Ruben Amorim's image cowering in the dugout followed Manchester United's shock Carabao Cup loss to fourth-tier Grimsby, underscoring deep on-field problems. United finished 15th last season despite heavy financial advantages. Ownership and senior executives Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox led the coaching appointment process, favoring Amorim over other candidates and committing £200m for attacking signings. Amorim delivered 17 wins in 45 games and reached the Europa League final, yet results remain below expectations and the club endured its worst league finish since 1974-75. Amorim previously threatened to walk away and tensions appear unresolved.
The image of Ruben Amorim cowering in the dugout at Grimsby will take some forgetting. It came while his players were taking their penalties in a thrilling shoot-out, eventually slumping to a humiliating Carabao Cup second-round defeat. Manchester United are not a club built to lose to fourth-tier opposition, but here we are. They are not supposed to finish 15th, not in this Premier League era where finances are skewed so extraordinarily in favour of the biggest and most popular clubs.
It is not Amorim who must find the answer. Minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, chief executive Omar Berrada and technical director Jason Wilcox are the ones who must decide United's future direction. They were the ones who felt Dan Ashworth's suggestions of Thomas Frank, Marco Silva and Graham Potter were not right as they moved to replace Erik ten Hag when the Dutchman was sacked in October. They were the ones who pushed for Amorim. Berrada was the man who flew to Portugal and told the coach it was now or never when Amorim pleaded to be allowed to finish the season with Sporting.
Seventeen victories in 45 games have followed, with seven of those wins coming in last season's run to the Europa League final. Clearly this is not the return United's senior management were expecting, not when Amorim was backed to the tune of 200m for three attacking players this summer despite delivering the worst league finish since the year they spent in the second tier in 1974-75 after relegation. Amorim spoke about being willing to walk away last season and was talked round. There was a sense of foreboding about his comments after Wednesday evening's debacle.
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