Ruben Amorim has already taken charge of 18 games as Manchester United manager following his move from Sporting Lisbon in mid-November but it hasn’t been plain sailing
Former Manchester United players Owen Hargreaves and Robbie Savage have both issued a damning verdict on Ruben Amorim’s start to life at Old Trafford.
Amorim, 40, has had a busy first two months since his move from Sporting Lisbon, which set United back a cool €11million (£9.25m). The Portuguese coach’s record after 18 games stands at nine wins, two draws and seven losses.
Thursday’s 2-0 victory away to FCSB in the Europa League marked the first time that United have won three games in a row this season, as Amorim’s predecessor, Erik ten Hag, struggled before his bombshell sacking in October. Before kick-off in Bucharest, Hargreaves and Savage were asked by presenter Jules Breach to rate Amorim’s United career so far on a scale of one to 10.
Hargreaves, who won the Champions League with the Red Devils in 2008, was up first, brutally replying: “Four, max.”
Savage then went even lower, although acknowledged United’s impressive results away to Manchester City and Liverpool in the Premier League, and last month’s stunning FA Cup third round win at Arsenal. “The big games… [against] City, done well, [against] Arsenal done well,” Savage, who came through United’s academy but didn’t make a senior appearance, said before adding: “I’ll say three.”
Breach was taken aback, saying: “Wow, harsh critics in here.” She then handed over to TNT co-presenter Matt Smith in another studio. Smith, who was sat next to ex-Chelsea, Liverpool and West Ham star Joe Cole, exclaimed: “Cor, blimey! Tough scoring there, Jules. Four and three!? Cor, even Joe’s a bit flabbergasted at that.”
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Amorim will now be hoping to build on United’s run of three victories heading into February, with the Red Devils set to host Crystal Palace at Old Trafford on Sunday. Their win in Romania guaranteed Amorim and Co. a place in the Europa League round of 16, meaning that they won’t need to go through the play-offs later this month.
“That is massive for us. The joy of winning, the feeling of winning, but we will have two [free] weeks to work on our idea and to prepare for the games,” Amorim beamed. “It’s really massive for us. We are in the next stage, we are going to prepare for the next stage, but the most important thing now is to recover. Sunday, we have a game with our fans and we have to be ready for that.”
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