Manchester United have let go of their manager Ruben Amorim amid rumours of his discord with club leadership. The news comes at a time when United fans were hoping for a somewhat revival of their fortunes as the club managed to crawl their way back into the top 10 of the league standings after an abysmal start to the season. However, their loss of form in the last five games gave the club hierarchy enough reasons to terminate the services of their 40-year-old manager.
United have managed three wins in their last 11 matches, with a single victory in their last five games, where they suffered one loss and drew with the league's tailenders, Wolves, and also with 16th-paced Leeds United.
"Ruben Amorim has departed his role as Head Coach of Manchester United," the club said in its official statement.
"With Manchester United sitting sixth in the Premier League, the club’s leadership has reluctantly made the decision that it is the right time to make a change. This will give the team the best opportunity of the highest possible Premier League finish," United claimed.
Darren Fletcher will take charge of the team in their Premier League encounter against Burnley on Wednesday (local time).
After United's 1-1 draw against Leeds during the weekend, the fractures in the relationship between Amorim and club management became apparent. He said, as per The Guardian, "I came here to be the manager of Manchester United – not to be the coach of Manchester United. That is clear. I know my name is not Tuchel, Mourinho or Conte but I’m the manager," adding, "It’s going to be like this for 18 months or until the board decide to change. I’m not going to quit, I will do my job until another guy is coming here to replace me."
United's performance under Amorim: In numbers
United appointed the former coach of Sporting Lisbon after they let go of Erik ten Hag in November 2024. Under Amorim, the Red Devils saw their worst league finish (at the 15th position) since 1974, when they were relegated. In the same season, United also lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.
Amorim also has the worst winning ratio among all United coaches since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson. Amorim managed to win 39% of his matches with United as per The Guardian, which is higher than when Ralf Rangnick was at charge at the club (38%) as technical director and not manager.
In comparison, David Moyes won 53% of his games after replacing Ferguson at the club, Louis van Gaal won 52% of his games, Jose Mourinho won 58%, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer 54% and ten Hag 55% of the games they managed United in.
Amorim has managed United in 47 Premier League games, winning merely 15 of them, while drawing 13 and losing 19. In these matches, the Red Devils conceded 72 goals, which makes him the United manager in the PL era with the second-worst per-game goals conceded ratio (1.53). His team's clean sheets in the league, seven, is the worst-ever within similar parameters.
