- 2 hours ago
Ruben Amorim has been sacked by Manchester United, ending a 14 month run that included a record low 15th place finish, cup elimination at the hands of Grimsby, and the club's worst start to a Premier League. But with the team sitting pretty in the league, and new signings bedding in successfully, can Amorim actually consider himself pretty harshly treated?Adam Clery examines his tenure at Old Trafford, as well as his patented 3-4-2-1 system, to assess his time in charge.
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00:00Right, hello there everybody, welcome to the Adam Cleary Football Channel, where Ruben Amarim has been sacked by Manchester United,
00:07and who saw that coming?
00:11Alright, sorry, yes of course, everybody, everybody saw that coming.
00:15But the question is, why now? How do you survive a 15th place finish, losing the Europa League final, the
00:22club's worst ever start to a Premier League season,
00:25and getting binned out of the cup by Grimsby, only to get sacked now?
00:31And more importantly, why, when every single person who watched them could see that this system did not suit this
00:39group of players,
00:40did he persist with it right up until his final match for the club?
00:45What has happened in these last 14 months?
00:49Well, let's have a look.
00:55All right, so a couple of things. First off, thanks as ever to our official data providers, FopMob.
01:00You will see us using this stuff during the video, but you should go and download the app, because it
01:04has data and stats and fixtures and info.
01:07Loads of cool stuff, we genuinely love it.
01:09And second of all, Ruben Amarim got sacked on January the 5th.
01:13That is literally my birthday, so I've had to stop eating cake in the office with my friends and come
01:20and make this video.
01:22So, you better like it.
01:25Anyway, though, this was his Manchester United, right?
01:29These are his most used players this season, and of course they invested another, like, £220 million on it in
01:36the summer.
01:37And that mostly went on Nbermo, on Lamins, on Kunja, who I think we can all say have been really
01:43good.
01:43They've all immediately improved this team, and the rest went on Cesco, who hasn't really shown you too much yet,
01:50but he's 22 years old.
01:52You are required to have a little bit of patience there.
01:54And the thing is, if you go player for player throughout this entire team, right, and look at them individually,
02:00I'd say it's all been mostly quite positive.
02:04Fernandes is having a massive season for them.
02:07Casemiro is maybe having his best in a Man United shirt.
02:11Mason Mount has found a role for himself.
02:13Amad has continued to develop.
02:15Dalot never lets you down.
02:17And all the defenders have not been as bad as last season.
02:22Let's leave it at that.
02:23And yet, despite these positives, with every single passing week, they are capable of serving up something that is scarcely
02:31believable for a club of this stature.
02:34They led twice against Bournemouth and managed to chuck it away.
02:37They could not beat this Wolves team or West Ham at home.
02:42Everton played 80-something minutes against them with 10 men and won.
02:46And that is all just in the last six weeks.
02:50Improbably, he leaves the club with them sitting 6th in the division.
02:55But the reality is, they are just three points off 12th.
03:00And like, four points from going right back down to where they finished last season.
03:05And of all the teams in this big mesh of mid-table, they are not one of the ones that
03:11look to be getting better as the season's gone on.
03:14So, the question then is, how does the team that had the second highest wage bill in the division last
03:20season wind up finishing 15th?
03:22And then, how does a team that appears to have improved individually in every single department since keep putting together
03:30results like that?
03:32Well, we're going to start here in the dying embers of the Europa League final.
03:36And if, Manchester United fans, you have not already suppressed that part of your football supporting memory too much to
03:43recall it,
03:43you will remember that everyone was saying Bilbao or bust, weren't they?
03:49If you go and win that, then not only do you get a trophy, but you're back in the Champions
03:52League.
03:52And it's actually been a pretty good season despite finishing 15th.
03:56And if you lose it, well, then it's the worst season the club have had in decades and decades and
04:04decades.
04:04You are 1-0 down, there are only minutes left to go, play is restarting and you are still set
04:12up in this 3-4-2-1 shape.
04:15And Ruben Amarum had thrown more attacking players on, yes, he was trying to get an equaliser,
04:21but they'd stayed in this shape that basically means when you don't have the ball, you've got like seven defenders.
04:28And unsurprisingly, they do not go and equalise.
04:32Jump forward to that Grimsby game, you clawed your way back to parity against a League Two side
04:38and really, really want to avoid penalties.
04:41Again, play restarts and you are in your 3-4-2-1 shape.
04:47Cunha, Burmo, Xerxi, Mount, Cesc, all their attacking players were on the pitch at various points in this game,
04:53but they never came out of a shape that doesn't force six or seven of your players to take up
04:59very conservative defensive starting positions.
05:02Like they have Mason Mount at left wing back here, for example.
05:06Like what on earth do you expect a player like that to do for you from that position?
05:13And it just didn't matter what the situation was or what advantages were to be gained,
05:17he could not see beyond this system.
05:21Here, against Everton's 10 men, your opponents are in a 4-4-1,
05:26camped in their own half, not engaging you at the back under any circumstances,
05:32and you've basically got five players standing outside their defensive shape.
05:37Like honestly, it was baffling to watch that,
05:40because you've got a man extra and you're still building up with your goalkeeper
05:44and three motionless centre-backs, none of whom are being pressured on the ball.
05:49They did not need to be there.
05:51Like there are just some fundamentals when it comes to playing against 10 men.
05:56Like regardless of how you normally set up or who you are or who you're playing,
06:00you have to work with them, you have to run them,
06:03you can stretch the game out and exhaust them mentally and physically,
06:07but only if you get men inside and around whatever defensive shape they have.
06:13And yet, Man United at all times in this game still had three centre-backs not being pressured,
06:20meaning at most they had seven trying to disrupt Everton's nine.
06:25And the reason you don't ever see other teams playing like that
06:28is because nowhere in that situation will you then find yourself with a man advantage,
06:34just somehow allowing yourself, despite having more players,
06:37to be outnumbered in all the areas that counts.
06:40Like it was one of the most baffling things I've ever seen on a football pitch.
06:45Three very different but equally urgent scenarios and the same exact shape.
06:52No compromise, no adaptation.
06:55But the thing is, if you go and look at Man United's numbers from this season,
06:59they do suggest that improvements were being made,
07:03that maybe that current league position is merited.
07:07They've created the highest number of chances in the entire league,
07:10they've had the most shots on target and have almost exactly the same XG as Arsenal.
07:16They are genuinely a creative force in this division.
07:21Like they are like marginally underperforming their XG, yes,
07:24but they're still only one goal away from being the league's third top scorers,
07:30which does sound like a bit of a convoluted sentence, yes,
07:33but it still proves this is a dangerous attacking team.
07:37But the numbers the other way are decidedly mid-table.
07:41They give up as many chances as Fulham, Palace and Tottenham.
07:44Teams have had as many shots on goal against them as they have at Leeds and Everton.
07:48And their XG is the same as Brentford's.
07:51In fact, you go and you take penalties out of the equation there,
07:55and it is the same as Nottingham Forest's, who are 17th.
07:59And of course, what's particularly maddening about those numbers is that
08:03this system that you have this unrelenting lob on for,
08:08that puts more defenders in the team than you need and puts attackers into positions
08:13where they have to think defensively is only used in football to make you more solid.
08:21The reason other teams in the world do it is to make them hard to play against.
08:26And you would never level that accusation at Ruben Amorim's Man United.
08:31So what has ever been the point?
08:35Let's just go to the Leeds game here, as it has turned out to be his last, right?
08:40And early on, because Leeds are attacking down the flanks,
08:43they've forced the wing-backs into just being full-backs.
08:46But as they cross the ball, look at the organisation here.
08:50This is your back three.
08:53These are your two wing-backs.
08:54These are your two central midfielders.
08:57And these are your two number 10s.
09:00Or just to do that as a 5-4, which it should be when you're defending.
09:04What the fuck is that supposed to be?
09:08And despite having an 8v4 in the box,
09:11Leeds still win that header and nearly score.
09:15And if you just look at the 11 players Ruben Amorim fielded
09:18in his last ever game for Man United, right?
09:21I'm gonna try and make a really nuanced point here.
09:25But first off, that's atrocious.
09:28If you're Man United and you want this to work,
09:30you need attackers at wing-back.
09:33You need dynamism in midfield.
09:35You need creativity and threat in the number 10 positions.
09:38And what have you got?
09:40Like Luke Shaw at wing-back.
09:41God bless him, who's been a centre-back pretty much all this season.
09:45Patrick Dogu, who's not even first choice in his preferred position,
09:49in one of the most important positions in the team.
09:51And the two most defensively-minded central midfielders at the club.
09:56That is nine of your 11 players basically being some form of a defender or another
10:04when you are playing 16th in the league.
10:08Now, I did say this was going to be quite a nuanced point, right?
10:11So if you're a Man United fan, you might quite rightly be sitting there now going,
10:15but just hang on a second there, buddy, right?
10:19Did you see the bench for this game?
10:21Because that is staggering in its own right, isn't it?
10:24Like you've got one senior outfield player available.
10:27So for all the criticisms that are being levelled at Ruben Amorim and his time at Manchester United,
10:32right, surely this one random starting 11 is a bit unfair, isn't it?
10:37Well, if you look at it again, right, and I am not a Man United fan,
10:41so I hesitate to speak on their behalf.
10:44But I would say that this starting 11, even in the context of the injuries they were having,
10:50represents that he did not understand the culture of this club.
10:56Giving your youth players a chance, promoting from within your own academy.
11:00This has been the backbone of this football club for decades upon decades
11:06and is as important to its cultural makeup, right, as playing attacking football.
11:12Now, don't get me wrong.
11:13I'm not saying any of these specific players are good enough to make it at the top level.
11:17I don't know enough about them.
11:19But with an injury crisis, as bad as this, as Man United manager, you're faced with two options.
11:25Either just play nine defenders and hope that the system will magically see you through,
11:31which, of course, it didn't.
11:33Or use it as a really rare opportunity to allow some of these lads to show you what they can
11:40maybe do.
11:41And are you honestly looking at this and telling me that even just for an hour at Ellen Road,
11:47it's not a better idea than playing 3-4-2-1 with nine defenders?
11:53But no, of course not.
11:55The system must be protected at all costs.
11:58And if you would like to see a moment that proves what an irresponsible mindset that is to have as
12:04a manager,
12:07this.
12:07It's that Wolves game from a while ago.
12:09Ahmad gets run off like a man with zero defensive instincts.
12:13And as the wingback, that goal is entirely his fault.
12:18Except, no, it's not, is it?
12:20Because if he is in that position every single week, having to sacrifice everything he is good at as a
12:27footballer
12:27in order to track runners into the six-yard box, then that is the manager's fault, not his.
12:34If he keeps finding himself in this position and Man United keep conceding as a result,
12:39then the blame is with whoever is putting him there.
12:42And just, do you know what it is, right?
12:45I don't want any manager to lose their job.
12:48I've been told several times he's a genuinely lovely bloke, Ruben Amorim.
12:53I find him really interesting.
12:54I think if his next job suits him a bit better, he'll probably do really well in it.
13:00But I cannot tell you how relieved I am that I don't have to stand here anymore and do the
13:06exact same,
13:07oh, Man United aren't doing very well because this system isn't working and he refuses to change it, video.
13:14Because I must have done 10 of them by now.
13:18And what does he have to show for this just complete refusal to compromise?
13:22He has the worst Premier League win ratio of any Man United manager ever at like 32%.
13:30He has the worst goals conceded per game over one and a half.
13:34And they've had two clean sheets in the Premier League all season
13:39and haven't had one away from home anywhere in 15 games, which is a club record.
13:45As you saw in the numbers, he absolutely improved their attack, yes,
13:48but that's more because he spent £200 million on new attackers.
13:53Like so many of the goals you've seen them score this season come in this like really nice transitional moment
13:59or from some brilliant bit of individual play.
14:01Never as a result of the system dominating the teams it comes up against.
14:06The overwhelming evidence of whatever stats you want to look at are occasionally Man United succeed in spite of this
14:15system.
14:16And just to make this all so poetically maddening for you,
14:19the only times this season where you would say they've put in complete performances
14:24are when injuries forced them to try out a back four.
14:29But then of course, just as soon as he could get back to this, he did.
14:33And they took two points from Wolves and Leeds.
14:36And just the bottom line here is that if as a manager you cannot adapt your approach or your philosophies
14:45when all the evidence is telling you that's what you need to do,
14:49then you have just automatically failed your club, your players, your bosses and your fans.
14:55And look, right, I can't stand here and say that there aren't wider issues at Man United
15:01that have partly contributed to all of this.
15:04Like they spent massive on Dan Ashworth who then said he didn't think Amorim was a smart move.
15:08So they spent massive to get rid of him so they could get Amorim, backed him heavily
15:13and have now had to shell out even more money to get rid of him.
15:18Which, when you lay it all out like that, it's not a cohesive business plan, is it?
15:25So much of what has gone wrong here is down to the manager's rigid ideology, yes.
15:30But it is also a mess of the club's making from the top down.
15:35But yes, this is the tactics channel, isn't it?
15:38Not a diary of a CEO.
15:39So I do think if you change the manager who comes in and does something like that with them,
15:45then without even overcomplicating it, without having to be super clever,
15:49I think the performances immediately improve.
15:52They become a lot more solid.
15:54They become a lot more cohesive.
15:56And as a result, the results will probably pick up as well.
15:59So result twice there.
16:01And yes, obviously that immediate uplift might not put you permanently back where you want to be.
16:07But it'll be an awful lot better than what you have been watching recently.
16:13I promise.
16:14So yes, there you go.
16:16That is how I have spent my birthday, doing the Ruben Amorim getting the sack from Manchester United video.
16:23Maybe I should get a girlfriend this year.
16:25That feels like a healthy move.
16:26Anyway though, Manchester United fans,
16:28crikey Moses, give us your thoughts and feelings in the comments down below.
16:31Are you happy with this?
16:32Do you think we should have stuck with him?
16:33Was it his fault?
16:34Was it not his fault?
16:35Do you blame the club?
16:35Who do you want in next regardless?
16:37Because he's gone.
16:38We can't change that.
16:40All of it.
16:40Welcome down below.
16:41And of course, you can get me across all the social medias at Adam Cleary.
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16:59ThoughtMob, go and get the app.
17:00I genuinely had it on my phone before they ever emailed me.
17:03So that was quite nice.
17:05I've done the entire outro in one single take.
17:08It doesn't matter how many candles are on the cake.
17:10I ain't losing a step.
17:13Except now, I forgot how to do the end bit.
17:15Goodbye.
17:15Mwah.
17:18Mwah.
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