Manchester United’s win against Athletic looks fairly straightforward on the surface but the eye test over the two legs wasn’t as comfortable, something which fans think Ruben Amorim was feeling.
United’s 4-1 win vs Athletic came after an early scare, as Mason Mount and Co came to the party late on to bury the Basque team.
Before the game, Ruben Amorim was making no secret of the fact that this was the most important game of the season, eager to hammer home that message to his players.
Now, some before and after images of Amorim have emerged and Man Utd fans think they know what the manager did before the game. It looks brutal.
Ruben Amorim ‘punched’ before Athletic fixture
United fans know by now that Amorim is a person who wears his heart on his sleeve, sometimes almost to a fault, as he’s accepted himself.
His brutal honesty and passion come through in his interviews, and early in his tenure, news that he broke a TV in the dressing room made waves.
It seems like a repeat of that, or something close to it, must have happened before the Athletic game as Man Utd fans noticed a change in Amorim’s appearance.
The Man Utd manager walked into Old Trafford perfectly fine (see video of before and after below), but after the game, his knuckles were bandaged and bloodied.
Eagle-eyed fans quickly zeroed in on this development and one theory came rushing back.
Man Utd fans on Amorim’s bruised knuckles
Something quite intense happened between Amorim walking into the dressing room before the game and him coming out for the kick-off.
Of course, it might all be for nothing and he could have picked up the bruise doing something general, but knowing his reputation, Man Utd fans quickly reached a conclusion.
“Can we unplug all the TVs in the dressing room?”, quipped one, as another wrote, “Whoever or whatever he punched paid off at the end.”
A third said, “I think United might need a new TV, next tifo should be in memory of this TV, sacrificed to get United into the finals”.
Another praised Amorim’s passion, “Obviously no proof that he did. However, thinking that he might of hit something to get this lot going and filled with some passion, makes me love this guy more.”
Sir Alex Ferguson was made by one, “Finally a manager who’s breaking tv sets and kicking boots across the changing room…I’m beginning to recognise my club again.”
Another said, “You can tell by the way Ruben smiles and laughs that he’s not to be messed with when angry,” as one joked, “Punched Garnacho for missing that chance!”.
Finally, one fan made a salient observation, “The personality Ruben Amorim portrays to the media is much different from his personality behind the scenes, I’m so certain of that.”
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