Man Utd’s Amorim ‘solution’ revealed as three replacements touted amid Ten Hag regret

Editor F365 30 Aug 2025 8:21 AM

Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim with the Man Utd badge.

Plenty of you believe Ruben Amorim should either resign or be sacked, with three replacements touted in the Mailbox, but he’s also not the problem in the minds of many, and as we all struggle to come up with a solution to a broken Manchester United, there’s one obvious fix.

There’s also a bit of Newcastle anger at Liverpool and some Champions League frustration, but this is indeed another Amorim, Manchester United edition.

Send your thoughts on the Old Trafford mess or anything else to theeditor@football365.com.

Amorim out

There’s something fundamentally wrong about the United spirit. It’s bigger than squad revamp, or structural development. It’s the psyche.
In the Fergie era, playing against a team with John O’Shea and Fredrico Macheda, you still held your breath, knowing that United were capable of springing up surprises.

Since Fergie’s departure, there’s a kind of trepidation coaches face with managing the team. Every coach since then, has tried to pick out scapegoats responsible for dampening the team spirit and there’s been much talk on players who are hungry enough to win for the team. In spite of it, the sloppiness lingers. The team spirit remains lackadaisical. Players do the bare minimum with the only consistent player across several seasons being Fernades.

The reason I adore Mourinho’s time with United is based on the simple fact he worked the boys to a Europa trophy. You could see the way some of the players limped towards their medals. He pushed them hard. It reminded of what it meant to play for Ferguson. You either worked your butt off or moved. Other coaches treat them as snowflakes.

Amorim’s recent interview has shown he is not fit for the job. His morale is low. His drive, beaten up. He has not shown any sense of urgency by tweaking his formation. He is like the proverbial mad man doing the same thing over and again while expecting the same results.

This is business, not a charity organization. If he can’t inspire this team, after ostracizing other players in his revamp, he should resign.
Victor, Nigeria. Glory Glory Man Utd.

‘The only solution’ for Man Utd

What (the f..k) is wrong with MUFC? Your inbox is overflowing with vitriol, hand wringing and hundreds of different interpretations but I have YET to see one viable solution. We’ve changed owners, infrastructure, coaches, players, playing style and goodness knows what else yet nothing seems to have worked.

Maybe, as someone (somewhat harshly) said, we’ve just reverted back to the mean, i.e. pre Fergie days, the days of Duxbury and Blackmore, or the 70’s team that got relegated, before we developed (or more accurately, marketed!) this rubbish about DNA. The media follows and scrutinizes every nuance (“his facial expressions look like he’s given up”) and former players constantly pound on about how things used to be. They remind me of the MAGA folk with their constant mantra of “Make United Great Again”. Let’s me honest, during the Fergie years, we were blessed, spoilt and damn lucky. A whole bunch of things came together at the same time. The stars were aligned. But WE HAVE NO RIGHT TO EXPECT TO EVER BE THAT GOOD AGAIN. And this is the simple fact that everyone seems to be ignoring.

The current owners suck every penny possible from the club while the players drive up in luxury cars. I’m sure it’s a toxic place to work at the moment. We’ve had countless managers in the last few years. Does anyone seriously think a new manager is the solution? And as Amorin said, you can’t change all 22 players. “Open Heart Surgery”? This patient has flat lined.

The only solution, as far as I can see, is to stick with Amorin and go down. This will shed the prima donnas and allow us to re-build with young, hungry youth who still think it is a privilege to play for the shirt (which ironically is what Amorin did at Sporting). Last season we were (un)lucky not to go down and just a few months later, Gary Neville thinks we will make the Top Four! Maybe a season or two out of the spotlight is about the only thing that hasn’t been tried. Then we will really see who wants to play for MUFC making JUST 50k a week!
Adidasmufc (If it forced the Glazers to sell, it might even be worth it)

Get relegated

So the Man Utd manager merry go round looks like it’s cranking up again right on time. I’d expect the players to come out and give another terrible performance against Burnley just to twist the knife and ensure there is no option but to sack Amorim. 2-0 or 3-1 to Burney I would guess with a goalkeeper howler the icing on the cake – probably an Olympico.

Whether you want him to stay longer or not, like him or not, it is pretty ridiculous to blame the manager. Yet another high profile manager who has failed.

So it must be the players then? According to Transfermkt we have the 5th most expensive squad in the league. And we were 5th last year too yet finished 15th. So it surely cannot be the quality of the players.

It is clear for all to see that the players attitude is terrible and has been for a long time regardless of who is in charge. They do manage to pick themselves up for the big games and occasionally get a commendable draw to fool us into thinking there’s some hope. Attitude is not the players fault. Your attitude is driven by your compensation and working conditions. Clearly Utd players are extremely well compensated so even clearer is that their working conditions must be absolutely atrocious. Yes, it must be terrible to pick up 200 k per week to kick a ball about I hear you say. Grimsby players are happily kicking a ball about with smiles on their faces for significantly less money. So are most of the other teams in the premier league.

So yeah, let’s just get a shiny new manager again, spend a few hundred million on his type of players and listen to the club bulshit us that they have a long term plan and that it will take a few transfer windows to fix. Don’t worry, we’ll win the league in three years time lads, we have a plan… does the 3 years start again with the new manager? Asking for a friend…

The way the club is run, we deserve to be relegated but that still wouldn’t make those in charge stop and think that maybe it’s never been the pl;ayers or the manager, they’re just the easy targets of a club where so many senior club positions have seen well renowned people come and go with such regularity that clearly there is political fuck-tard-ery hapenning that is ruining the club from the inside. We have no right to think we should be title contenders every year but the amount of money the club has compared to the rest does mean that the current state of the club can only be caused by severe incompetenece at board level.
Jon, Cape Town (Get relegated, Glazers out, maybe we might win a few games in the Championship, especially if all our current players defect and we have to bring through our youth. City had their time in the lower leagues, maybe it’s our turn)

Amorim, Grimsby and the Conscious Choice to Believe

When Rúben Amorim walked into Manchester United, I’ll admit it: I let optimism in through the front door. Not blind optimism, not naïve giddiness, but a conscious decision on how to live life and how to relate to football. Supporting United, after all, isn’t just about results. It’s about how you choose to hold yourself through the cycles of joy and pain.

Lets take a little journey through the season thus far

Arsenal: Pleasure in the Pain

A loss is a loss, and a title race probably died before it was ever born – but the performance brought more pleasure than pain. United played well. Fine margins swung the contest: VAR blessing Arsenal with a questionable goal, a penalty shout ignored, Dorgu’s shot pinging off the post, Raya standing tall in goal. There was enough there to feel alive again, to sense possibility.

Fulham: A Half to Remember Against Fulham,

Disappointment on paper but a bright first half. Cunha already looks like he could be sensational. Amorim nailed it in his analysis: United became too focused on holding onto the result rather than playing. That’s coaching clarity – an honesty I value more than lip service.

Grimsby: oh God Grimsby! Goalkeepers and Perspective

Then came Grimsby. What do you even say? The truth is simple: United need a goalkeeper. Hard to find, harder to bed in, but the difference it makes is night and day.And yet as bad as it was and jeez loueeeze Onana why! — United clawed back to 2-2, showed fight, and were a penalty away from advancing. Embarrassing? Of course. Defining? Not really. Ole reached semis and finals without winning them. Ten Hag delivered two trophies, but that wasn’t enough to make me shed a tear when he left. In fact i cheered. He was an odd man! Football moves on.

On Amorim

Here’s the crux: I love Amorim. It could be another false dawn. He could be sacked tomorrow if results don’t turn. His post-Grimsby interview carried a chill that United fans know too well. But that doesn’t shake me. Because how you support your club is personal. For me, it’s not about playing small or coy. I grew up in the glory days. I will die on the hill that football is cyclical, and United will be back. Juventus were relegated, came back, and won multiple titles. Why should Manchester United be any different?So yes, results are awful. Amorim’s future is uncertain. But Manchester United aren’t a pity project. We’re a behemoth, and behemoths rise. Sunnier days will come.

Hated. Adored. Never ignored.That’s United.

That’s Amorim (for now). That’s me.
Mustafa (never shy of being an optimist, but dont mistake wilful optimism for naivety)

MORE ON RUBEN AMORIM FROM F365
👉 Amorim sack clear as ‘eerily similar’ Ten Hag trend spotted and ‘escape route’ emerges
👉 Amorim turned Garnacho from a Man Utd untouchable into a pariah and Mainoo is next
👉 Ranking nine possible next Man Utd managers with Amorim sack ‘imminent’

Man Utd and Rangers

As a Rangers fan I’d like to say to all fans of EFL clubs: ‘you’re welcome’. Russell Martin’s first 9 weeks at the club have been so calamitous, bewildering and humiliating that he has surely now completely destroyed his reputation as a coach. Once he’s finally jettisoned from the Ibrox hot seat he’ll hopefully never darken the door of a dugout ever again.

Without going into detail about our inevitably pathetic start to this season under Martin (because I know that know one is bothered about Scottish football other than Johnny Nic), I wanted to touch on the strangely similar fates of Rangers and Man Utd, two former perennial league challengers who suffered equally if slightly different humiliations on Wednesday night.

Both clubs emerged as the dominant force in their countries in the 90s, both big spenders who could pick and choose who they wanted and hoovered up trophy after trophy, becoming the panto villains of their leagues. Then in the 2000s, both were suddenly pegged back by domestic challenges – in Scotland from a Larsson-inspired O’Neill side and from Wenger/Mourinho respectively in England. The trophies weren’t as easy to come by in this decade though both clubs did manage 3 titles in a row amongst some other great moments.

Then the wheels come off. For Rangers this is 2012, admin, relegation to the Scottish third division and a painful and mind-numbing climb back up to the top flight. For United, 2013 and the retirement of Fergie. Obviously their 2010s weren’t as totally abject but it’s clearly when the rot set in.

Since then both clubs have had little glimmers of hope – the odd trophy, a league title for Rangers, both have reached EL finals – but currently both find themselves with unwanted and disliked ‘system’ managers with neither the players to play these systems, nor the ability to coach them.

Maybe they’re still the clubs which best represent the UK in 2025. Both fallen giants, one with a huge global reach but with supporters who must be wondering why they should still bother to respect their adopted club, the other undone by financial mismanagement and dodgy tax practices. Both currently owned by Americans.

So what lies in store for these two 90s giants? Do we sit tight and await the arrival of some sort of new generational manager to rescue us? Hope that our rivals fail so badly as to allow us to catch up? What does it mean when the classic glory-hunter clubs stop achieving glory?

In the meantime, fans of each club will continue to wade through further false-dawns and embarrassment while re-watching YouTube compilations from 20-30 years ago for the hundredth time.
Duncan (imagine currently being a 90s kid who supports both!), York

Amorim the ‘donut guy’

As my mail a week back, when United were still riding the high of the Arsenal draw, already said: Amorim is a goner.

1. Tactical inflexibility. His formation doesn’t suit the squad and actually makes good players worse by forcing them into bad roles. He insists on two in midfield — but in the Premier League, you need two cyborgs to cover that ground. Cyborgs don’t exist yet.

2. The Bruno dilemma. Amorim didn’t have the guts to move on from Bruno at the pivotal moment when the money could have been reinvested. Instead, the team remains unbalanced around him.

3. Favoritism over competition. He preaches competition but picks his favourites regardless of form. That’s how you lose the dressing room — just ask Ten Hag or Solskjaer.

4. The “donut guy” effect. Amorim is the classic office donut guy: bad at his job but really nice, so people look the other way. He gives media and YouTubers open access, which shields him from proper criticism.

All in all, he’s finished. The real worry is what comes next. The United hierarchy will panic and swing back towards a “local” man-manager type — Gareth Southgate territory — and we’ll end up with another Maguire contract to show for it.

Mark my words.

Kind regards,
Mike

Why Newcastle want Amorim’s Man Utd to ‘click’

For such a big fellow, Andre Onana sure has weak hands, and everybody knows it now. Will he leave at a deep discount after a loan ot three, or grimly run his contract down? And is Amorim as done as he looks, or is ownership paralyzed by the investments they’ve made in him — i.e., the good players he’s discarded and/or demoralized, some of whom have already been sold at significant losses, and the dubious players he’s brought in for his 343 master plan that’s, honestly, *this close to clicking. I’m rather hoping it’s the latter, because I’d be quite keen to see Kobbie Mainoo in black and white. I do think that Manchester United supporters should keep faith in Mbeumo and Sesko, though. Sesko got into the right spots far better than Hojlund ever did.

And speaking of poor form: to whomever it was that accused NUFC of dirty play against Liverpool earlier this week, your post nearly made me write furious things. But I let it rest for a while and can now simply suggest you rewatch that match whilst sober, then consider the injury list it left. Ekitike yanked Tonali’s arm out of its socket, for goodness’ sake. While I watched, I was almost always angry at what your lot got away with; I’ll spare you the list, of which I hope you have been made aware by now. That said, it wasn’t all one-way. We got away with a few bad fouls, too, and nobody is complaining about Gordon’s red card (except at Gordon himself). We can all do with being less one-eyed. And at least we agree that the match was poorly refereed by Simon Hooper and (especially, for me at least) John Brooks.

It’s a wild week in the Mailbox.
Chris C, Toon Army DC

‘Wrong to sack Ten Hag’

Mat, Mark, I mostly agree with both your mails.

While my personal dislike of Southgate as both manager and player is fairly clearly stated, it is a fair point. It’s also amusing that even when he got Middlesbrough relegated, he got more points per game than Amorim has managed.

And irritatingly, we had that same kind of state when we appointed Ole to replace the toxicity of Jose. Straightforward talk, good mood, players responded and we came close to success. Yes, both managers lack tactical knowledge but we can see what supposed tactical experts deliver.

That said, sometimes sacking the manager is still the right thing. Moyes was out of his depth, had entirely the wrong attitude. And while his backing such as it was made headlines for all the wrong reasons, he also could fall back on a squad that had just won the league. Aging, sure, but obviously capable. We can definitely agree that it set the tone for the utter dismantling of everything that had been built.

Ole was also shafted by the board deciding unilaterally to sign Ronaldo even though he wasn’t needed or wanted by the manager. He completely destabilised the team that was seeming to be coming together. He might have even got something out of Sancho, because there’s a lad that needs an arm round the shoulder not being shouted at. He did choose to sign Maguire though, so he’ll always have that mark against him. But sacking Ole was wrong, for me. The facts of his tenure prove it.

We weren’t wrong to sack Jose, who had made the club a very unpleasant place. I think we were wrong to sack Van Gaal. Yes, the football made your eyes bleed but he was in the middle of changing the team, and had form for delivering good football. He still brought success.

Similarly, we were wrong to sack Ten Hag, who was also in the middle of the rebuild, and delivered success on the pitch. We replaced “he has no style” with *this*, after all, and mostly because he never got the media onside. But we should have also listen to Rangnick (also more points per game than Amorim).

It is clear to anyone with eyes that Amorim is not providing any answers and is making more problems than solutions. He needs to go. Whoever comes next needs to be someone who picks the team up again. We aren’t in a position of expecting success – although inevitably there are many “fans” who think otherwise – but we absolutely have a squad that should be at the upper end of the league. That’s not entitlement, that’s just plain obvious. We were, after all, 4 points from 3rd and FA Cup holders when this maniac was appointed against the judgement of Dan Ashworth. The arrogance and ignorance of billionaires in full effect.

The answer is someone stable, who brings some happiness back to the squad. I don’t want it to be Southgate – he was a little weasel of a player – but managers like him are two a penny. And maybe someone like Ruud or Carrick would have a higher ceiling? Give them until the end of the season and then extend for another year, year on year.

Either way, my red line on Mainoo stands. And I will watch on, somewhat detached, until the ghost of Amorim is finally expunged from the club. Hopefully by Monday morning.
Badwolf

A ‘world class manager’

“With a goalkeeper, United probably have 4 points in the league and escape Grimsby with a stinky win. With a midfield as well they quite conceivably have 3 wins from three (though I wouldn’t have bet on it).”

Unfortunately you are still deluded. Utd spent £40m on a goalkeeper, £50m on ugarte (just last summer), £60m on casemiro and mainoo was worth £70-£80m a year ago. Bruno is your best and cost £56m.

Buying a new everything will not fix your problems. You’ve been doing it for 12 years and getting worse. A world class manager at their peak needs to be appointed (you’ve not appointed one at their peak in the last 12 years apart from perhaps mourinho on the top of the downslope and he got you second with a bunch of players with terrible attitudes as he stated at the time). And you need to let that manager buy the players they believe are good enough and bring youth through. At the moment it seems none of the managers are getting the players they actually want, just what’s available for top dollar. World class managers know what a great player looks like. End of.
rojapy

Southgate

I read the article on Top 10 replacements for Amorim and you are absolutely right in nailing the ideal replacement which is Sir Gareth Southgate.

England was down in the dumps after the Sam Allardyce stint. Southgate got them to within a match of winning Euros (twice), not to mention the immediate impact in getting England to a WC semi-final at the first major tournament.

He completely eliminated the toxic culture and made playing for England something which excited most English players (except Ben White).

The current Manchester United team needs someone like that who is able to lift up his players, create a good atmosphere for them.

I cannot believe that any Manchester United fan will not want Southgate as the replacement for Amorim.

#SouthgateIn #AmorimOut

Best regards
Shrivathsa (It may even happen this weekend after Scott Parker out-tactics Amorim, using a 3-4-2-1, as it transpires)

Wiegman

Ruben Amorin is not leading from the front, nor is he promoting free flowing attacking football. The team is timid and dull.

Great managers improve players and protect them from their faults and the stresses of the Prem.

RA has fallen out with or discarded some really talented players: Greenwood; Rashford; Garnacho and McTominey.

Whilst retaining the master complainer as captain: Bruno F.

I believe that the club needs a real change. A manager who has tactical nouse, first rate person management skills and wins. I suggest Sarina Wiegman.

Yours sincerely
Andrew Ritchie

Rodgers

Brendan Rodgers to Man Yoo. It’s the move we all want. He’ll need more than three envelopes, mind.
Stewart, Chicago

The Champions League is a joke

Interesting discussion with my mate who is giddy as a school boy given a new toy today following the champions league draw ( he’s a spurs fan, bless)

I explained how poo it was to watch Liverpool last season finish 1st with an almost perfect record only to be drawn against PSG in the second round.

I explained teams are just as well finishing 8th, losing a few games, resting key players, as they could still end up playing a team like PSG.

I explained in the old format finishing top of your teams group virtually guaranteed a quarter final, now you can be like Villa ( stumble through, yes, they did stumble) and face Bruge.

It’s a joke system. There is literally no incentive to doing well so by its very concept, play ok, and get a lucky draw

Pi** off UEFA. Destroying football one day at a time
Ade ( 21 is coming) Guildford

Liverpool playing dirty?

Mark LFC asks if “Anyone exhausted”?

Okay I will bite.

Yes i am exhausted from Liverpool “fans” argument about Newcastle being the bad guy.

Mark LFC, I am a local lad who supports my local team Newcastle, so I hope this qualifies me as having a “connection” to my team and thereby a valid opinion, even though I may come across as a keyboard warrior.

So let me set out my understanding of Newcastles position, and no, ownership should not be a factor, this scenario can happen to any club, so the usual bashing about Newcastle’s owners is a moot point.

Its this simple:

Newcastle and Isak signed a contract
Newcastle are still honouring that contract
Isak has downed tools
Isak downed his tools before Liverpool even made a formal bid. Why was this?

Newcastle were clear they didnt want to sell, indeed Isak said he was happy at Newcastle. Why would he down tools without an offer from Liverpool? This reeks of either his agent approaching Liverpool behind Newcastle’s back to guage interest, or Liverpool approaching the agent to test if Isak is really happy. Why would Isak down tools otherwise? He’d look a bit silly if no offer came in. Yes, these are all assumptions, but it sure does smell fishy.

Also I should add, Isak never put in a transfer request, he doesnt want to lose his loyalty bonus i expect. Wants to leave, but won’t put in a request.

For the record we should get rid, he will stink out the dressing room, let him have his move.

But as it stands, Newcastle have done nothing wrong. The only gaslighting is coming from the Mersey, not the club. You can talk about gentlemen’s agreements etc. But that is why we have contracts – something his agent should have thought of.

Thanks for reading
Steve (NUFC)

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