‘Double reject’ Amorim is a Manchester United improvement on ‘frankly deranged’ Ten Hag

Ruben Amorim is a ‘double reject’ turned down by Liverpool and West Ham, yet he feels like a decent fit for this version of Manchester United.

Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com.

R.E.S.P.E.C.T
Real Madrid have said they will not go anywhere they are not respected. Going forward should all home teams just say ‘Lads we don’t respect ya’ and then accept the walkover?
Mel – Dublin, Berlin, Athlone Town

As a middle aged bloke and by definition a perpetual cynic was Madrids hissy fit to deflect from the fact the Barca u18’s handed them their arse on Saturday ?
Mel – Dublin, Berlin, Athlone Town

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Hear me out
Whisper it but Ratcliffe and INEOS are bringing back Fergie era United. Think about it: wing play? 3-4-3 formation? no space for a natural 10? Tick. Tick. Tick.

Exciting times ahead my friends, exciting times!
Philip, Man Utd, Lagos

Proper Football Man
Watching Sky Sports.

Tim Sherwood is doing an analysis / aka eulogy on Erik ten Hag.

No matter what you think about the ex Man U manager, no one deserves that.
The_M_Rod

Finishing school
Watching the united game and seeing Casemiro curl in a beautiful 25 yard shot. The commentators go on to say the team must have been watching clips of  van Nistlerooy’s finishing…

That’s Ruud van Nistelrooy, legend though he is, who scored precisely one goal from outside the area in five years…
Andy (MUFC) – In the time it took me to write that, Casemiro just scored a second from about three yards out… that was more the area Ruud operated in!

First off, good to see a win again. It’s been a minute. However, I said the other day, it would be interesting to see how certain players played in the next few games with the manager gone.

I’ll just remind people of a key relevant stat: so far this season, Garnacho has missed 7 big chances, Bruno 5. Meanwhile Casemiro has been off the pace quite a lot of games.

And so on to tonight. Much the same side, but “amazingly”, Bruno scores a (deflected) free kick plus another (after a defensive screw up), Garnacho scores after controlling his finish, and Casemiro scores an absolute belter and then another.

You can call it new manager bounce, but this guy has been there all season.

We’re watching you, lads.
Badwolf 

Man Utd’s new manager
The year is 1986.

The clocks have just gone back and Manchester Utd have fired their manager after a disastrous start to the season who, despite strong rumours of his position being under threat in the summer, had managed to hang on to his job with his supporters pointing to 2 cup wins during his tenure.

Meanwhile an enterprising young manager in Aberdeen is making waves by bloodying the noses of the established old firm dominance

The year is 2024…
Gordon (The Thelin for Man Utd campaign starts here) Skinner

MORE ON TEN HAG AND AMORIM FROM F365
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When the gamble is done, and no games are won, that’s Amorim?
I was left with the impression that Amorin withdrew from the Liverpool job, but all reports suggest that they felt he was too intransigent with his 343 formation, and that Liverpool did not want to rip up the tactics developed under Klopp, and they walked away. And so did West Ham, apparently, although this may have been a financial decision (which, if true, makes them look very small time), but regardless of the minutiae, he was rejected by both teams.

I looked him up at the time (Liverpool fan), and I was impressed with what I saw, and I was disappointed when the talks broke down. Obviously, Slot has made an excellent start, so maybe we made the right decision, and it’s probably safe to say that West Ham fans wouldn’t be saying the same thing, but the fact that Amorin is a double reject is going to crank up the pressure a little more if all the reports turn out to be on the money. Amorin himself is making all the noises that a manager just about to jump ship makes, and it’s obvious that he wants to work in England, and even with the poisoned chalice factor at Old Trafford, United are a big prize for him.

If I were a United fan, I would be delighted to see him appointed. As everyone knows, a big problem with Ten Hag was that he never seemed to settle on a system, so having someone who has a very distinct style of play and a favoured formation looks like a step forward. He is also apparently very self-assured and good with the media, and again, this looks like an upgrade on the hapless Dutchman. I do wonder if United will have learned the lesson from Ten Hag’s frankly deranged behaviour with the media – he floundered appallingly and it was difficult not to feel sorry for him at times – and will make sure that Amorim is fully prepared to be in such a spotlight.

But…it’s a hell of a job, INEOS obviously mean well but have already made a lot of questionable decisions and are proof yet again that being successful at business does not always translate into running a football team. It is entirely possible that there isn’t a manager in the world who could turn the club around in its current state, and whilst United fans will travel hopefully, regardless of who is appointed (as they should), everyone knows that we could be here again, making the same points, writing the same stories in two to three years time.

I have a feeling though that Amorim is probably the best option out there, but in the meantime, I will keep everything crossed that Southgate sneaks in and gets it, and I will then invest heavily in popcorn manufacturers.
Mat (enjoying the endless soap opera at OT)

Ruben’s ladder
A little something on the ‘Why the f*&k would Amorim take this job? Because it’s Manchester United‘ article…

To start, I don’t disagree with the reasoning and logic in the article at all. I probably just don’t like it. Man Utd is a promotion over Sporting, but should it be in the same way moving up a level in office environment is? That will always be a promotion, until the end of time. Should the same apply in football? Or, maybe more accurately, should the same apply to some clubs in football?

It’s quite clear that most clubs will move up and down the leagues, and within the leagues, and thus will be attractive propositions on some occasions, but not on others. That doesn’t appear to apply to a select few; Man Utd, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich… The result is a safety net other clubs do not have. Why? Is it purely financial? The ‘size of the club’? History? Clout?

I’m not saying it’s wrong per se, I just find it really curious. To rephrase slightly, I agree Man Utd is a promotion over Sporting historically, but should it be right now? Sporting are winning cups and are in the Champions League (and doing well). Man Utd are at their lowest ebb, as mentioned in the article, and yet are still more appealing. Why? The suggestion is a nod to football’s hierarchy and, once more, I don’t necessarily disagree. This hints that this hierarchy can never change though, and surely that way lies a European Super League. Will Man Utd always be a promotion over Sporting in the same way a move up the corporate ladder is? More importantly, should it be?

As long as players always want to go to Real, managers see these ‘mega clubs’ as promotions, and the media perpetuates these notions – we’ll be stuck in a relative status quo.
Gary AVFC, Oxford

Ru the day
So Ryan, Bermudan tells us that Man Utd were “Unable to find a great solution after the FA Cup”.

Presumably then, Ruben Amorim was not deemed to be the solution at that time, as I have read plenty of articles stating that Man Utd spoke to him.

So what has changed? A reduction in salary expectations or release clause? I can’t believe these would prove to be stumbling blocks.

Is it desperation? Probably, as employing a manager that has previously been rejected for whatever reason is a strange decision for both parties, and we can only conclude that Man Utd are handsomely remunerating Amorim to make up for their previous decision that he wasn’t the right man for the job.
A, LFC,

Bermuda Ryan is often a sensible mailer but wow. A coming together in the area, a clumsy swipe by a poor central defender that the VAR thinks is worth another look is worse than a goal not given despite the ball being ***clearly*** at least 3 yards over the line?

There’s tribalism and then there’s misunderstanding the difference between subjective and objective decisions.
James Outram, Wirral

Just in response to Ved Sen – your alternative view has one small snag in it; we know the new management team openly courted other managers. Sure, they could have decided to stick with ten Hag because he hasn’t had a chance to work with a functioning support team behind him, but we know they looked for someone else before coming to that conclusion, that’s a fact.
Neill, Ireland

United front
Thanks for the trophies ETH but that really was a tough time being a utd fan, almost as bad as under Jose. I do wish him well though, he might still be a good manager without the Utd mess around him.

At Gary Vance – I do like a manager to start mid-season. It gives them a throwaway half season where expectations are pretty low and time to figure out who he needs to sign in the summer. Hopefully less pressure starting now than at the start of the season when the media and half your fan base think you’re title contenders.

Interesting point about Utd’s terrible penalty decision from VAR. I wonder if F365 could do an article on the 10 worst VAR interventions of the last couple of seasons? (I would say ever but you have to let them off teething troubles in the early years).

And yes, incompetence to give ETH a new contract when he was on thin ice. Why couldn’t they have just given him until the end of the season to prove himself? Common sense tells me there’s a logical reason he got a new contract…but this is Man Utd, there’s been no common sense or sense for many years.
Jon, Cape Town (I think Utd missed a chance to have a fan lottery for the next manager – may as well give everyone a laugh. Take a random seat number from tonights game against Leicester…” and seat number 12,042 will be our next manager, please come to the touchline to accept your 10 year contract and squillion pound transfer kitty to do as you like”. Just don’t tell people in advance of the lottery or the Scousers will fill the stadium)

What this club needs is a Brian or an Alex, expert in man / team management, sadly those days are gone.

Game management is a missing phrase as far as a lot of clubs are concerned and so we’re smiling at a few English players the rest are 70 million upwards which is why England won’t ever win the WC ( I was at the last one ).

Having spent over 40 years in the still beautiful game in English & Indian football and run the largest competition of its kind in the’80s I figure I know a bit about football.

Money, Skys continual verbal diarrhoea & social media is all that matters. My club in England still did what any MU team could not do & never will ( have a guess ) but my other love in Catalonia- men & femme are doing rather well – where this old man will be in Dec.
Tony Langham

A solution to VAR
Avid reader but very infrequent poster. I hate VAR as much as everyone else but can’t help but think there’s a way simpler solution to the main issues. All of the most contentious decisions are trying to solve problems I just don’t think need to exist.

Offsides: Why does this even matter in the modern game? If everyone is trying to play possession football with every player (including the keeper) comfortable on the ball then surely no offsides would force teams to think a little differently and counteract the death by football movement? I think goal hanging would be fun to watch, would that lead to specialists in that position and would teams react by having a specialist defender/keeper to man mark? I see nothing but tactical innovation and more spectator fun.

Penalties: Why is a foul in the box automatically a penalty? If you made it an indirect freekick with two offensive players allowed to be on the ball and all defensive players a 10 yard radius away then the chance of scoring is surely more equivalent to the position of the foul? Ten yards from the keeper is basically a penalty and just inside the box (or byline) is a decent chance but not the 90% chance that a penalty is. Surely that makes more sense? Removes the barrier for calling soft fouls in the area because the punishment always matches the crime. Shouldn’t change red cards for denying a goalscoring opportunity but let’s keep some subjectivity!

Ball out of play: Just never understood why it matters if the ball is out of play in a very hard to manage plane of vision. As long as the people delivering and receiving the ball are in play then why does it matter? It’s a skill to be able to curl the ball out of the lines of the pitch to a teammate, why should that be punished? Basketball has this rule and it makes so much more sense, you’re not out of play unless part of your body touches the ball out of play. Again, more tactical innovation. Can picture Trent playing a 70 yard ball down the line over the crowd (literally) to feet, what’s not fun about that?

I’m sure there’s lots of good reasons why these ideas are terrible but interested to hear them. From a Swansea City fan who’s watched over 7 hours of football without my team scoring a goal so desperate for any changes to stop my eyes from bleeding.
Darren, Swansea

Taking the Michael
Can I give kudos to whoever wrote the subheading to Paul Murphy’s Michael Oliver rant. The simple addition of the exclamation mark at the end of the equally simple headline of Oliver was the best part of the entire morning mailbox for me.
Rich,AFC (F365, so biased towards Dickens)

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