JAMIE CARRAGHER has urged Ruben Amorim to quit Manchester United to put an end to his “disastrous” tenure.
The former Liverpool star’s comments come after United suffered another defeat – the latest being a 3-1 defeat to Brentford – under the Portuguese manager.
Amorim’s Premier League record since taking charge is a historic low for United, with just 34 points from 33 games, not to mention the second-round Carabao Cup loss to League Two Grimsby in August.
The club also finished 15th in the league last season, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, Carragher revealed his theory that Amorim was only still in the Old Trafford dugout because the United hierarchy did not want to admit to another mistake.
He said: “I think he’s still in a job because the powers that be at Man United have made that many mistakes on and off the pitch that they almost don’t want to admit right now that they’ve made another.
“This has been a disaster for Man United and Ruben Amorim. What he did at Sporting Lisbon was fantastic and he looked like the next big thing as a manager.
“But bringing a manager with a system like his never suited the traditions of Man United and the quicker the club make a decision on the manager, I think it’s better for everybody because it has been a disaster for the club but also the manager.
“We’re only waiting for the inevitable, unfortunately, you don’t want to see people lose their jobs but this has to end as quickly as possible.”
Amorim is said to have offered to resign at one stage last season, although this was not confirmed.
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And following the Europa League final, the 40-year-old suggested he would walk away without compensation if the board and fans felt he was not the right man to lead the club forward.
SunSport exclusively revealed that those inside the dressing room currently feel “dispirited and astonished” about how the season has tanked so quickly following a summer of optimism.
Club sources insist United have no one lined up to replace Amorim, and the manager insisted he remained “confident” United could still become a force under him.
He said: “When you win you feel that everything, the momentum is here.
“When you lose, you go back to the same place and you fight again for one win that can help you to create the momentum.
“I’m always doing my job. If I win, I’m in a different state of mind. That is normal. But I’m always confident because I know what to do.”
United host Sunderland at Old Trafford next weekend, hoping to make it three league wins on the trot at home for the first time in more than two years.
The last time United won three league games at home in a row was a run of eight games between April and August 2023.
ONE of the biggest issues Manchester United had last season was almost every other Premier League side had a better striker, writes Samuel Luckhurst.
Now almost every other Premier League side has a better ‘keeper.
Apart from Southampton’s sinking ship, the other 18 top-flight teams possessed a more accomplished frontman than Rasmus Hojlund. Jamie Vardy was a fading force but still scored more than twice as many league goals as Hojlund, who eked only four.
Benjamin Sesko has not set the world alight and has actually had a worse start to his United career than Hojlund had after six appearances. Yet the bigger problem is up the other end.
Ruben Amorim even admitted last week that Altay Bayindir is not United’s outright number one. Bayindir, with his slick side-parting and Louis Vuitton holdall, looks confident when he arrives at a stadium. On the pitch, he is anything but and his parry late on against Chelsea quickened the heart rate of United fans as they held on for three points.
Senne Lammens, brought in from Royal Antwerp on deadline day for £18.2million, is already 23 but yet to play for Belgium and was not named among their four ‘keepers in the national team’s squad earlier this month. Antwerp were United’s original feeder club, only United never signed anyone from the Belgian side.
United noted that Lammens had one of the highest goals-prevented metrics in Europe last season, made more saves than any other goalkeeper in Europe’s top ten leagues and completed the most progressive passes for any goalkeeper under the age of 23 last season.
Antwerp’s ground holds 16,144 and Belgium’s ‘golden generation’ ended with their semi-final appearance at the 2018 World Cup. Nothing can prepare Lammens for the scrutiny he will be under when he attempts to fill the goalframe in United colours.
Joining United hastened career decline for Andre Onana, forced to flee to Trabzonspor at the age of 29. David de Gea played for a big club in a big league before he took the plunge as a 20-year-old and had an unsettled first year. Fabien Barthez, a World Cup winner, absconded to France after three haphazard years.
We do not know if Lammens is good enough for United. We know Bayindir isn’t. He has shipped 28 goals in 16 appearances and United have won eight. Five of those were in the League Cup and the Europa League.
Bayindir’s new status as a United starter has failed to convince Turkey coach Vincenzo Montella. Bayindir is still the benchwarmer for the national side.
Manchester City have two No.1s and United have three number twos. The goalkeeper is the one position in a team where competition is not required. In all probability, United will go through this entire season without ever settling on an undisputed first choice who their supporters have faith in.
A former United ‘keeper playing for a promoted side would be more dependable and experienced than their two matchday ‘keepers. Martin Dubravka only played twice for United and his season-long loan from Newcastle was terminated at the halfway point but he was a shrewd addition by Burnley.
Karl Darlow was in net for Leeds in their weekend win at Wolves and was under consideration as a loanee by United before they turned to Dubravka in the summer of 2022. Robin Roefs did not cover himself in glory for Matty Cash’s pot-shot at Sunderland but he has been recognised at Under 21 level by Holland.
From the bottom of the ladder up, the case can be made that the incumbent for every team has a superior stopper to United: Jose Sa, Alphonse Areola, Emiliano Martinez, Caoimhin Kelleher, Dubravka, Matz Sels, Bart Verburggen, Nick Pope, Jordan Pickford, Donnarumma, Bernd Leno, Roefs, Robert Sanchez, Dean Henderson, Djordje Petrovic, Guglielmo Vicario, David Raya and Alisson.
Not all of them are good enough to be a long-term United No.1 and Sanchez gifted United victory on Saturday. There is scant evidence to suggest that Bayindir is a more stable presence than any of them.
For a club with such a storied academy, it is a travesty United never gave Henderson a fair crack of the whip. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is to blame for that after he reneged on a pre-season pledge to install Henderson as No.1 in 2021.
United ended up cutting their losses on Henderson by pocketing a meagre £15m up front from Crystal Palace. He was man of the match in their unforgettable FA Cup final triumph in May and pivotal in their second Wembley success against Liverpool in the Community Shield.
Henderson has told confidants he would never return to United. If they did come calling, with the promise of a salary hike and a bigger platform to challenge Pickford for the England spot, one suspects Henderson’s head would be turned.
Though Palace are still better than United at both ends.
SARAH Ferguson faces losing her Freedom of York honour over the Jeffrey Epstein scandal — just like her ex-husband.
The city’s council will consider the move at its November meeting.
It comes three years after Prince Andrew was stripped of the honour, awarded as a wedding gift in 1987, over links to the disgraced financier.
The Duchess of York, 65, was recently revealed to have sent Epstein a grovelling email after his jail release over child sex offences, calling him her “supreme friend”.
This came after she had publicly apologised in 2011 for accepting £15,000 from him.
York council leader Claire Douglas said: “A Full Council meeting of all City of York councillors next takes place in November.
“Consideration will be given in advance of that meeting to whether a motion to remove the Honorary Freedom title from the Duchess of York is tabled.
“The Honorary Freedom title conferred on the Duke of York was removed in 2022.
“We deplore the links and continued associations with Jeffrey Epstein by those carrying the York title beyond the time the gravity of his crimes became clear.”
On the back of the scandal Fergie has been dumped as a patron by seven charities and she and Andrew have been told they are not welcome at the Royals’ Christmas celebrations.
Andrew has always denied any wrongdoing over his links to Epstein, 66, who took his own life in jail while awaiting trial for sex-trafficking charges in 2019.
