- Ruben Amorim has lost nine of his first 22 games in charge of Man United
- The Portuguese boss has struggled to positively impact the club’s fortunes
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Jamie Carragher has suggested that Man United part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe will be questioning whether he made a mistake in appointing Ruben Amorim.
Amorim, 40, has endured a difficult start to life at Old Trafford since arriving from Sporting Lisbon in November, losing nine of his first 22 games in charge.
This has included United suffering defeats in five of their past six Premier League home matches to leave the club languishing in 15th place in the top flight and 14 points off the top four.
Amorim has been wedded to his preferred 3-4-3 system at Old Trafford, but he is yet to positively stamp his impact on United, although the Red Devils are in the fifth round of the FA Cup and automatically qualified for the Europa League last-16.
United also rescued a 2-2 draw at Everton on Saturday after scoring two late goals, but it came following another dismal first half display.
And Carragher, speaking on The Overlap Fan Debate, felt that United’s dreadful form will have left the likes of Ratcliffe contemplating whether it was the right decision to bring in Amorim.
Jamie Carragher has suggested that Man United part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe will be questioning whether he made a mistake in appointing Ruben Amorim to replace Erik ten Hag
Amorim has endured a difficult first few months at the club, losing nine of 22 games in charge
United are having a shocking season and have seemingly got worse since Amorim’s arrival
‘The people at the top at Man United they’re only human,’ he said. ‘There’s no doubt in my mind that Jim Ratcliffe will be thinking “have we made a mistake”.
‘I’m not saying they should change manager, but my point being is when a manager comes in at club… I’m not expecting Man United to be amazing, but I’m not expecting to see this.
‘It’s not even results, it’s sometimes just seeing something in a game.’
Carragher went onto highlight the example of Oliver Glasner coming in at Crystal Palace midway through last season.
The Austrian plays a similar way to Amorim, but he was able to have an immediate impact as Palace won seven of their last 13 games to comfortably finish 10th having been at risk of relegation at the time of his arrival.
‘People keep talking about the system,’ Carragher added. ‘But remember Glasner.
‘When he came in he was known as someone who plays the 3-4-3 system, this is what he does, it’s his DNA. And straight away you could see the impact on Crystal Palace.
‘We knew they weren’t going to win every week, and they’ve gone back to being the Crystal Palace we know this season, but you could see and feel something.’
Carragher insisted that Amorim’s first three months at Old Trafford have been ‘so bad’
He also claimed Ratcliffe will be wondering if he went ‘a bit early’ with Amorim, who is just 40
Carragher continued: ‘I was massively positive about Amorim. His press conferences I really enjoyed.
‘He was so confident and articulate, but it’s been so bad I’m just saying there must be a thought of “have we gone a bit early with this guy”.
‘He’s still only 40. Don’t forget the managers in the Premier League are the best in the world. He’s coming up against managers that are better than him, that’s just a fact.
‘Because he’s only 40. He can’t know everything about management, he’s only a young guy.
‘He’s had a brilliant start to his managerial career. That’s why Liverpool looked at him and why Man United took him.
‘I’m not saying they should change the manager but because the results and performances are that bad it will create doubt. That’s just human nature in the boardroom and the dressing room.’
United are back in action on Wednesday when they host Ipswich, before Amorim’s side face Fulham and Real Sociedad in the FA Cup and Europa League respectively.
