‘I’m here to be manager, not coach’ – Ruben Amorim challenges Man Utd chiefs but plans to leave in 18 months
Amorim was given the chance to fully explain his post-match comments at Elland Road. Instead, he elected to leave the media room and let the journalists try to work it out for themselves.
He adopted a similar approach on Friday when he cryptically suggested there had been disagreements over recruitment, potentially in the wake of an attempt to sign Antoine Semenyo ending in failure.
As it stands, we don’t know if Amorim wanted the £65m that United were willing to spend on Semenyo relocated to another part of his team, which badly needs reinforcements.
What we do know about is his belief that managers need influence over recruitment. That is because he explained it when he spoke to the media after the 1-0 win over Newcastle on 26 December, as he looked ahead to the Wolves game.
He said then: “Sometimes I have one idea, Jason [Wilcox] and the board has another idea, [but] every decision we make we need to reach a common ground.
“That is really important. You don’t need to make everything for the manager because the manager can change and [then] you need to change everything. But you also need to understand [that] the manager understands the way of playing.”
It hinted at a divergence of opinion and Amorim has done nothing to quell that idea. Now, the situation is becoming serious.
On Tuesday, Amorim is bound to be asked for the clarification he refused to give at Elland Road.
At what point does Wilcox – who has not spoken publicly to the media other than one ‘safe’ club interview – get involved? Or chief executive Omar Berrada? Or minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe? Or the Glazers?
Amorim spoke a lot at Leeds about the next 18 months, in the sense that if he is left alone until the end of his contract, everyone can move on. But the modern football world is not like that.
United’s position in the table remains more or less as it was before the Leeds game. In pure league position terms, they are on track to qualify for Europe, which is the target Amorim was given this summer.
But it is impossible to imagine the current tension being allowed to simmer for another 18 months.
Amorim clearly thinks the parameters of the job he was sold have changed. Berrada flew to Portugal in the wake of Ten Hag’s dismissal and persuaded him to leave Sporting immediately – rather than wait until the summer as he pleaded to do.
It appears that where we have ended up is not to Amorim’s liking.
The big questions, therefore, are these.
If Amorim cannot accept where we are now, are United willing to alter their vision?
If not, regardless of their position in the table, what will they do about it?
