All posts tagged: Ruben Amorim

Liverpool sack Arne Slot a year after winning championship

Liverpool sack Arne Slot a year after winning championship

Published by Webster

3 min readUpdated: May 30, 2026 08:29 PM IST Liverpool has sacked manager Arne Slot on Saturday amid a poor season for the club. Slot replaced Jurgen Klopp in the 2024/2025 season and won the Premier League trophy; however, Liverpool finished fifth in the recently concluded campaign. “We have collectively come to the conclusion that change is necessary in order for the club to keep moving forward,” the ownership said in a statement. “Again, it must be stressed that this is not a decision which has been reached lightly, anything but.” Slot replaced club icon Jurgen Klopp in the summer of 2024 and led Liverpool to a record-tying 20th English league title. Liverpool spent an unprecedented $570 million to strengthen the squad for his second season but most of the expensive signings, including Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and injury-hit striker Alexander Isak, underwhelmed. Slot, 47, appears to have paid the price for failing to emulate a debut campaign that exceeded expectations. Filling the boots of a club icon was always going to be an arduous …

Michael Carrick named permanent head coach of Manchester United

Michael Carrick named permanent head coach of Manchester United

Published by Webster

3 min readUpdated: May 22, 2026 04:00 PM IST Manchester United have appointed Michael Carrick as their permanent head coach after the former midfielder oversaw a dramatic turnaround in the club’s season following his arrival in January. The 44-year-old, who joined the club on an interim basis, has signed a two-year deal as the manager until 2028. Carrick initially stepped in on an interim basis after the departure of Ruben Amorim, with United struggling for consistency and in danger of missing out on Champions League qualification. Four months later, the club hierarchy has moved to hand him the role on a longer-term basis after an impressive run of results revived belief around Old Trafford. The decision follows a strong second half of the campaign in which United climbed from outside the top four into the Champions League places. They defeated both soon-to-be-crowned champions, Arsenal and Manchester City, as well as securing wins against other big clubs like Liverpool and Chelsea. “From the moment that I arrived here 20 years ago, I felt the magic of …

Darren Fletcher’s son, Jack, suspended for six games for making homophobic insult about opponent | Football News

Darren Fletcher’s son, Jack, suspended for six games for making homophobic insult about opponent | Football News

Published by Webster

2 min readMar 5, 2026 01:09 AM IST Manchester United midfielder Jack Fletcher has been suspended for six games for making a homophobic insult about an opponent, the club said Wednesday. Fletcher, 18, was shown a red card by the referee during a reserve match against Barnsley on Oct. 21. According to details of the incident published by the English Football Association this week, he admitted to calling an opponent a “gay boy.” Fletcher, who is the son of former United player Darren Fletcher, was charged with an aggravated breach of the FA’s rules regarding insulting words or behavior because the alleged comments referred to sexual orientation. He was given the standard minimum ban of six games, fined around $2,000 and ordered to take part in educational training. Fletcher apologized for the incident. “I am truly sorry for the offensive word that I used in the heat of the moment,” he said in a statement. “Despite the fact that I had no intention to use the term as a homophobic insult, I completely understand that …

‘Some young coaches nowadays are arrogant’: Did Napoli coach Antonio Conte take dig at Ruben Amorim for Rasmus Hojlund treatment at Manchester United? | Football News

‘Some young coaches nowadays are arrogant’: Did Napoli coach Antonio Conte take dig at Ruben Amorim for Rasmus Hojlund treatment at Manchester United? | Football News

Published by Webster

Napoli coach Antonio Conte took an apparent dig at former Manchester United coach Ruben Amorim for the Portuguese’s treatment of striker Rasmus Hojlund when at the club. Hojlund, who joined United for £64 million from Atalanta, scored 26 goals in 95 matches but wasn’t in Amorim’s plans for most of his tenure there. The Danish striker ultimately was sent out on a season-loan to Napoli and has scored 9 goals in all competitions this season. His loan will be made permanent next summer if Napoli qualify for the Champions League which looks like a mere formality now. “Some young coaches nowadays are arrogant and don’t want to adapt. They see a young striker struggling, and instead of training him, they blame him. They always complain and blame everyone but themselves, because everything is handed to them on a silver platter,” Conte had said on Friday. As for Amorim, he was sacked by United a couple of weeks ago, a day after the Portuguese’s outburst in a press conference after their 1-1 draw with Leeds United. …

Why Ruben Amorim’s axing signals end of super managers in football | Football News

Why Ruben Amorim’s axing signals end of super managers in football | Football News

Published by Webster

The axing of Manchester United’s Ruben Amorim captures a broader narrative in football. The era of super managers is over, the cult of managers is fading. The nature of his ouster, after fallouts with the CEO, Sporting director and recruitment head, despite a recent upswing in fortunes, affirms the altered reality that the manager is but just another cog, a highly dispensable one, in the vast machinery of running a football club. Amorim, like a young and deluded romantic, remained firm to his ideals. “Not even the Pope could change my tactics,” he would defend his devotion to three man defence. The Pope did not insist; minority stakeholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe did. United, this season, was an upgraded product, but the flare-ups, some of them in public, cost him his grand project. They defended his tactics in the initial months, they stood behind him when he culled out the revolting players, they pacified his defeats, but when he turned against them, they cut them off like a ruthless mafia syndicate. Chelsea’s shunted-manager Enzo Maresca would …

The Ruben Amorim meltdown and a Back 3 stubbornness that led to the latest exit at Manchester United | Football News

The Ruben Amorim meltdown and a Back 3 stubbornness that led to the latest exit at Manchester United | Football News

Published by Webster

When Portuguese Ruben Amorim came to Manchester United as head coach, he was hailed as the man who would turn things around at the club. A true trailblazer who would take United back to the very top after years of mediocrity. But in just a little over a year, United’s ‘child of destiny’ became the next casualty like a long list of coaches before him as the club continues to chase the proverbial white whale when it comes to managerial appointments. Before coming to the Theatre of Dreams back in November 2024, Amorim had helped Sporting CP win the Primeira Liga twice, the first of which was the club’s first title in 19 years. He was just 39 at that time and was even courted as Pep Guardiola’s replacement when the Spaniard was ready to give up the keys to the Manchester City kingdom. But United swooped in and bagged his signature on a contract that ran until June 2027 with a club option of an additional year. The reign ended much before that as …

Manchester United sack Ruben Amorim as head coach, Darren Fletcher to take over on interim basis | Football News

Manchester United sack Ruben Amorim as head coach, Darren Fletcher to take over on interim basis | Football News

Published by Webster

Manchester United on Monday announced that Ruben Amorim has departed as head coach of the club, a day after the Portuguese’s outburst in a press conference after their 1-1 draw with Leeds United. The club further stated that former midfielder Darren Fletcher, who has been head coach of the club’s Under-18 team, will be head coach for their upcoming fixture against Burnley in the Premier League. “Ruben Amorim has departed his role as Head Coach of Manchester United,” said 20-time English league champions in their 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. “The club would like to thank Ruben for his contribution to the club and wishes him well for the future. “Darren Fletcher will take charge of the team against Burnley on Wednesday.” Amorim indicated a breakdown of relations with the club hierarchy in a fiery press conference …

‘Sometimes you can attack better with less strikers’: Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim on curious decision to sub Joshua Zirkzee off vs Wolves | Football News

‘Sometimes you can attack better with less strikers’: Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim on curious decision to sub Joshua Zirkzee off vs Wolves | Football News

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Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim defended his decision to sub off striker Joshua Zirkzee and goal scorer when Manchester United were drawing 1-1 with bottom-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers in a Premier League match on Tuesday. With United desperately needing a goal, fans and experts alike were left baffled when Amorim decided to sub Zirkzee off and introduce midfielder Jack Fletcher. “We were struggling with their midfielders, and sometimes you can attack better with less strikers. We ‌played with three strikers and sometimes that’s not the best thing to attack well. This game is over, you can not change ‌the result of this one, but you can move on and go to the next one,” Amorim said to Sky Sports. “Looking at the 90 minutes, we had our ‌chances but the fluidity offensively ‍wasn’t there. ⁠There is a ​lack of connections at the moment. They tried, we didn’t play well. When you don’t play well with the ball, ⁠you struggle without it. We need to recover and go ⁠to the next one,” he added. United suffered a …

Gary Neville blasts Ruben Amorim over Manchester United’s ‘appalling’ back-three reversion in Wolves draw

Gary Neville blasts Ruben Amorim over Manchester United’s ‘appalling’ back-three reversion in Wolves draw

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Former English footballer Gary Neville blasted Manchester United and coach Ruben Amorim after the side played out a 1-1 draw against a struggling Wolverhampton Wanderers in a Premier League match on Tuesday. Neville was particularly disappointed with Amorim’s decision to play back three against Wolves, which cost them two crucial points, and the English football pundit said, United went backwards because Amorim decided to revert to a back three. “That was the baddest of the bad that. They weren’t just booed off at full-time. The fans waited in the stadium to continue to boo them,” he said on the Gary Neville podcast. The Reds missed out on the chance to go fourth on the leaderboards and became the first side to drop points to Wolves since October after a run of 12 consecutive defeats as Amorim’s side were booed off by their own fans at Old Trafford. Neville was surprised Amorim had not gone with the back four that earned Man United a 1-0 win over Newcastle at home on Boxing Day, given his only …

‘It’s not too clever to say outside’

‘It’s not too clever to say outside’

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Former Manchester United midfielder Christian Eriksen has opened up on his stance on coach Ruben Amorim’s comments, where the Portuguese criticised the quality of the United side following their horrendous run of two wins in 10 Premier League games. Amorim, who took over the managerial role from Erik ten Hag, had claimed that last season’s side was the “worst in history”. Eriksen believes the public criticism of the squad from Amorim did not help ease pressure on the players, in what was already a disappointing campaign. “That didn’t help. Yeah, that didn’t help at all. I mean, that was not… I don’t think that helped the players at all,” Eriksen was quoted as saying by The Times.  “Some stuff you can say inside and it’s not too clever to say outside, to put extra pressure and put an extra label on the players who were already trying to do their best. I don’t think that helped at all, no. Then if he’s right or wrong, whatever, but I think for us it was a bit …