WHEN Ruben Amorim arrives in Manchester, he has got a LOT of mess to sweep up in a short space of time.
I really like Amorim — he is an excellent coach and everything about him is world class, even the way he has conducted himself in leaving Sporting Lisbon.
Ruben Amorim has been confirmed as the new Man Utd manager
It is not yet known if interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy will stay on as part of Amorim’s staff
Troy Deeney has urged Amorim to kick Van Nistelrooy to the curb
But he has a heck of a job.
I am not saying these United boys are not fit but they will be nowhere near fit enough for Amorim. His Sporting teams run their arses off.
There are going to be a lot of ups and downs between now and January 1 and then — oh my God — is he going to have to come out with a broom and sweep the lot.
If you’re walking into that s**tshow with that ball of yarn to untangle, where do you begin? Good luck with that, Ruben.
You’ve got to get rules in place, because sacked Erik ten Hag apparently tried to lead that club like a dictator and, from what I have heard, the Carrington training base is completely divided as a result.
The expectation is going to be high because United have just spent over £10million getting you and your coaching team over from Portugal.
You’re going to have your own fitness and nutrition guys in.
Can these players do what you want them to do? Are they fit enough? Probably not.
Rasmus Hojlund has been in and out of the starting XI as United sit 14th
FOOTBALL FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS
You’re going to have to tweak everything from gym work to the training routines and during that period you will have a few players dropping like flies because of it.
I am glad United got Amorim sorted quickly. Had they not, they would have gone down the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer route again with Ruud van Nistelrooy.
The new manager ‘bounce’ and 5-2 thrashing of Leicester in the Carabao Cup was always going to happen. It is no coincidence.
Ten Hag would have been watching, thinking ‘How f***ing frustrating is this?’ even if he did deserve to lose his job.
Bruno Fernandes scoring his first goals of the season and Casemiro suddenly firing in screamers with an Old Trafford hero like Van Nistelrooy on the sidelines.
But a club legend taking over, playing a seriously poor Leicester team in a cup, with a new manager on the way… that was always going to be the case.
Marcus Rashford has looked a shadow of his former self during the last 12 months
Meanwhile, Casemiro has been both criticised and praised in recent weeks after scoring three in two games either side of Erik ten Hag’s sacking
It is like when you’ve been with your partner for a long time.
You get dumped, so you go to the gym to get in shape to get someone new. It never lasts.
And make no mistake, after this weird ‘new-manager bounce’ phase, reality would have hit them again, because you cannot bulls**t it over the course of a season.
They’re 14th in the Premier League for a reason.
With the games they have coming up after a free hit against Chelsea on Sunday — PAOK and Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League and Leicester, Ipswich and Everton in the Prem — suddenly United could have picked up some points and the board would think ‘Why not Ruud?’
But that would just be bulls**ting it again until the next tough run heading into December with Arsenal, Manchester City and Spurs in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.
I remember when Marco Silva was sacked at Watford and Javi Gracia came in and we went on a real run.
Why? Partly because we were a really fit team and that paved the way for a clean transition. It is a really underestimated part of it.
The person who will come out of this the best? Ruud. He will have a nice pay packet.
What Man Utd said on hiring EACH of their post-Fergie managers
David Moyes
“All the skills needed to build on United’s phenomenal legacy.”
Louis van Gaal
“One of the outstanding managers in the game today.”
Jose Mourinho
“Quite simply the best manager in the game today.”
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
“A wealth of experience, with a desire to give young players their chance and a deep understanding of the culture of the club.”
Erik ten Hag
“One of the most exciting and successful coaches in Europe.”
Ruben Amorim
“One of the most exciting and highly rated young coaches in European football.”
His stock will rise and he won’t be tarnished with Ten Hag’s tenure.
Even if United lose 7-0 to Chelsea, Ruud can say: “It’s not my fault. The players were distracted by Ten Hag going and the new manager.”
My one bit of advice to Ruben? Don’t keep Ruud on. You want to clear the decks once you are there, with only your people around you.
Only then can you figure out what the problems are — and how to solve them.
VIN SNUB NOT ABOUT RACE
You look up ‘Ballon d’Or’ right now and the first name that comes up is: Vinicius Jr.
A lot has been made of him not turning up to the award ceremony after losing out to Rodri. Was it petulant? Yes. Embarrassing? It depends how you look at it.
Vinicius has been exceptional this year, winning LaLiga and the Champions League, but he didn’t do well for Brazil, and that is what has cost him.
You look at previous winners, like Lionel Messi last year — he was playing for Inter Miami but won the World Cup for Argentina.
Vinicius Jr was shocked after he placed second in the Ballon d’Or on Monday
That’s what clinches a Ballon d’Or, it seems.
Rodri did the same with Spain at the Euros.
Had England beaten them in the final, it probably would have gone to Jude Bellingham.
In my opinion, Vinicius has had the wrong people in his ear telling him he was a cert to win it and it would be unanimous and, I imagine, that has got to him.
He has got caught up in it thinking he is going to be elevated to superstar status.
I don’t think we should be making this a race issue, which is what is perhaps being implied by his cryptic tweets in the aftermath.
Man City ace Rodri was named the world’s best player – but was hit with controversy
To think you’re going to win it, and then you don’t, it must take a lot out of you, especially after a bad weekend where his Real Madrid side have just been battered by Barcelona in El Clasico.
For what it’s worth, I think he should have won the Ballon d’Or.
Should he have gone to the award ceremony? Probably, but let’s not pile in on him too much.
Ballon d’Or 2024 results
1: Rodri, Man City and Spain
2: Vinicius Jr, Real Madrid and Brazil
3: Jude Bellingham, Real Madrid and England
4: Dani Carvajal, Real Madrid and Spain
5: Erling Haaland, Man City and Norway
6: Kylian Mbappe, Real Madrid and France
7: Lautaro Martinz, Inter Milan and Argentina
8: Lamine Yamal, Barcelona and Spain
9: Toni Kroos, Real Madrid and Germany
10: Harry Kane, Bayern Munich and England
11: Phil Foden, Man City and England
12: Florian Wirtz, Bayer Leverkusen and Germany
13: Dani Olmo, Barcelona and Spain
14: Ademola Lookman, Atalanta and Nigeria
15: Nico Williams, Athletic Bilbao and Spain
16: Granit Xhaka, Bayer Leverkusen and Switzerland
17: Federico Valverde, Real Madrid and Uruguay
18: Emi Martinez, Aston Villa and Argentina
19: Martin Odegaard, Arsenal and Norway
20: Hakan Calhanoglu, Inter Milan and Turkey
21: Bukayo Saka, Arsenal and England
22: Antonio Rudiger, Real Madrid and Germany
23: Ruben Dias, Man City and Portugal
24: William Saliba, Arsenal and France
25: Cole Palmer, Chelsea and England
26: Declan Rice, Arsenal and England
27: Vitinha, PSG and Portugal
28: Alejandro Grimaldo, Bayer Leverkusen and Spain
29: Mats Hummels, Roma and Germany
30: Artem Dovbyk, Roma and Ukraine
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