January 2, 2025

Former Man Utd Coach Criticizes Amorim Appointment, Accusing Ratcliffe of Repeating Ten Hag’s Mistake

Former Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen has criticized the club for “copying exactly what they did with Erik ten Hag” by hiring Ruben Amorim.

Amorim took over from Ten Hag in November, but under his leadership, United’s decline has only worsened, with the team slipping further into mediocrity. Despite the high expectations, Amorim has struggled to reverse the club’s fortunes.

Much like Ten Hag when he transitioned from Ajax, Amorim arrived at Old Trafford with a reputation as one of Europe’s top emerging coaches, having revitalized Sporting Lisbon, a club that was once considered a sleeping giant.

Despite overseeing one of Manchester United’s worst-ever seasons in the Premier League and Champions League in 2023/2024, Erik ten Hag retained his position during the summer. His FA Cup final victory over Manchester City, however, was enough to persuade new co-owner and head of football operations, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, to hold off on making a managerial change.

Ten Hag’s time at the helm, however, was short-lived this season, and Ruben Amorim has now been tasked with trying to turn things around. However, Amorim’s change in style and formation has proven challenging, particularly with the demanding fixture schedule that leaves little time for training.

Rene Meulensteen, who served as Sir Alex Ferguson’s assistant from 2008 to 2013, admires Amorim’s managerial style but is concerned that Manchester United is repeating the same mistake they made with Ten Hag’s appointment.

“It’s more to do with the appointment process than anything about his management style or coaching,” Meulensteen said.

“You look at when United went for Ten Hag. He was the manager at Ajax in a smaller league in Europe and did really well winning the league and did well in the Champions League.”

“It’s exactly the same pattern with Amorim in Portugal. Sporting, a smaller league, does well, wins the league, and does really well in the Champions League.”

“He’s got a really nice football style about him; that’s where the similarities are. I think they’re two different characters with two different personalities.”

“The way that Ten Hag communicated compared to the way that Amorim communicates, the way that Amorim likes to play his team in a 3-4-3 is different from Ten Hag.”

“But that was the concern for me with United actually copying exactly what they did by appointing Ten Hag. They do exactly what they did with Amorim.

“Because Ten Hag had no experience in the Premier League, Amorim has no experience in the Premier League. When Ten Hag came in, everybody was keen because of the way that Ajax played.

“Man United never played anywhere near the same attractive style under Ten Hag with Ajax. Now, Amorim comes in, and he says very clearly, ‘This is the way I’m going to play’.

“But he’s got a completely different set of players, a completely different league, you know what I mean? So it is very hard for him to recreate that because it’s very different.”

Further reading: Real Madrid Unwavering in Pursuit of Trent Alexander-Arnold