Micah Richards and Gary Lineker have both explained why Manchester United are “always” talked about for one thing compared with another Premier League team.
Manchester United and Ruben Amorim have been no strangers to criticism after the disappointing start to the 2025-26 Premier League campaign at Old Trafford.
Ruben Amorim has faced the music early in the current season over the Red Devils’ erratic form, with United winning three of their opening seven league matches.
The 40-year-old United manager has faced mounting pressure over his side’s lack of consistency and struggles to win back-to-back Premier League matches under him.
But Amorim remains in the Old Trafford hot seat and the Portuguese coach oversaw the Red Devils’ return to winning ways ahead of the October international break.
Micah Richards addresses Gary Lineker as to why Man Utd are continuously brought up under Ruben Amorim’s reign
Ruben Amorim’s tactical system at Manchester United has also sparked a heated amount of discourse in football, including from Sky Sports pundit Micah Richards himself.
Richards has been critical of Amorim’s tactics in the past, but the former Manchester City and England defender has also equally praised the United manager at times.
Both Gary Lineker and Richards responded to a fan question asking why United’s tactical system is the talk of the town compared with what Liverpool are doing.
“It’s a good question,” Richards said on The Rest Is Football podcast.
“I just think [that] in regards to Man United, why we talk about them so much in terms of system is because we believe, as pundits, when you’re struggling to go back to a 4-4-3 or a 4-5-1, [it] can just help you out at times.
“So that’s why we always talk about their system and a manager who wants to implement his way in that system.
“And at this moment, I don’t think the players, they’ve not got the players to do that.”
Gary Lineker reacts to Micah Richards and has his say on the tactics between Man Utd and Liverpool
Liverpool have experienced a major blip in form in recent weeks under manager Arne Slot, with the Reds losing their last three matches across all competitions.
The defending Premier League champions will return to action against United after the October international break, with Liverpool hosting the Red Devils at Anfield.
“Yeah, I think they’ll [Liverpool] come good,” Lineker said in response to Richards’ assessment of the Reds.
“I think they’ll improve. He’ll [Slot] sort it out. He’s clearly a good coach. I think the same thing.”
Lineker added that why United’s system is brought up more than Liverpool’s tactics is due to Amorim’s inflexibility to adapt his approach compared with Arne Slot.
“He [Slot] does fiddle around with his systems a little bit,” he continued.
“He doesn’t always play the same way.
“So, it’s slightly different, I think, to Manchester United because he’s [Amorim] a stickler for a certain way of playing, where I think Slot’s got a bit more versatility about his formats and a bit more fluidity and flexibility, possibly.”
United will travel to Anfield on 19th October and the Red Devils will face Liverpool in the Premier League, with kick-off for the match slated for 4:30pm UK time.
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