Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has accused Ruben Amorim of risking his job following the Red Devils’ upturn in form.
Amorim’s job appeared to have been at serious risk just a matter of weeks ago, with United enduring a tough start to the season on the back of their poor form under the Portuguese last year.
But three wins in a row have seen them rocket up the table to sixth, having beaten Sunderland, Liverpool and Brighton and now looking up rather than down.
Amorim received a vote of confidence from owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe earlier this season, and that seems to have paid off with nine points coming in United’s last three matches.
Ferdinand, though, doesn’t appear too sure. Speaking in the latest episode of Rio Ferdinand Presents, he commended Amorim for sticking to his guns, but admitted his approach is quite the risk.
‘I admire it to a certain extent,’ Ferdinand said. But, like I said, I think he is playing Russian Roulette with his job. I don’t think he’s changed drastically, he’s just tweaked.
Rio Ferdinand has claimed that Ruben Amorim is ‘playing Russian Roulette’ with his job
Amorim’s role at Manchester United had appeared to be as risky until he secured three wins in a row in the Red Devils’ most recent games
That’s what a lot of fans were asking for. Just tweak what you’ve got. Maybe don’t be so much on the front foot, maybe be a bit more conservative at times when we haven’t got the ball.
‘You can’t press, press, press for 90 minutes, unless you’re an absolute beast of a team. PSG do it. This manager couldn’t do that with this squad.
‘That’s just sometimes how the cookie crumbles. We might look back in six months and, say Man United finish in the Champions League or something like that, he’ll probably sit there confidently and go, “Well, if I did change, I probably would be out of a job because I have been doing things that are alien to me”.’
Another former United defender in Gary Neville has spoken highly of Amorim, having admitted that he was worried about his future before the trio of wins.
He said on Sky Sports: ‘A few weeks ago I was a little bit worried that the players didn’t believe in Ruben Amorim’s system. That maybe there was an element of not winning matches and starting to question and listening to the noise that all of us – including myself – had added to that.
But one thing that’s been absolutely not in doubt when you talk to people around the club is that they really like him as a person, and that counts for a lot. Because I think there’s no doubt – he’s not lost the dressing room in terms of spirit and energy and how they feel towards him.
I think they want to play for him, they’re desperate to win and I think you’ve seen that coming together in the last week. I mean, winning at Anfield in any season is special, but for Ruben Amorim to win at Anfield when it was so unexpected I think has given them such a big lift.
We’ll look forward to the game next week against Nottingham Forest, Tottenham away the week after – there’s still a big job to do in the next month. But I felt it was a month of reckoning. If it had started badly last week against Liverpool it could have gone a different way but it feels very different, it feels like the momentum is with them a little bit and the spirit is good.’
