Ruben Amorim will now be remembered very differently in England and Portugal, and the Portuguese press’ reaction to his dismissal sums it up.
It’s not a secret that Ruben Amorim had achieved almost a godlike status for his exploits with Sporting in Portugal.
The image of Sporting fans crying their hearts out when he left for Man Utd is an enduring one, but the sentiment couldn’t be more different upon his departure from United.
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As Amorim leaves United a broken man, the Portuguese press have reacted to the news with a three-word headline that sums it up.
Portuguese press react to Ruben Amorim’s sacking at Man Utd
Due to Amorim’s status in Portugal, nobody should expect sharp criticism of him in his home country, and rightly so, because he did a brilliant job there.
Furthermore, the United job is a well-established poisoned chalice at this point, so how much Amorim’s reputation really takes a hit here is up for debate.
Considering that, the Portuguese press were fairly supportive in their assessment of the manager, but one particularly brutal headline stuck out.
A Bola ran a compilation of his most memorable quotes at Man Utd, and ran the headline – “The storm never passed”, noting his comments at United about how the storm would come.
In another report, they noted United’s use of the title “Head coach” in their official club announcement instead of “manager,” following the outburst after the Leeds game. They called it an “interesting detail.”
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CNN Portugal carried quotes of Rui Borges, Sporting’s current manager, standing “in solidarity” with Amorim, confident that he’ll continue his “excellent work” at another club.
RTP attacked Man Utd, saying the job was a case of “dream turned nightmare” for Amorim, calling the Utd job a “graveyard” for managers, confident that Amorim would succeed elsewhere.
Correio de Manha targeted their ire at Jason Wilcox, saying Amorim’s criticism of Wilcox was “very serious,” and shouldn’t just be swept under the rug.
Publico completed the trinity of criticism by calling out the players instead, writing, “Out of conviction or stubbornness, Amorim insisted on maintaining the playing style which made him so popular in Portugal, even though some players clearly didn’t fully embrace the idea. Man Utd have struggled to find the stability that would allow them to think about returning to glory days.”
Mais Futebol spoke about the mitigating circumstances around Amorim’s recent results, as he missed a lot of players, writing, “In addition to Bruno Fernandes’ injury, players like Bryan Mbeumo, Amad Diallo, and Mazraoui left for the Africa Cup of Nations, reducing the Portuguese coach’s options.”
It remains to be seen when and where Amorim is back in management, but one thing is for sure – his reputation in Portugal is as rock solid as ever.
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