Ruben Amorim’s exit is further proof that the Premier League is now ‘run by LinkedIn’ | OneFootball

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Ruben Amorim’s Sunday press conference might have surprised the United hierarchy, but it didn’t influence anything – other than, perhaps, timings.

The club’s football leadership, Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox, watched the 1-1 draw at Leeds United – Sir Alex Ferguson sitting behind them – knowing that this was likely to be the manager’s last game.

They had made the decision to change coach in the days prior, after a meeting about concerns on New Year’s Day escalated into a blow-up with the coach himself on Friday. One of the reasons for Amorim’s explosive press conference was that he wanted to go out at least stating his own terms, if not quite on his own terms.

He had already been forthright with Wilcox in Friday’s meeting, particularly regarding questions over the tactical set-up.

There were strong feelings, which ensured that the United leadership felt the relationship was “unsustainable.”

And yet therein lies a more telling issue – one that actually says a lot about the Premier League in 2025 – 26, and particularly this weekend.

If you were making purely football arguments on whether Amorim should have been sacked, there’s obviously a strong case – but they couldn’t really be made as stridently as some of the points raised in that meeting.

The football was often unwatchable. Some of the results were indefensible.

Much of that seemed exclusively tied to Amorim’s own obstinacy.

And yet that obstinacy had also brought certain improvement. United are much better than they were at this time last year – or even six months ago. They’ve been on the edges of the top four for months. Rival clubs felt there was something there.

In other words, there is clearly more to this decision than just results. It was the same with Enzo Maresca at Chelsea, with which many parallels were drawn.

It is about how clubs are structured, and where the power lies.

The Old Trafford leadership, put very simply, were not happy with the progress. And for all that United have become a unique basket case of their own in modern football, there are now a few clubs that can empathise with how they’re feeling.

This, after all, might just be the “unhappiest” the Premier League has ever been.

The table itself tells a story of dissatisfaction. Chelsea and United are in fifth and sixth, respectively – and that in a new era where the top five are likely to get through to the Champions League – and both have just changed managers. Just above them are Liverpool, who are going through a crisis campaign of their own. Could Slot be next? Many in football are already wondering about a “contagion” regarding these decisions. Chelsea’s move is seen as having influenced United’s.

Newcastle United are ninth and now finally have players back, but Eddie Howe’s recent mood has betrayed frustration at the lack of progress. That’s almost half the top half – all of them in propitious positions.

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Strasbourg manager Liam Rosenior is expected to be the new Chelsea boss (Steve Welsh/PA) (PA Wire)

The bottom half is naturally worse. The atmosphere around Tottenham Hotspur has rarely been this glum, even if it is not exactly the happiest of clubs most of the time. All of the bottom four, meanwhile, face grander concerns.

This isn’t just about the simple reality that results are always going to dictate mood, and the division is never going to be completely happy. It’s the extent of it all. So many clubs feel like they are almost facing up to existential questions about where they are.

Part of this is obviously circumstantial, and a direct consequence of individual decisions. But it’s still difficult not to discern a wider pattern.

As ever, much of it comes back to money. Industry figures have long complained that the amount of money in the Premier League ensures there isn’t necessarily the most innovative thinking. They don’t have to think – they can just buy it in.

One sporting director who was brought in from abroad joked to his new employers how his former club were always laughing when a Premier League club came to buy one of their players. The price immediately went up 35 per cent. It multiplied more than two-fold if another Premier League club came in.

Along those lines, the financial arms have had other effects. Anyone with a good idea is immediately copied. It’s why everyone now wants to be a Brighton – or their own version of Manchester City.

Hence the proliferation of a certain profile of football executive, too. Around 15 years ago, it became a cliché that football needed to move away from all-powerful managers to a sporting director culture. That hasn’t just happened – but there’s a question of whether it’s gone too far in the other direction.

You only have to look at how previously unknown figures are elevated in coverage of transfer negotiations. They have a new fame and a new importance. Finding the right sporting director has become as important as finding the right coach, since it’s half of the old manager’s job – but there isn’t the same emphasis on it. How can there be, given the head coaches are the ones who have to represent the club in the media every few days, but without any of the power they used to have?

None of this is to diminish the fine work of many supremely adept directors. The same football insiders nevertheless talk of the game “now being run by LinkedIn” – which has fed into unoriginal, cookie-cutter decisions and poor recruitment, right up to coaches, leading to constant chopping and changing.

United, typically, are almost the most illustrative example of this. What was Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s first major strategic move, after all? It was essentially to look at City and seek to recruit some of their more senior figures – even though they aren’t the real reason for City’s success. That’s Abu Dhabi ownership, and limitless spending power – even if it has mostly been used intelligently.

City are meanwhile one of the happier clubs right now, despite Sunday’s surprise 1-1 draw at home to Chelsea leaving them six points behind Arsenal.

There’s a lesson there, too. Arsenal decided early on in Mikel Arteta’s reign to incorporate the coach into a more collaborative “Football Leadership Team.”

It’s paid dividends.

Many clubs may have to come to a similar realisation to achieve true contentment.

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