Manchester United appointed Portugal’s Ruben Amorim as the club’s head coach in
November 2024. Amorim arrived with a glowing reputation, having won 71% of the 231 games he was in charge of Sporting Lisbon. Yet, only 15 games into his Old Trafford reign, Amorim has a record of five wins, three draws, and seven defeats.
Amorim is known for speaking his mind and being brutally honest when talking to the media. The Portuguese head coach spoke to the press shortly after witnessing his side outplayed at home and losing 1-3 to Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League. He said his squad is the “worst team, maybe, in the history of Manchester United.” Are Amorim’s comments justified? Is he using psychology on his underperforming players, or is he trying to force the owners’ arms and get them to fund some purchases before the January transfer window slams shut?
Six Permanent Managers at Old Trafford in Less Than 12 Years
Manchester United won everything there was to win under the stewardship of Sir Alex Ferguson. “Fergie” was the United head honcho from November 1986 until May 2013. He oversaw 1,500 games, winning 895 of them, which made United extremely popular with anyone using the best Colorado sports betting apps to place football bets. Sir Alex’s teams won 37 trophies during his tenure, including 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups, four League Cups, and the UEFA Champions League twice.
Since Ferguson’s departure in May 2013, Manchester United has twice won the FA Cup and League Cup, two Community Shields, and the UEFA Europa League. The team currently languishes in 13th place in the Premier League table, some 12 points away from a place in next season’s Champions League.
It is not like United hasn’t appointed stellar names as head coaches. Louis van Gaal, Jose “The Special One” Mourinho, Ralf Rangnick, and Erik ten Hag have all held the role. United’s loyal supporters would consider them all failures.
United paid a staggering £21.4 million to replace Ten Hag with Amorim, comprising £10.4 million in Ten Hag and his team’s severance package and £11 million to hire Amorim and his coaching staff. The Old Trafford faithful expected a “new manager bounce” following Amorim’s arrival. However, since his arrival, United have drawn with relegation-threatened Ipswich Town and suffered home defeats to Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth, Newcastle United, and Brighton.
The team’s only victories from 15 games were against Bodo Glimt and Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League, a struggling Everton side, an out-of-sorts Manchester City, and newly-promoted Southampton. United was losing to Southampton, who have only six points in the league this season, until the 82nd minute.
£1.6 Billion Spent Transfers Since Sir Alex Retired
There was a time when the best players clambered over themselves to sign for Manchester United. Elite-level players dreamed of pulling on the red Manchester United shirt and walking out onto the famous Old Trafford pitch. However, these days, United seems hellbent on paying over the odds for second-rate players who do not have the ability or the mentality to play for arguably the biggest football club in world football.
The signings have become gradually worse with each new manager. Van Gaal paid £57.6 million to bring Anthony Martial to the club, while Mourinho spent a jaw-dropping £93.3 million on Paul Pogba. Mourinho also spent £30 million on the laughably bad Eric Bailly, £39.5 million on Victor Lindelof, and £61.2 million on Fred.
The signings under Ten Hag were the worst of the lot. £86 million for Antony is daylight robbery, while Real Madrid must have laughed all the way to the bank when they received £70 million for Casemiro. Ten Hag also spent £55 million on the injury-prone Mason Mount, £43.8 million on Andre Onana, a goalkeeper who seemingly doesn’t know how to keep goal, and £72 million on unproven young striker Rasmus Holjund.
Before United relieved Ten Hag of his duties, they sanctioned the £36.5 million transfer of Joshua Zirkzee, a player who looks way out of his depth in the Premier League, £52.2 million on Leny Yoro, a 19-year-old with only 46 games of professional football behind him, £45 million on Matthijs de Ligt, and £50 million on Manuel Ugarte.
50-70% of the Squad Needs to Leave
It is not only inflated transfer fees that Manchester United has paid over the past 12 years but also wages. Casimiro pulls in £350,000 per week and cannot get into the team’s starting XI. Captain Bruno Fernandes earns £300,000, as does Marcus Rashford, another player deemed surplus to requirements. Six other squad members are paid between £150,000 and £250,000 per week. United’s wage bill is over £190 million annually, the second-highest in the Premier League.
Many analysts and pundits have suggested Amorim must sell between 50% and 70% of the current first-team squad. Doing so will remove the so-called “dead wood,” who seem content with earning astronomical sums of money for doing very little on the football pitch. It will also free up much-needed funds for incoming transfers that will enable Amorim to shape Manchester United’s team to his vision. Finding someone to pay a transfer fee and then foot the bill for massive wages means United may struggle to offload their unwanted players.
How Bad Are Manchester United Under Amorim?
Amorim is only 15 games into his tenure and did not have the luxury of a preseason with his new squad, so comparing his 33.33% win rate to that of former United bosses is unfair. However, only four managers in United’s history have a worse win percentage: Jimmy Murphy (22.73% from 22 games), Jack Robson (29.50% from 139 games), Lal Hilditch (30.30% from 33 games), and Herbert Bamlett (31.15% from 183 games). Three of those managers were in charge in the 1910s and 1920s, with Murphy being the caretaker manager after the Munich air disaster in 1958. During that time, United had a threadbare squad due to several fatalities and injuries.
Perhaps Amorim is correct; this could be the worst Manchester United team in the long and illustrious history of the Old Trafford-based giants. Whether Amorim was correct to call out his squad in that manner remains up for debate.
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