The rotten Red Devils look worse than ever under the Portuguese tactician, but he’s shown real bravery in dire circumstances
“I truly believe in the players. I know you [the media] don’t believe a lot, but I do. I want to try new things. You guys don’t think it’s possible, but I do. Call me naïve, but I truly feel that I am the right man in the right moment. I could be wrong, but the earth will turn and the sun will rise again, it doesn’t matter, and I am not worried about that. I truly believe that I am the right guy for this job.”
Just three months on from his opening press conference, you have to wonder if Ruben Amorim still has that same belief in his Manchester United players. United have only won four of their first 15 Premier League games under the Portuguese, which has left them wasting away in 15th place, just 13 points above the drop zone.
Relegation still seems unlikely given how much newly-promoted-trio Ipswich, Leicester and Southampton have struggled, but it’s not beyond the realms of possibility, because United have been that bad. And even if Amorim keeps them in the top flight, he won’t escape the embarrassment of overseeing their worst-ever finish in the Premier League era.
As such, some critics believe that Amorim has already been proven wrong. Their consensus is that United have hit a historic new low on the 40-year-old’s watch, and the players haven’t improved, so how can he be the “right guy” to take the club forward?
However, that viewpoint doesn’t take into account the huge risk Amorim took by leaving his comfort zone at Sporting CP to try and clean up the mother of all messes at Old Trafford. Things were always going to get worse before they got better. Amorim has conducted himself with dignity and class in the face of unfair scrutiny, while also refusing to budge on his ideals, and might just be the ‘only guy’ capable of seeing this daunting project through.