Amorim blinded by formations when football's brutal currency remains results

The men in suits behind the scenes believed the coach would adopt an attacking style once he had bedded in

- Jamie Jackson

Ruben Amorim’s tenure as Manchester United head coach began its final unravelling via four words uttered in Friday’s media conference to preview the weekend trip to Leeds. “You are very smart,” was Amorim’s signoff to this correspondent’s last question regarding if the Portuguese had been informed of a change in the January transfer budget by Jason Wilcox, the director of football.

The question was asked in reaction to Amorim’s odd comment on Christmas Eve that he was beginning to “understand” the finance was not available to sign the footballers needed to “play a perfect 3-4-3”. Hearing this, the radar bleeped red - Amorim was clearly countenancing changing from a system he was quasi-obsessed with.

Asked in September if Sir Jim Ratcliffe, United’s minority owner and head of football policy, had suggested a switch of shape, the 40-year-old said: “No one. Not even the pope will [make me] change. This is my job. This is my responsibility. My life. So, I will not change that.” Amorim’s inflexibility appeared baffling and naive. The evidence? Last season’s record low 15th-place finish in the Premier League and the equally pathetic 1-0 Europa League final capitulation to Tottenham. And for Wilcox and Omar Berrada, the chief executive, this lack of adaptability was a key factor in Amorim’s sacking, according to club sources.