Jordi Cruyff has made a powerful assessment of what Manchester United would experience if they tried to replace Ruben Amorim early into his Old Trafford reign.
Ruben Amorim crossed his first anniversary as Manchester United manager last month and the 40-year-old Portuguese coach has not had an easy time in England.
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The United head coach left Sporting CP back in November 2024 and replaced Erik ten Hag in the Old Trafford dugout during the 2024-25 Premier League season.
Erik ten Hag was sacked as United manager after a poor start to the previous campaign, with Amorim left to steer the ship during a turbulent season.
United experienced their worst finish in the Premier League table since the league’s inception back in 1992, with the Red Devils ending last season in 15th place.
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Jordi Cruyff breaks down the major elephant in the room about Ruben Amorim’s Man Utd reign
Ruben Amorim did lead Manchester United to the Europa League final last season, but the Red Devils fell short of the trophy after a 1-0 defeat to Tottenham.
United’s loss to Tottenham in the Europa League final in Spain back in May left the Red Devils with no European football for the 2025-26 campaign under Amorim.
Ineos have spent heavily since Amorim’s arrival at the Premier League club, including bringing in the likes of Patrick Dorgu, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo.
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Speaking on The Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast, ex-United star Jordi Cruyff explained the implications of signing a manager who only plays with wing-backs.
“I mean, in Spain, you have a sporting director who, of course, has to give information upstairs,” he said.
“But he also needs to know that, ‘Okay, this is the squad we have and we’re not going to change 50 per cent of the players because wing-backs,’ probably as you know, they are specialised in going back and forth.
“But if they’re in a back four, sometimes they’re not good enough to be a pure defender and sometimes they’re not good enough to be a pure winger.”
Jordi Cruyff’s important message about trying to replace Ruben Amorim as Man Utd manager
Amorim has stuck with his tactical system at United, a blueprint that helped the Portuguese coach find incredible success in his native homeland with Sporting CP.
United have dropped the use of traditional wingers for two No 10s and the Red Devils have adopted wing-backs instead of the use of full-backs for their approach.
The Red Devils are also deploying a three-man backline and a two-man midfield pivot, with Amorim’s tactical approach often sparking fierce debates.
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Cruyff has warned that Ineos could face a major setback in spending even more money if they replace Amorim with a manager who only plays with a back four.
“You know, they’re [wing-backs] middle ways [in terms of being a winger and full-back], so if you go that way and things go wrong after one-and-a-half year[s] and you bring back a coach who’s a back four, it’s a lot of transfers again you have to make,” he continued.
“So, there is [sic] a lot of strategic things I don’t know, like, I don’t know their process.”
United are currently sixth under Amorim and the Red Devils are only one point outside of the Premier League top four after their recent run of form.
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