 "Man United manager Ruben Amorim continues to face scrutiny despite victory over Sunderland. Image: Reuters")
Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has revealed his choice to replace Ruben Amorim as the manager at the Red Devils, while legendary defender Gary Neville tore into the Portuguese coach and the players for their struggle to clinch a consistent run of wins.
Amorim was under tremendous pressure before the English Premier League halted for the international break. Media reports in England claimed that a loss against Sunderland would lead to Amorim’s sacking , but Man United won that match 2-0. However, overall, United have only won three out of seven matches in the league and have already been knocked out of the League Cup.
Amorim’s stubbornness to stick with his preferred 3-4-3 system despite forcing players to play out of their suited positions has attracted a lot of criticism. It has been seen as a major reason for United’s struggle. And there are fears that his stubbornness would cost him his job sooner rather than later.
Scholes wants Howe to replace Amorim at United
In such a scenario, the media and experts continue to second-guess who could be the next Man United manager. Legendary midfielder Scholes, who won the Premier League title 11 times with United, feels it could be Newcastle manager Eddie Howe.
On the latest episode of The Overlap, when a fan suggested that United may have to pick a manager in the international break, Scholes harked back with his choice. “Eddie Howe, Eddie Howe,” he said. “I’m not sure about his mate [assistant manager Jason Tindall], but definitely him.”
Despite being handed a modest budget, Howe has done exceptionally well at Newcastle, making them qualify for the Champions League last season. He has a win ratio of 50.31% at Newcastle, which is the highest for a Newcastle manager in the top flight since Kevin Keegan’s first tenure ended in 1997.
Neville slams Amorim, United players over complaints against experts
Meanwhile, former United defender Neville has blasted the players and the coach for complaining about the experts’ criticism. Amorim had claimed before the Sunderland claim that the experts questioning his 3-4-3 system had gotten to his players.
“My players, I guarantee you, they are listening to all the opinions and they are putting that inside because we are not winning games,” Amorim said. “They have to believe in me. So my biggest problem is that my players believe in you guys when you say the problem of our team is the system.”
Neville slammed the Man United players, stating that criticism is part and parcel of playing for a big club.
“If pundits are getting into your head then you shouldn’t be playing for the club,” Neville told Sky Sports.
Neville also mentioned how his teammates and he were subjected to equally scathing criticism in their early days. “Do people not remember Alan Hansen criticising us when we broke in as young kids saying that you can’t win anything with kids? That was the greatest centre-back of all time at that moment talking about us as if we were, you know, inferior and nowhere near good enough.”
“Did they not think that we got criticised during our football careers? I’m sorry, you’re playing for Manchester United, it comes with the territory, you’ve got to step up.”
Neville added that if the system is not the problem, then the manager and players need to take responsibility for the poor performances.
“They’ve been hopeless in the system,” he added. “If it’s not the system, then the players are a problem, the manager is a problem, the whole thing’s a problem if you’re losing football matches to the level that they’ve been doing.”