Emery, De Zerbi named as potential Man Utd managers as seven pundits react to Amorim sack | OneFootball

Seven pundits, including Rio Ferdinand, have reacted to Manchester United sacking Ruben Amorim, with two standout replacements named…

Rio Ferdinand

“That’s been the reason why it’s been so sharp and quick overnight – his comments a few hours ago. Two managers now, [Enzo] Maresca at Chelsea and now Amorim at Manchester United have spoken out against the hierarchy and have been sacked immediately,” Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel.

“What I would say is his record is actually the worst of any manager at United post-Sir Alex Ferguson. So when you look at it like that you go, are you really surprised?

“I saw his last two press conferences, and I was sitting there thinking something’s not right here.

“This guy, one of his best traits and most likeable things about him has always been his ability to be quite punchy in his press conferences, upbeat and he had quite a jovial way about himself in those press conferences. The last two press conferences that he did looked depressing.”

Jaap Stam

“I really like De Zerbi as a manager and how he conducts himself in terms of managing the dressing room, his tactics and philosophy. He’s very clear in his approach and he’s tactically very strong; I’d like to see him given the chance at Old Trafford,” Stam told Covers.com.

“Ruben Amorim’s departure was inevitable, but I was surprised to see him sacked so soon. The performances haven’t been consistent and we were expecting more from him after last season.

“I was at the Leeds game, and his comments after the match have obviously raised eyebrows in the club’s hierarchy. His system didn’t always suit the players at the club, and we haven’t seen much progress, even though he has had more time between games and fewer competitions.

“The club must take some of the blame too; they were convinced by a manager who was enjoying a lot of success, but in a completely different league, playing a contrasting style of football. Manchester United are a club associated with attacking, aggressive football, but that was always going to be a challenge, with his system and the players available to him.”

Jamie O’Hara

“He isn’t good enough. It’s as simple as that. Man Utd fans will be upset because it’s another manager that’s got the sack, so it’s turmoil, turning the page and starting again,” O’Hara said on Sky Sports.

“Good riddance. He isn’t good enough to be the Man Utd manager. They stuck with him because they thought they’d give him a chance and they need to give managers time, but the stats don’t lie.

“Man Utd have not been good enough since he’s come in – he made the club worse. He came about with all this spiel about how he wanted to play and his philosophy and where he wanted to take the club, changing the culture. When you come in, you’ve got to prove you’re a good enough manager – and he’s proven he isn’t.”

He added:”I wonder if he’s looked at the Maresca situation, the Nuno situation and has though ‘You know what? I’ve had enough of this.’

“As a manager, if you do want the sack and you’ve had enough of what you’re doing and where you are, you go against the board. You know they are going to make a decision and they’ve done that straight away. I think he wanted the sack.”

Simon Jordan

“Emery’s the Man United manager. He’s one of the best in class. Man United’s one of the biggest clubs in the world,” he told talkSPORT.

Jordan added: “He’s a brilliant manager, that’s why I’m saying Man United, get a manager like him who’s a statesman, who can build, who knows how to manage properly and doesn’t do what these children managers do every time they don’t get what they want, which is scream in front of the media.”

Martin Keown

“I can’t say I’m surprised, this is a manager who was fixated with playing a particular way in a system, he wanted to play a back three,” Keown said.

“He recently said, didn’t he, that ‘I’m starting to get the feeling that I need to play a perfect 3-4-3, we need to spend a lot of money and need time, I’m starting to understand that it’s not gonna happen.’ He became increasingly vocal towards the director of football.

“And when it’s becoming so public as it was, you thought that it was on borrowed time, you look back, I don’t think he can have any complaints, because of the record, the number of games.

“I know there sixth in the table, but they have not convinced me at all. And his failure to adapt in terms of his system, he’s almost obsessed.

“We have the same thing in Celtic, by the way, a manager [Wilfried Nancy] up there who wants to play one particular way, it’s cost him his job.”

Mark Bosnich

“This behind the scenes has to be cleared up. They thought they were putting in a team that were in it for long-term success but it hasn’t quite worked,” he said on the BBC.

“And coming back to the talk on egos and so forth, it should be quite clear. It should be manager/head coach, whatever you want to call them, he is the one that has to set the tone, he is the one that has to set the culture because it is is name that is on the project.

“The others? Regardless of ego, it should be about the club and the team doing well because right now, the supporters – and I can understand this – will be tearing their hair out because they want to know what’s going on and they deserve to know what’s going on.

“Right now, it’s a complete mess.”

Rene Meulensteen

“They don’t want to make another mistake and very quickly go for someone that they’re sort of trying to fill the void with. They need to really look,” he told BBC Sport.

“At the end of the day, this is not all about Ruben Amorim. It’s about Ineos and the whole team behind it, as well. Because they’ve basically not backed up what they’ve been saying. So there’s some questions to be asked as well. They don’t want to make the same mistake.

“They have to be really calm and say ‘what do we need? what do we need to make sure that United is going to get back on track in the way that is the United style?’

“They need somebody with pedigree. Someone who understands the Premier League, who’s been successful in the Premier League. Someone with a strong personality, with charisma. Someone with good vision about how to take Manchester United forward.

“The most important thing is that they need to get things right in the background first. And be very very clear that when they do make an appointment that everything is aligned. At this moment in time, it wasn’t aligned.”