A difficult job for Ruben Amorim seems to be getting harder by the minute as he’s thrown one curveball after another in his quest to restore Manchester United.
The latest crisis came out of what looked like an opportunity, with the free midweek earned by finishing in the top eight of the Europa League group stage ending with a glut of injuries.
A triple blow to the midfield has decimated Ruben Amorim’s side while in Amad’s injury, they’ve lost the talisman of the team.
Ahead of the game against Tottenham, this comes in the backdrop of further redundancies being announced by Man Utd, commenting on which the Man Utd manager fired an indirect dig at the Glazers.
Ruben Amorim on Man Utd rebuild and Glazer legacy
It is no secret that despite Ineos being the one most unpopular decisions at Old Trafford are attributed to, the real villain is the two-decade legacy of mismanagement under the Glazers.
Those mistakes can’t be undone in the blink of an eye and it is that recovery route which is so painful right now, something which Amorim acknowledged.
Speaking in his press conference for the Spurs game, he said that because of United’s mistakes in the past, particularly in the window, they are stretched beyond the limit financially.
Not only is that causing job losses, exacerbated by the team underperforming thereby causing a hit to the financial bottom line, but it is also not enabling them to accelerate the rebuild on the pitch.
He said: ” I think it’s really important for us in the first team, coaches and players, to not ignore that [redundancies]. People are losing their jobs so we have to acknowledge that the biggest problem is the football team.
“We spend the money. We are not winning. We are not in the Champions League so the revenues are not the same. We spent a lot of money in the past and now we have to be careful with the finances so cannot rebuild the team the way we would like.”
Man Utd can’t afford to pivot now
There is a long road ahead for Ruben Amorim and that road just keeps getting more bumpy with each negative development.
However, they have to hold their nerve and can’t afford to pivot and start from scratch again by letting their confidence in Amorim waver.
While the results haven’t been good enough, he’s walked into a thankless situation made worse by developments on and off the field.
The best they can do is lean into the tough times, back the manager on a long-term project, and trust him to get it right eventually, even if it takes multiple windows due to their past mistakes.
They’ve already tried many quick fixes and they’ve led the club to this position.
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