With Manchester United chasing the game against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Old Trafford and 15 minutes to go, Ruben Amorim, the manager, replaced the lively Ayden Heaven, a centre-half, with Leny Yoro — a like-for-like. Yes, Amorim was seriously stretched with his attacking options, with several first-team players missing due to injuries and AFCON, but Shea Lacey and Chido Obi, the two young attackers, were still on the bench. Amorim’s in-game management could be a case study, how it defies logic.
Worse, he started with a back-five — three centre-halves — against Wolves, unarguably the worst-ever Premier League side, who so far have just three points from 19 games. Going into the United game, they had two points from 18. Wolves came very close to winning their first game in the Premier League this term. A fantastic double-save from the excellent Senne Lammens rescued the hosts. A back-five at Old Trafford against Wolves! “We knew that they (Wolves) will play with the five,” Amorim said after the game. It sounded like the epitaph for his United career.
Amorim has proved to be an unmitigated disaster as United manager. The club finished 15th in the Premier League last term under him and lost the Europa League final to Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur (how did he manage that!). He sounds anything but a United manager. But Amorim is just a by-product of a poor structure at the club. The Portuguese is out of his depth, but the men above him are the real problem.
When Sir Jim Ratcliffe took control of United’s football operations in February 2024 after buying a 25 per cent stake at the club, there was an air of optimism. Nearly two years down the line, it has vanished into thin air. INEOS have proved to be worse than the wretched Glazers. Under Ratcliffe, the club seemingly has embraced mediocrity. Standards are in the mud, and the co-owner drawing the Arsenal and Mikel Arteta analogy to defend Amorim attested that. Arsenal and Arteta, come on, we are talking about Manchester United here!
Ratcliffe has pinched the pennies. Here’s a list of things that have been scrapped — canteen food, stewards’ bonuses, payment to former United players’ association, £100 Christmas bonuses, Christmas party, corporate credit cards and chauffeured cars for some staff, Sir Alex Ferguson’s ambassadorial role, concession for match tickets and a reduced budget for the scouting department. And then there were the job-cuts — the worst of them all. A total of 450 employees reportedly have been made redundant by INEOS over a two-year period. Livelihoods have been taken away from common, working-class people. Michael Knighton (remember him?) probably would have been a better co-owner.
Over the years, the Glazers have saddled United with debt, which currently has risen to £1.29 billion. From the managerial appointment to giving Jason Wilcox the position of the director of football and performance on the pitch — everything reeks of mediocrity. The entire system appears broken and rotten from top to bottom. Years of institutional mediocrity has taken one of the world’s greatest sporting institutions almost to the point of no return.
(The title of this piece has been borrowed from Mihir Bose’s wonderful book — Manchester Disunited: Trouble and Takeover at the World’s Richest Football Club)
Follow Revsportz for latest sports news
