Ruben Amorim, the Portuguese head coach of Manchester United, has been fired in a dramatic way after a tense 14 months at Old Trafford. The club, which is currently in sixth place in the Premier League, acted quickly after he went off on a rant after the 1-1 draw with Leeds United.
Amorim’s refusal to change his strict 3-4-3 formation, even though it wasn’t working, made the top executives, like CEO Omar Berrada and director Jason Wilcox, lose faith in him. His emotional outbursts on social media, in which he said he didn’t have enough support for transfers and that he was the “manager, not just coach,” made it impossible for him to stay in his job. Before the firing on Monday morning, there was a heated meeting. United chose stability over more negativity.
The official statement from Manchester United said that they were “reluctant” to make the change in order to finish higher in the Premier League. They thanked Amorim for his work. Darren Fletcher will be the temporary manager for the game against Burnley on Wednesday. Amorim’s time with the team ends with 24 wins in 63 games, including a run to the Europa League final.
There isn’t a permanent replacement yet, but the club hopes to qualify for Europe with the current team. Amorim may go back to Portugal because he is upset that he didn’t get more help, like a new striker in January.
