an absolute joke! Looking at the squad in our last game, we had eight defenders/defensive players in the starting XI with a bench full of youngsters with the only attacking option being Joshua Zirkzee (he has 2 g/a in his last two matches) who has widely been reported to be on the move back to Italy this month.

Even though we’re missing eight players through injuries and AFCON duties, we see how threadbare the squad is with Amorim having to rely on players playing out of position as well as on players the manager probably doesn’t want to be relying on (Leny Yoro, Manuel Ugarte, Zirkzee).

We want Champions League football which thanks to the inconsistencies of others (Liverpool who drew their last two games as well, and Chelsea who held City to a 1-1 stalemate and have just sacked their manager), is still up for grabs. Despite drawing at Leeds United moved up into 5th before Chelsea's match at the Emptyhad which indicates just how open the league is.

However, to give us every opportunity to make it into the top 4/5, surely the board have to give the manager what is required to achieve the main goal of the season? I don’t see why they would jeopardize playing CL football next season by not signing anyone in January.

I too, am annoyed that this is possibly the case. I can only imagine what Amorim as the manager or head coach 👀 is feeling.

He’s never going to succeed with this type of “backing” with this interview probably being an insinuation of that.

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☝ This was the headline when Amorim was appointed. He’s now saying he came to United to be “the manager, not the Head Coach.”

Is this the potential lie he was sold?

His comments would suggest so.

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Amorim specifically mentioned the scouting and Sporting Director titles as people who “need to do their job” and that he will do his.

Who are the heads of those departments? Christopher Vivell, Head of Recruitment. Jason Wilcox, Director of Football.

These are the people that have reportedly had certain issues with Ruben Amorim.

I honestly feel like Amorim knew exactly what he was saying by mentioning these two departments specifically rather than just naming two random areas of the club.

With Wilcox having problems with a lack of tactical adaptability (and whatever else), I feel like they should just make Wilcox the manager. He seems to have a MASSIVE say on what goes on on the pitch and in this case tactics as well.

This is a quote from Pete Hall and The iPaperSport [via SimplyUtd] in which they talk about how Wilcox and CEO Omar Berrada would prefer if Amorim switched to a four-at-the-back formation:

“There have long been concerns at Manchester United about Rúben Amorim’s 3-4-3 system, with Jason Wilcox and Omar Berrada pushing for change, but Amorim has defiantly returned to it in recent matches."

I would question them by saying why did they hire a 3-4-3 manager if they didn’t back him by signing players for a 3-4-3 formation and then asking him to change to four-at-the-back because they didn’t back him?

I think Amorim himself is now asking the same questions.

Even if they wanted him to change to a back four, we would still need signings in January. Regardless of formation, tactics, or anything else, simple numbers are required because of how thin the squad was even before the absentees.

So this notion of not signing players in January is farcical despite differences when it comes to formation.

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We have also seen less and less of that famous Amorim smile he had when walking through the doors at Old Trafford and for a good portion of his first year at the club. Indeed, his entire body language and demeanor in recent weeks has displayed a man who’s become a shadow of his former self.

Dare I say it, Amorim looks like a dead man walking 💀.

No more smiles, distraught face, very little of the passion we saw in the early days. Similarly to a lot of players over the years, regardless of how good they were before they entered the club, eventually, through United awful culture, we sap the life out of them to the point where they too become shit, like we’re seeing with Amorim.

This doesn’t mean that Amorim or anyone else who’s experienced a similar situation isn’t completely absolved of blame. The manager has deserved his criticism because what we see on the pitch is nowhere near good enough and in a way, is kind of like what’s happening to Amorim himself: we as fans, were sort of lied to as well.

Playing one game a week hasn’t worked. The football isn’t great. The good days don’t seem to be coming. The manager does a lot of things that question whether he is actually good enough to be the manager of United to a point where I would question that if he were to be properly backed, whether he would be good enough anyway because a lot of what he does contradicts what he says.

But it’s because of what he says, that makes me want him to succeed more than any other manager.

It’s sounds pretty odd I know, considering what I just mentioned regarding how he kind of lied to us fans about the improvements for the campaign ahead yet when you listen to Amorim and for majority of his time at the club, you feel he’s in tune with the supporters because a lot of what he says is what we feel too. He is probably the manager who’s been the closest in terms of this to the fans compared to any previous manager.

Amorim is also honest (perhaps too honest at times) but I like this, I prefer it as it is his true thoughts and feelings and isn’t just any crap that sounds political.

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By saying what his said in this recent presser, I feel as though Amorim is done taking the hits for the club and board. We know he's done countless interviews over the course of his 14 months at United to a point where we ask why nobody else at the club is speaking to the media.

It can't always be the manager.

Now he's putting the focus onto them. If the hierarchy feels as if Amorim is talking nonsense or has undermined them in any way, then it's up to them to clarify things or to take action which would probably be his sacking. Everyone would then question why it has taken so long for this to happen but also why now? It's not as if things were great before this interview and they would have had these differences anyway.

I think at the end of the day, these comments might possibly the best thing that's happened to this club, even if it comes at the cost of Amorim's job.

It kind of reminds you of Ronaldo's explosive interview before he left.

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I also think that with what Amorim said, there's more focus on the board now than ever before. While there are still quite a few supporters who want the manager gone, there are many more who would want the hierarchy gone with him.

And I think that this has to be the case.

It was reported that CEO Berrada was the main man behind the appointment of Amorim. He was a strong advocate for bringing in the Portuguese over others. Former Director of Football (if you can call him former IYKWIM) Dan Ashworth apparently voted against the Amorim appointed to the point where he got sacked just months into the job.

This shows that INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe can be ruthless when needed. The sackings of several hundred staff members, cancelling of charity events, increased ticket prices and so on, are further indications of this ruthless nature.

Ratcliffe even said that the appointments of Ashworth was an error:

“I agree the Erik ten Hag and Dan Ashworth decisions were errors. I think there were some mitigating circumstances, but ultimately they were errors. I accept that and I apologise for that.”

As Berrada and Wilcox were important in hiring Amorim as the manager, surely they would have to be let go as well? Considering all the issues on the pitch and off of it and the fact that things have gotten so sour so fast, it would suggest that maybe Berrada and Wilcox (perhaps Vivell as well?) aren't suited for their positions?

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We often discuss young players being inconsistent. Ayden Heaven's performance against Leeds is a great example of this.

His overall game was solid yet he had a major part to play in the concession of a sloppy goal as he was too slow to react to the loose ball before Brenden Aaronson scored.

Such inconsistencies are what you're going to receive with young players. Benjamin Sesko, Patrick Dorgu, Leny Yoro are all youngsters who've received a lot of criticisms for their ups and downs throughout the campaign as well.

Amorim is a young manager. He's only been one for the past 8 years. Omar Berrada was never a CEO. He was the Chief Football Operations Officer at Man City. A high position indeed but not as high as CEO. City also do not have the pressures, expections and focus of United where things are on a much higher scale. Jason Wilcox was the Head of Academy at Man City, was a Director of Football for one year at Southampton, was made Technical Director at United in 2024 before being promoted to Director of Football taking over from Dan Ashworth.

INEOS have only been a football club owner for at least a decade when they acquired FC Lausanne-Sport in November 2017. They then bought OGC Nice in 2019 and in late 2023, a minority stake in United.

Fans of ALL three clubs are mainly unhappy with Sir Jim and INEOS.

My point here is that all of the co-owners, CEO, DOF, manager and a lot of the players are young and inexperienced in their own fields.

Inconsistencies will happen but we were never in a position to be taking such risks on and off the field?

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INEOS officially took over football operations at Old Trafford in February 2024. It's almost two years since then and one could argue that things have gotten worse. I don't know how you can get worse than the Glazers but here we are.

Ratcliffe also said earlier in the season that Amorim needs three years before we can truly judge him. Now, it seems that he may not see the next three days.

When you think about why Amorim took the job, you would believe that the club will have had to have given him reassurances about certain things such as backing him in order to make him a success at the Theatre of Dreams.

Amorim was probably sold on these reassurances only to end up where we are right now.

INEOS appear to have not kept to their promises.

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What did you make of this no holding back presser by Ruben Amorim? His time is probably up, isn't it?

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Ruben Amorim says that he came to Man Utd "to be the manager, not a coach" | Creator: Richard Heathcote | Credit: Getty Images Copyright: 2025 Getty Images via Man Utd News