Dan Ashworth fell on Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s sword after failing to convince while finding Erik ten Hag’s successor, but another one of his appointments wasn’t entirely happy with Ruben Amorim either.
Ruben Amorim’s appointment at Man Utd has become an uncomfortable question for Ineos.
He is their first major call at Old Trafford, so they are desperate for him to succeed even as the team finds new lows every week.
Dan Ashworth wasn’t entirely convinced by Amorim’s hiring as per reports at the time, with Omar Berrada being the key driver of talks, but it has now emerged that Ashworth wasn’t the only one with doubts.
Doubts over Ruben Amorim’s hiring at Man Utd
Hindsight is 20/20, and it’s easy to say now that Amorim’s lack of tactical flexibility and a different system would prove to be his undoing at United.
However, at the time, he was one of the most exciting coaches in Europe, and the excitement was at fever pitch upon his hiring.
If anything, Dan Ashworth was vilified for his suggestions, while Berrada and Co. were hailed as progressive, forward-thinking executives.
As it turns out, Laurie Whitwell of The Athletic reports that Jason Wilcox also had questions about Amorim’s suitability at United and in the Premier League.
Whitwell said: “You had Dan Ashworth there, the sporting director at the time, recommending people with Premier League experience, maybe taking more of a data approach to it, which I think Ratcliffe didn’t really appreciate. He wanted a firm name from a hire of his standing. Omar Berrada gave that [with Ruben Amorim].
“Jason Wilcox as the technical director at the time, now the director of football – I think he did have some questions about whether a back three system would work when they were first floating the Ruben Amorim proposition. He has since gotten more on board with it and has a good relationship with him.”
Ineos need to bite the bullet
With every poor result and a performance that gets progressively worse, it’s becoming increasingly clear that Ineos are stuck in a sunk cost fallacy.
Because they have invested so much time, resources, and trust in Amorim, they are reticent about pulling the trigger for fear of how badly it reflects on them.
However, the flipside is that the longer this is allowed to go on, the worse it looks likely to get, meaning that the eventual plaster getting ripped off will be even more painful.
As Carl Anka says in the podcast above, the longer you stay on the wrong train, the more expensive it is to get back home.
United are looking an awful long way away from home right now, and the Amorim train is clearly taking them even farther away.
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