Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been told he will need to show new Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim patience if he is to succeed at Old Trafford, with the club’s 10-year cycle of sacking managers criticised by a pundit and with Barcelona chief Deco also issuing a warning over the Portuguese coach.
The 39-year-old has on Friday lunchtime been confirmed as United’s new manager on an initial two-and-a-half-year deal through to summer 2027. The departing Sporting Lisbon coach becomes the sixth permanent appointment made by Manchester United since Sir Alex Ferguson stepped away back in 2013.
And while Ratcliffe and his fellow United directors will hope they have finally found the man to lead them back to the elite of the English and European game, former United star Danny Higginbotham has spoken out to warn the club about their ongoing cycle of appointing and then sacking managers and why he thinks they may need to play the long game with Amorim.
It’s rinse and repeat, that’s what bothers me. Every manager who comes in seems to have the same shelf life – about two-and-a-half years – before they’re out of the door again,” NBC pundit Higginbotham began.
“Ever since Sir Alex Ferguson, the best manager of all time, left, there’s been David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ralf Rangnick and now Erik among others.
“Are you telling me they’re all bad managers? At what point does it dawn on you that the manager might not be the source of the issues you’re having? When do you get to the crux of it and realise that the manager is not the issue? When the new guy comes in, things have got to look very different,” he told SportsBoom.
“Consistency is everything in football,” Higginbotham continued.
“That and patience. If you’re not going to be patient, then you need better systems and strategies in place.”
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Higginbotham wants Amorim patience as Deco fires Man Utd warning
Higginbotham continued: “Listen, I’m not putting Erik in the same bracket as these three but Pep (Guardiola) at Manchester City, Jurgen Klopp when he was at Liverpool and Mikel Arteta at Arsenal, none of them got off to great starts at their respective clubs did they? They all had, by their standards, poor-ish seasons.
“The difference was there was a sense of purpose and a sense of direction around them, which is something I don’t see at Manchester United at the moment.”
The pundit has also questioned United’s timing of the decision to sack Ten Hag, adding: “What I find strange is why they kept Erik in the summer, gave him a huge amount of money to spend and clearly control over the transfers given who came in, only to get rid of him now.
“Was it because he won the cup last summer or because of the availability of others? Either way, that’s not great strategizing because the new manager might come in and think, I don’t want a lot of the players who have just come in.”
The move to United – with the club confirming his start date and first match in charge – ends a long wait for Amorim to land a plum job, having been strongly linked with both Liverpool and West Ham over the summer.
He has also previously interviewed for the Barcelona job when it became apparent Xavi would be leaving, though the Blaugrana ultimately opted for Hansi Flick.
Now Barca’s sporting director Deco has revealed why he turned down the chance to appoint the 39-year-old in what could come as a big red flag to United.
“How many Portuguese coaches are prepared for the weight and responsibility of taking charge of Barcelona, especially Barcelona with all the difficulties it faces?” he told Nascer do Sol back in February. “Tell me.
“I know that Ruben Amorim is doing a good job at Sporting and that, on top of that, he plays with a style similar to ours. But he also has very little experience.”
Deco’s comments caused something of a stir in the Portuguese media, with Amorim offering a staunch reply to Deco by stating: “It’s a fact, and I just want to have the experience to be Sporting’s coach.
“As long as my people don’t remind me that I’m inexperienced and I’ve only been a coach for four years.”
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United’s new manager is expected to quickly implement a change of tactics and formation once he begins work at Old Trafford, with the 39-year-old favouring a 3-4-3 approach; very much different from the 4-2-3-1 line-up adopted by Ten Hag.
That could well result in several personnel changes at Old Trafford and one of Ferguson’s former assistants, Rene Meulensteen has revealed he expects both Casemiro and Christian Eriksen to very quickly fall foul of the new boss.
Amorim is also being backed to launch an immediate raid on Sporting Lisbon for striker Viktor Gyokeres, with his price tag coming to light, though with one pundit explaining why one of Ten Hag’s summer signings will likely be shown the door if a blockbuster move is to come off.
He’s not top of Amorim’s wishlist, however, with sources revealing to TEAMtalk the names of three other Sporting CP stars the new boss would love to bring to Old Trafford and with the players already coming up for discussion as part of his discussions with Ratcliffe and sporting director Dan Ashworth.
Ashworth also has some strong transfer ideas of his own and Sunderland’s Chris Rigg has also been identified as a perfect addition to their ranks, though prising the teenager away from the Black Cats may prove far trickier than initially expected.
Amorim record at Sporting Lisbon
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