Ruben Amorim has gone down as one of Manchester United’s worst ever managers, but Diogo Dalot now claims he was important in one way.
While Diogo Dalot has been vital for Michael Carrick, he shared a very close relationship with Ruben Amorim during his compatriot’s time at the club.
This is unsurprising, with Dalot and Amorim both Portuguese with claims in their home nation that the duo were cousins.
Dalot has always insisted Amorim deserved praise for his efforts at United, not necessarily for on the pitch reasons.
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Diogo Dalot says Ruben Amorim was more important than many think
Amorim was fired six months ago both for results over his 14 months in charge and also his vocal criticism of the way Jason Wilcox and others were acting.
But despite leaving on bad terms, Dalot has now told Portuguese outlet Sport TV that he believes Amorim is one of United’s most important bosses.
“I’m grateful for everything he did for the club. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: I think he will, without any doubt, be one of the most important managers throughout all the years I was there. And that’s hard to believe, because the results on the pitch didn’t come.
“But everything he did behind the scenes, everything he fought for every single day, and obviously having that daily perspective of seeing what he was trying to do and implement at the club every day, I think he was fundamental because he ended up changing a lot of things behind the scenes that many people didn’t see.”
Dalot then continued to insist that his legacy will remain.
“Of course. And for me, that will undoubtedly be his legacy. Obviously, I would have preferred that he had stayed and won more games, because he’s an excellent coach. But football dictated otherwise.”
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Manchester United can thank Amorim for improved dressing room
In his time at the club, Amorim made a lot of mistakes for United, but for all his faults he did spearhead a change needed at the club for years.
United were the worst on the pitch for a generation, so there is no revisionism over Amorim’s time but in terms of sorting the dressing room he did a great job.
Omar Berrada agreed with this as he told Andy Mitten on the latest episode of the Inside Carrington podcast.
“I actually think that Ruben [Amorim] 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, and 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 [Carrick]”
Amorim took no indiscipline with Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford axed for their own off field reasons. While he also sped up the culling of players who weren’t good enough and needed to leave.
These combined with the things behind the scenes Dalot mentioned showed that there were reasons to remember the former head coach in a positive light in the future.
Carrick can thank Amorim for aspects of the success he is now enjoying. But as a coach, Amorim was obviously among the worst the club has ever had. If only he was appointed in more of an off field position.
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