Michael Owen has come to the defence of Rúben Amorim after the former Manchester United head coach was fired from his role earlier this year.
Ruben Amorim was sacked as manager of Manchester United in January after 14 months in charge at the club. Since this decision was made, club legend Michael Carrick has stepped in as Interim Head Coach until the end of the season, winning six of his first eight matches.
The sacking of Amorim followed a major fallout between the manager and senior figures at the club, most notably with United’s Director of Football, Jason Wilcox. Although the exchange proved to be the end of Amorim’s time at United, some would argue that his dismissal was inevitable due to the inconsistent results throughout his tenure.
Amorim was appointed United manager in November 2024, at the age of 39, after a largely successful stint at Sporting Lisbon, where he transformed the club into a dominant force in Portugal. He led Sporting to their first league title in 19 years, whilst implementing a unique style of play and developing young talent.
Because of this, Amorim was seen as the perfect candidate to lead the club forward in a new and exciting style. However, his tenure at United was heavily criticised by the English media, and his time was abruptly cut short after just 14 months in charge when INEOS decided it was time for another change.
Owen defends Amorim despite United failings
Amorim’s successor, Michael Carrick, has had a mostly positive start to his temporary tenure. It’s Carrick’s first managerial role since his time at Middlesbrough ended, but he has made an immediate impact on the United squad, strengthening their chances of Champions League qualification.
Football pundit and former Liverpool and United striker Michael Owen recently featured on BBC Sport’s The Wayne Rooney Show, of course, alongside Wayne Rooney, United’s all-time leading goalscorer. In the episode, Owen highlighted the number of young English managers performing well at the moment and compared the opportunities available to them with those given to foreign managers.
“It’s impossible for a young manager,” Owen said. “I mean, someone like Amorim, and I like Rúben Amorim, but, you know, you give somebody a manager’s job on the back of, you know, doing well in their country for a very small, short period of time.
“There’s managers [who] would do equally as well if they went out and managed in other countries or that.
“It’s virtually impossible for a young manager, a young English manager, to come in and do an Amorim type of thing in their country, because, one, you’ll never get the chance to, nobody will ever.
“But he’s [Amorim] got miles more chance, and so has virtually every manager, of managing at the level that he knows. You know, if you ask me to go and manage my local team in the conference, with all due respect, I don’t really know any of the players.
“It’s a different bit of a different sport. That’s not me being, you know, snooty about, but, you know, it’s more of a passing game and whatever at the highest level. Like, I could coach something that I know about.”
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Have United really turned a corner?
Since Michael Carrick took over the managerial position at the club, United have looked like a better team and the atmosphere around the club has vastly improved. The club did not invest in signings in January, but the results have still given United a real chance of a top-four finish in the Premier League this season.
This has led many to advocate for Carrick to be appointed permanent manager as of next season, rather than hiring a new manager in his place. Reports suggest that many within the club are very fond of this idea, but this comes at a time when results have begun to decline slightly.
Most recently, United suffered a difficult loss against ten-man Newcastle, and shades of the past have started to become more noticeable in recent performances. With a tough match against Aston Villa approaching this Sunday, Carrick’s side will be eager to get back to winning ways.
It is likely that the manager market will be very active this summer after the World Cup, and many names have been circulating around the United vacancy. However, if results stay positive and United finish in the top four, it is hard to see the club moving on from Carrick.
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