Ruben Amorim sacked: What went wrong at Man Utd for 'hard-working' head coach after club confirm Old Trafford exit

Sky Sports' writers give their assessment of what went wrong for Ruben Amorim at Manchester United after the club confirmed the Portuguese would be departing his role after 14 months in charge at Old Trafford.

Amorim was hard-working and honest - but had to go

Ruben Amorim's sacking was inevitable and predictable.

There was an awful lot of optimism when he first joined - both from the Manchester United bosses and from supporters.

But in truth, he never seemed comfortable in the job.

• Transfer Centre LIVE! | Man Utd news & transfers?
• Man Utd fixtures & scores | FREE Man Utd PL highlights▶️
• Got Sky? Watch Man Utd games LIVE on your phone?
• Not got Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW?
• Choose the Sky Sports push notifications you want! ?

The United hierarchy were desperate to give him a full season in charge before judging him - partly because of the cost of sacking him, which will now be £12m, but also because of the recurring instability that inevitably happens if you regularly change the man at the top.

Since Sir Alex Ferguson left in 2013, Amorim was the 10th manager to be appointed. But results were so poor, they never afforded the club's bosses, or Amorim, the luxury of time.

Despite spending over £200m on attacking talent in the summer, despite the Portuguese coach having a full pre-season to get his message across, despite many of the statistics pointing to improved performance levels from the team, despite the man himself coping well with the media scrutiny and being well-liked across the board at the club…the results were awful.

Amorim is a decent, honest, hard-working guy. But he had to go.
Rob Dorsett

Fernandes the catalyst for Amorim's Old Trafford demise?

Stubbornness forms the very basis of where many fans will feel Amorim got it wrong. But could the Portuguese head coach's downfall be pinned on a specific decision? Bruno Fernandes' importance to Manchester United goes without saying.

His 100 goals for the club tell a story of the level of consistency and performance he's displayed since arriving at Old Trafford nearly six years ago.

Ask anyone who United's best player is and the majority will reply with Fernandes. However, in the summer, there was an opportunity to move away from him.

Rightly or wrongly, representative of an era at United, Fernandes had an offer to move to Saudi Arabia, which would have seen United potentially make £100m from his departure. That money could have been reinvested to plug United's overstated midfield holes.

Instead, the player became a symbol of Amorim's hard-headed approach. Amorim's insistence on deploying him as one of his two midfielders has hampered United.

As captain, Fernandes is Amorim's go-to in midfield and for the former Sporting coach, he contended for the position with Kobbie Mainoo.

That's a scenario that has seen the England international and a favourite among fans find minutes hard to come by, which hasn't helped Amorim's case with the Old Trafford faithful.

Stubborn by nature, Amorim would tell you he'd make the same decision to keep Fernandes, knowing what would ultimately be his fate. However, it is now clear that Fernandes was the catalyst for Amorim's United demise.
William Bitibiri

Ratcliffe's Ten Hag delay at root of Amorim issues

Amorim has had an uphill task since day one - and that is down to Manchester United's dithering over Erik ten Hag.

The Dutchman looked set to leave after salvaging an FA Cup win at the end of a disappointing 2023/24 season. It was a chance for him to leave on a high and for the club to move on. But instead, after sounding out various alternatives, United decided they could find no better option, so handed Ten Hag a contract extension - and a heap of money in the transfer window.

He was also given a say on who to bring in. "He did have a voice, which is why there were one or two Dutch players," Sir Jim Ratcliffe memorably said. Players Ten Hag had coached at former clubs were also added to the squad.

Nine games into the new 2024/25 season, the United decision-makers changed their mind again and sacked him before installing Amorim.

A new manager in a new league, trying to implement a new system with players signed for a different manager… what could go wrong?

It now looks like folly not to have given Amorim a full pre-season and transfer window in the summer of 2024 to shift the style of play and approach at the club. The good feeling from the FA Cup win could have provided a welcome launch pad.

"It was the wrong decision," Ratcliffe concluded about the whole Ten Hag mess.

Prior to Amorim's appointment, there were reports he would have preferred to have waited until the end of the season before leaving Sporting for United. If he had been given a full run-in to his first campaign, the transition could have been a whole lot smoother and successful.
Peter Smith

Recruitment - or lack of - played its part

Manchester United scored just 44 league goals in 2024/25 - their lowest recorded total since 1973/74, when they were relegated from the First Division - so this summer was about putting a new forward line and in came Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko.

An impressive triple capture, and one that cost £207.2m. It represented a huge outlay for a club without European football, but illustrated just how keen they are to ensure the absence from Europe lasted one season and one season only.

But how costly was it that the midfield was, on the face of it, not treated with the same urgency? Amorim did not sign a single midfielder during his time in charge.

Fernandes is one of the first names on the team sheet, and rightly so, but the options for partners are limited.

It is a similar story in goal. Andre Onana played only three of the last seven league games last year before being loaned out to Trabzonspor. Amorim initially persisted with Altay Bayindir despite the £18.2m arrival of Senne Lammens. Eyebrows were raised with the signing of Lammens, with just 54 league appearances to his name, but he has been United's No 1 since October.

One problem area has been remedied, but a lack of similar work elsewhere has played its part.
Dan Long

Don't blame the system - blame those behind it

Amorim, INEOS, the Manchester United squad - nobody comes out of this mess looking good. But spare a thought for 3-4-3.

The mere mention of the formation is likely to induce cold sweats among United fans. The depths their side have plumbed in a bid to get to grips with the system have been so low that some pundits have insisted it can never work in the Premier League.

But that isn't true. Chelsea won the Premier League in 2017 playing 3-4-3. Crystal Palace have enjoyed remarkable success under Oliver Glasner with the system. And let's not forget Amorim's exploits at Sporting using 3-4-3 earned him the Old Trafford job.

The issue was not the system - it was the United squad's inability to perform within it, and Amorim's bizarre refusal to adapt that doomed his reign.

As Adam Bate pointed out here, data analysis suggested 3-4-3 was a long way down the list of formations that suited the squad Amorim inherited. The system requires athletic wing-backs who can contribute in both boxes, versatile No 10s and an effective No 9.

The squad that Amorim took over barely had any of those, yet he ploughed on. Mainoo up front? Fernandes as a No 6? Mason Mount at wing-back? All in service to the system.

Should United's players have done a better job adapting to their head coach's demands? Certainly. Should INEOS have foreseen Amorim's incompatibility with the squad he was being handed? No doubt. And Amorim's refusal to change had long since passed the stage of being self-defeating.

But the 3-4-3 formation has worked before and will work again - just don't expect to see United using it any time soon.
Joe Shread

Is the Old Trafford job a poisoned chalice?

Amorim now joins an ever-growing list of names who have tried - and failed - to drag Manchester United back to their former heights.

David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ralf Rangnick, Ten Hag and now Amorim.

A list compiled of names with differing levels of experience and success but there is a common theme from their time at Old Trafford. It ultimately did not work.

Rangnick spoke of the "open heart surgery" United needed during his time at the club from December 2021 to May 2022 - but what else can be done?

The ownership structure has changed, new head coaches arrived with their own ideas and fresh investment was inserted across all areas of the squad over the years. But the same issues persisted.

At some point, you have to question whether it is possible to replicate Sir Alex Ferguson's success in Manchester almost 13 years ago.

Their former glory, although historic and woven into English football history forever, casts an immediate shadow on those who fill the hot seat and the expectations that come with it, albeit outdated, set them up for failure regardless of formation, signings and results.
Patrick Rowe

(c) Sky Sports 2026: Ruben Amorim sacked: What went wrong at Man Utd for 'hard-working' head coach after club confirm Old Trafford exit