The Real Problem at Manchester United

The decision to sack Ruben Amorim has raised deeper concerns about the people running the club. It feels like the board has already stumbled with its first major decision in appointing a head coach, but the issue goes beyond any one individual. What’s truly worrying is the apparent lack of a clear strategy or identity. There’s little sense of what direction the club is trying to move in, or what footballing philosophy it actually wants to represent.

In Amorim, the club opted for a manager who plays with a back five, a system vastly different from how Manchester United have played for decades and a dramatic shift that carried huge risk. It didn’t work. The approach was rigid, restrictive, and such a fundamental change that it raises serious questions about whether this was truly what Berrada and Wilcox believed was the solution. We already know Ashworth lost his job for disagreeing that this was the right direction for the club.

The executives are inexperienced, both in their roles for the first time. Berrada had never been a CEO or appointed managers at City, yet pushed through the Amorim decision, while Wilcox has never been a Director of Football at a club of United’s size.

I think it’s clear, Manchester United won’t escape the constant cycle of hiring and firing managers until the club truly defines its identity and the people at the top commit to it. Once that’s clear, the manager choice becomes obvious, someone whose football already reflects what United stands for. No forcing systems or compromising principles. If recruitment, the technical director, and the head coach are aligned, transfers make more sense. Mistakes will still happen, but fewer players will look out of place because they’re being signed to do what they already do best. 

As things stand, the club’s difficulties seem less about the manager and more about a wider failure of leadership, stemming from an absence of clear direction and vision at executive level.