Verdict: A Boring Draw, An Explosive Rant, And The End of Amorim
So after a really disappointing draw against Wolves, we were getting ready for Leeds away. This is a tough game. We all know the history and the rivalry there. We had already dropped points against teams where we should have won. Now, winning against these teams was a must.
On a normal day, I would be okay with a draw at Leeds. They were in form. They haven’t lost a game since December 3rd, which is almost a month since we were playing them on the 4th of January. But given our situation, we needed more.
The Weirdest Presser Before Kick-Off
Before I talk about the game, it is important to talk about the presser before the Leeds match. It felt so weird. It was so cold. It was the embargo section, so people had to wait until 10:30 PM to see it. Some Man United aggregator accounts were sharing that there was a very crispy, cold, weird, and downbeat presser by Amorim. This is strange because he always feels upbeat and tries to answer every question honestly.
Once I saw the presser, I just felt that things were shifting quickly. Similar to Maresca who called for his own sack, this was building up as well. A very interesting thing happened.
In the press conference, a reporter went back to Amorim’s recent comments. He asked about Amorim realizing it was not possible to build the team he wanted with top-level players. He pressed Amorim on why it had taken him a year at the club to reach that conclusion. He asked if anything had changed with the budget, board promises, or conversations with Jason Wilcox.
Amorim tried to shut down the line of questioning. He said, “I don’t want to talk about that, I just focus on the Leeds game.” When the journalist pushed again, wondering if he now regretted those remarks, Amorim ended the exchange with a sarcastic comment:
“I don’t want to talk about that, but you are very smart.”
This clearly meant there were some issues between the board and Amorim. The sarcastic “you are very smart” indicated that Amorim was saying the reporter was correct. There are broken relationships. I wanted some journalist to ask him about this exact question after the match.
The Snoozefest at Elland Road
I will talk about the aftermath later. First, let’s cover the match super quickly. The match was quite weird and, to be honest, very boring in the first half. It was goalless with few near misses. I was really getting bored of watching the game.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin had a header denied by the goal post which was very close. He is literally in form. It would have been nice for United to push for him to partner with Sesko on a one-year deal if it was possible, as he was being linked to us in the summer.
We had one big chance in the first half with a headed chance from Yoro, but it was saved by the Leeds goalkeeper. Not much happened in the first half apart from this.
The Second Half Shift
In the second half, a bad pass from Dalot gave the ball to a Leeds player. He played a through ball across towards our half. Heaven was not able to reach it with his sprint as Aaronson was too fast for him. Aaronson then scored a good finish for Leeds. Lammens couldn’t do anything. Leeds went 1-0 up.
At the 62nd minute, we subbed off Yoro for Zirkzee. He made an instant impact. He linked up with Sesko and played a perfect through ball on a timed run for Cunha. Cunha equalized for United to make it 1-1. We were playing in a 442 system now, which was interesting.
Lammens also made a good save in the second half to keep the scoreline at 1-1. Cunha got one other chance, but that hit the post. Apart from that, there wasn’t much in the game. I would say the game was kind of a snooze fest.
The Real Drama: The Post-Match Rant
I was more excited about the post-match because I was done with Amorim being stubborn. He changed back to a 343 from a 433, even though we saw it working well against Newcastle. But what happened next was bigger and better than I expected.
The conference was dull at first. A few questions were answered. Then one reporter finally asked about his mood. He noted that Amorim is usually upbeat but looked downbeat last time. He asked for the reason.
Amorim went on the front foot. He talked about his role and power at the club. He told the room that the media were being drip-fed “selective information.” He drew a hard line about his status. He said,
“I came here to be the manager of Manchester United, not to be the coach of Manchester United. And that is clear.”
He even acknowledged his name does not carry the same weight as some of his predecessors. But he insisted that the agreement is simple. He is the manager for 18 months, or until the board decide to replace him, and he will not quit early.
A reporter then pressed him. He asked whether the assurances he thought he had about managing the team still felt solid. The question hinted that Amorim might feel some promises had been watered down. Amorim pushed back and repeated his stance. He said he is there to be the manager, not just a coach, and that this was the deal from the start for 18 months.
He stressed that other departments, from scouting to the sporting director, must also do their jobs. He said that if people at the club cannot handle constant criticism from pundits like Gary Neville, then the club’s structure is the problem, not the manager.
He closed by underlining that he will not walk away. He will do his job until someone else comes in to replace him. As he put it, everybody moves on.
The End of the Road
These quotes left everyone shocked. Amorim is usually nice and answers everything nicely with full honesty. But this felt very cold. It left the press room confused, and even the viewers.
His official tag for United was indeed Head Coach. He was hired as Head Coach. So why is he mentioning and talking about him being the manager? Maybe that is the lie or the mistrust he is referring to. Maybe he was told that he will be Head Coach but behind the scenes will be given a say and power in transfers. But when you don’t get the results, I think they took the power away or didn’t give him any say in transfers which may have been promised to him earlier.
Whatever the case, he was in no position to say or demand things right now. He has been stubborn and dropping points against weak relegation-side teams. Things were just going to get difficult for Amorim. Some even felt a sack might be imminent.
That was the case eventually. David Ornstein posted a tweet at 9:57 AM:
“EXCLUSIVE: Manchester United sack Ruben Amorim as head coach. 40yo Portuguese informed of decision & goes with immediate effect after 14 months following breakdown in relations. Darren Fletcher expected to take over #MUFC on interim basis @TheAthleticFC”
So it looks like we will be going for an interim until May. Is it a write-off? Should we already feel that we won’t get Champions League? Should we not go for Xavi? Well, I will talk about this in the SCRIPT that I am preparing. I will talk about that in the scripts section.
Till next time, YANITED YANITED YANITED.
UNITED SCRIPTED. 
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