Manchester United fans have blasted Ruben Amorim’s ‘pathetic’ failure to watch his side’s penalty shootout as the Red Devils crashed out of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.
On the bus up to League Two minnows Grimsby Town, there can’t have been many United players expecting to return to Manchester competing on only two fronts – but disaster struck in the north-east.
With pressure building on him after a winless opening two games of the Premier League season, Ruben Amorim named a strong side for the David and Goliath-like clash including new recruits Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko.
United however never got going and soon found themselves 2-0 down after, perhaps unsurprisingly, two glaring mistakes from Andre Onana on his return to the starting eleven.
Grimsby, who were no-doubt pinching themselves, managed to hold on to their lead in the thrashing northern rain until the 75th minute, when substitute Bryan Mbuemo pulled one back for the visitors.
Then came a United onslaught with Joshua Zirkzee, Mason Mount, Bruno Fernandes, Sesko, Cunha and Mbuemo all on the pitch at once, which ultimately paid off as Harry Maguire nodded home the equaliser. Penalties it was.
Ruben Amorim couldn’t watch his side’s penalty shootout against League Two minnows Grimsby
New recruit Bryan Mbuemo missed the decisive penalty, sending Grimsby’s players and fans wild
On a night where the surface at Blundell Park had absorbed a huge amount of water, the spot-kicks were incredibly impressive. Only Matheus Cunha and Clarke Odour missed before it was time for Mbuemo to step up for a second time.
His effort crashed into the crossbar, thereby handing Grimsby an historic victory over English football’s biggest club, 12-11 on penalties.
No-doubt aware of the onslaught coming his way if United lost, Ruben Amorim spent the entire shootout staring at the floor of his dugout, unable to watch, in a move which has been blasted by supporters and pundits on social media post-match.
‘Ruben Amorim sitting in the dugout & not watching his players taking penalties hardly screams later. Even if Man Utd had won, that tells me he’s not the right man for a club of that size. Weak,’ Daily Mail’s Craig Hope posted.
A United fan wrote: ‘I’m sorry but the manager not watching the penalties is an absolutely f*****g awful look.’
Another posted: ‘You might not like watching penalties (the fact United were lucky to get there tells its own story) but the optics of Amorim crouching behind his staff during the shoot out, on yet another disastrous night for the club, were not great.’
‘Absolutely pathetic from Amorim to sit not watching the penalties. What message did that send? Dead man walking,’ one posted.
While another critical supporter took to X to write: ‘Correct me if im wrong but does anyone else think that Ruben Amorim not watching any of the penalties in the first round of a third tier cup competition against a League 2 side is odd. Seems really odd to me.’
Pressure’s now mounting on the United boss, who is yet to register a win this season
The former Sporting Lisbon boss, who has won just seven Premier League games at United, admitted the better team won in his post-match interview
Fans blasted Amorim’s failure to watch the penalty shootout as ‘pathetic’ on X
United’s hopes of a trophy now rest only on the FA Cup and Premier League, after the Red Devils failed to quality for any form of European football last term.
Amorim criticised his players’ dismal performance in his post-match interview.
‘It doesn’t matter if you recover or not,’ he told Sky Sports, ‘What matters are the signs the team gave during the game, from the beginning.
‘I think – no, I know – that the best team won. The best players can lose, because one proper team can win against any group of players. And today the team, the players, they spoke really loud. So that’s it. We lost, and the best team won.
‘I think it’s really clear what they spoke. So let’s move on from this day. It was really clear for everybody what happened today.’
The Red Devils are back in action on Saturday as they host Burnley in the Premier League at Old Trafford.
