Michael Owen comes out swinging at Man Utd legends after Ruben Amorim putdowns

Michael Owen has taken aim at the likes of Gary Neville and Wayne Rooney, who have regularly questioned why Ruben Amorim hasn’t moved away from his back-three formation

Michael Owen has leapt to the defence of Ruben Amorim, describing criticism of his tactics as ’embarrassing’. The likes of Gary Neville and Wayne Rooney have often questioned why the Manchester United boss hasn’t ditched his system following some disappointing results.

The Red Devils have only won half of their Premier League games this season, and they crashed out of the Carabao Cup to Grimsby Town in the second round on penalties. Amorim is yet to win back-to-back games since taking charge in November 2024.

The Portuguese tactician has been heavily scrutinised since he replaced Erik ten Hag in the dugout, but Owen believes he’s been unfairly scapegoated. In an interview with the Daily Mail, the former Premier League striker insisted that the problems are Old Trafford run much deeper than the formation, as he hit back at United icons who have called out Amorim recently.

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“They have changed the manager numerous times since [Sir Alex] Fergie left,” said Owen. “Then they blamed the players; spent billions on players and got some of the best players in the world, only for the club to be seen as a bit of a graveyard for players in the last decade.

“Next, it was the people buying the players, so everyone wanted rid of them. Then it was the board, so the board was shuffled around when Sir Jim Ratcliffe got involved.

“Then it’s the fault of the facilities, so they wanted to revamp the training ground and put plans in for a new stadium. Then it’s the staff, so half the backroom staff, physios, doctors, canteen lady, the whole thing, wiped clean and a new start there.

“The latest one is it’s because they’re playing a back-three. If I’m not wrong, I watched Erik Ten Hag about a year ago playing a back-four, and it was some of the most awful football I’ve ever seen from a Manchester United team.”

Owen added: “Some great teams over the years have played with a back-three. I’m not saying that’s my favourite formation at all, and I’m not saying that Amorim is right to be steadfast in his beliefs in that formation.

“But I certainly don’t think all of United’s problems now are because they play with the back-three. It’s embarrassing if you’re going to say the main reason for the downturn is because they play a back-three.

“I mean, it really isn’t. They could go back to a back-four and play as bad as they did under Ten Hag, then the screams would be equally as loud.”

In a separate interview, Owen sympathised with Amorim, claiming that negative comments from pundits, like Neville and Rooney, could be distracting the United squad. Speaking to casino.co.uk, the 45-year-old said: “Players aren’t sheltered away from everything.

“They’re driving cars to training, putting the radio on. They sit at home in the lounge with the TV on. They read social media. They can do all these things. If you’re interested in football, you can’t get away from what people are thinking and saying about it.

“Whether footballers should be swayed by those comments or impacted by them, that’s a different argument. But I’ve got no doubt that people will watch and will listen to people they probably respected and thought were great players growing up.

“They’ll listen to those opinions. If they’re saying certain things, then it might enter their head, and they could perhaps wonder if the manager is doing the right thing.

“They might have their own ideas, but that’s not a new phenomenon. That will never change. It never has changed, but I do think it is a relevant point to make by Amorim.”

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