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Martin Keown has questioned Ruben Amorim’s decision making after Manchester United secured a narrow win over Leicester.
Amorim’s side played host to the Foxes on Friday as they looked to continue their defence of the FA Cup by progressing to the fifth round.
However, United were put on the back foot after Bobby De Cordova Reid put the visitors in front on the brink of half-time.
Despite an overall underwhelming performance, United rallied through a Joshua Zirkzee equaliser before Harry Maguire produced a dramatic stoppage-time winner, despite appearing to be offside.
Following the game Amorim elected to put his players through their paces, and held a full training session on the Old Trafford pitch after the fans had vacated.
Unlike a customary post-match warm-down, the session went on for some time and appeared to include the likes of Ramus Hojlund, who had played the full 90 minutes but failed to impress.
Martin Keown has questioned Ruben Amorim’s decision to put his Man United stars through their paces following their win over Leicester
A post to the club’s social media revealed Amorim oversaw a full training session on the Old Trafford pitch following the full-time whistle
Speaking on Amorim’s decision to hold the session, Keown questioned whether the ‘unorthodox’ methods were a result of the Portuguese feeling the pressure to succeed at Old Trafford.
‘Does it come across as a punishment though for the players?’ The former Arsenal defender asked on talkSPORT.
‘I mean he can do what he wants. It does feel a little bit unprofessional, [like]: “Because we haven’t got time in the week to do it, so we are doing a session afterwards”.
‘It’s very unorthodox. It’s not the norm, there’s recovery, there’s stretching, okay? They’ve got nine days before they play their next game.
‘But is it about embarrassing the players a little bit? Look, they were awful for large periods of that game.
‘For me it has to be [that] he’s so annoyed, there’s no time to wait, and no time to lose, because he could be out of a job as well, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility.’
Amorim arrived at Old Trafford in November, after Erik ten Hag had been sacked with United in the midst of their worst-ever start to a Premier League season.
Results have continued to prove hard to come by however, with the club still languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League table.
Keown insisted the decision could be interpreted as Amorim ‘punishing’ his team for their lacklustre performance
United have endured a stuttering start under the Portuguese, and Keown insisted the club have not improved under his direction
The former Sporting Lisbon boss has remained confident in the 3-4-3 formation that brought him so much success on the continent, despite ongoing questions surrounding how well the system suits United’s current squad.
Keown added that he is yet to see evidence on the pitch that Amorim will eventually come good as United’s head coach.
‘I’m looking at results, I’m looking at performances and they’re not getting any better,’ he added.
‘It looks like the squad is shrinking, and some of the players that are on the bench should be starting.
‘There’s an argument they might not perform from the beginning, but that’s not the answer is it? I’m just telling you the facts, as I see Man United right now, it’s a club that’s on the slide.”
