Ruben Amorim did not hang around.
Shortly after being informed by Manchester United’s chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox that he had been sacked as the club’s head coach at their Carrington training ground, Amorim packed his things into a box, said his goodbyes and hurriedly left the building. His assistants were gathering their possessions as some players arrived. They asked the coaches where they were going. “Home,” they replied.
It was one of the more bizarre moments in another tumultuous 72 hours at Old Trafford that saw Amorim dismissed after just 14 months in charge and replaced by United’s former midfielder Darren Fletcher on an interim basis. Amorim and his assistants are due around £10million ($13.5m) as a compensation package.
The Athletic has spoken to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation at United and it can be revealed that:
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Tensions between Amorim and Wilcox came to a head in a heated meeting on Friday over tactics and transfers.
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Minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe wanted Amorim to switch from his preferred back three to a back four, as did Wilcox.
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The Glazer family, the club’s majority shareholders, had expressed disquiet at United’s results as long ago as August.
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David Gill, United’s former chief executive, questioned the wisdom of Amorim’s ‘bomb squad’in a football board meeting.
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There was friction between Amorim and Christopher Vivell, United’s director of recruitment, over transfer policy.
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The head coach was involved in a training ground confrontation with defender Lisandro Martinez a few weeks ago.
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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is under consideration to return as the club’s caretaker manager until the summer, with Jonny Evans also in contention to return to the coaching staff.
This is the full, remarkable story of how Amorim — hailed as the coach who could helm a long-term football project when he was appointed — saw his tenure fall apart.
Although the seeds of Amorim’s demise at Manchester United were sewn at various stages, the ground finally fell from beneath him during a tempestuous encounter with Wilcox on Friday.
Amorim, people at United would argue, was the catalyst, erupting when discussion turned to tactics and transfers. Amorim had sensed a creep onto his territory during recent weeks and the result has been described, by sources close to the club, as a “massive fall-out” between the pair.
In their face-to-face meeting at Carrington, Wilcox suggested to Amorim that the players were struggling to gain trust in his 3-4-2-1 system and had become confused over his vision. Amorim would train the team in a back four, only for a back three to be selected in games. They also sensed he lacked faith in them due to his selections and public statements.
Amorim responded that the players needed to be changed. Wilcox said he wanted to work through the issues, evolving the squad over time but sticking with Amorim. Amorim reacted by saying he wished to leave the club and would be calling his agent.
The repercussions were so seismic that a meeting between Amorim and his squad, scheduled to take place afterwards, was cancelled.
The irony is that Wilcox, who regularly watches training, was seen as one of Amorim’s big allies. They would talk daily and conversations took place over formations. Wilcox is known to like the 4-3-3 that has brought Manchester City such success, although up until recently, that did not translate into direct advice to Amorim.
However, Ratcliffe has made his desire for United to switch to a back four clear and it is felt Wilcox has increased his efforts to persuade Amorim to show more flexibility. United insiders say an evolution was always part of the plan, with Amorim telling officials at the outset he wanted to start with a back three, but would add layers once players better understood his methods.
But with Ratcliffe having opinions on the team, things became more delicate. Handling Ratcliffe’s input is one of Wilcox’s major tasks. Ratcliffe leans on him for his football knowledge but also expresses thoughts of his own. During the 1-1 draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Ratcliffe was visibly angry at the sloppy manner in which United conceded an equaliser before half-time. Earlier in the season, Ratcliffe also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo at wing-back.
Amorim did adapt to a degree by sending his team out in a predominantly 4-4-2 shape against Bournemouth on December 15, and then a clear 4-2-3-1 system against Newcastle United on Boxing Day. During talks with Antonie Semenyo, he told the Bournemouth forward he would play as a left-winger in a 4-3-3.
But when Amorim reverted to his 3-4-2-1 for Wolves’ visit, the half-time substitution of Joshua Zirkzee, one of his few senior attackers, concerned members of United’s hierarchy.
United’s senior leadership team, including Berrada and Wilcox, were seen leaving Old Trafford around 90 minutes after the final whistle, in a sign that prolonged conversations with Amorim were taking place.
That set the scene for Wilcox’s intervention with Amorim at United’s training base three days later.
Recruitment was another tension for Amorim that came to a boil. The problems began last summer but a specific recent grievance was that he felt United had failed to give their all to sign Semenyo, who is set to join Manchester City.
United could have paid Bournemouth’s £65million release clause and advanced on talks with the forward, but ultimately they felt he wanted the immediate chance to challenge for the Premier League.
Perhaps more consequential was the legacy of last summer’s aborted pursuit. Semenyo went as far as dining with Amorim and Wilcox in London during a charm offensive, only for United to switch targets to Mbeumo because they viewed Bournemouth’s £70m asking price as too high. Mbeumo was projected as costing at most £55m, but eventually Brentford pushed the fee to £65m plus £6m in add-ons. Semenyo was disappointed that he had been rejected for a player ending up at the same valuation, and he seemed in no rush to answer United’s call a second time around.
Instead of using the money earmarked for Semenyo on another January transfer, however, Amorim was told that major reinforcements would have to wait until summer. “You are a smart guy,” he told a reporter when asked, at Friday’s press conference to preview the Leeds United game, whether budgets had altered.
Having arrived with a mandate for change, which would require work in the market, Amorim detected an uncertainty from above.
The background to Amorim’s mindset could be traced to his appointment. He and Ratcliffe had a prolonged one-on-one interview. Amorim perhaps sensed he was Ratcliffe’s appointment, and therefore had more latitude under United’s executive structure.
When Amorim then selected his 3-4-2-1 system at Elland Road, featuring just two attackers, it appeared to those with knowledge of the situation that he was making clear that, if this was to be his last game, he would bow out his way. That meant both on the pitch and in the media room, where he let rip over his status as a manager, even though his title has always been head coach.
He brought up “the sporting director” and “the scouting department”, saying that everybody needed to do their jobs. Wilcox was a target; so too, in all likelihood, was Vivell, United’s director of recruitment. There has been friction between Amorim and Vivell over signings, notably Benjamin Sesko and Senne Lammens, as well as tactics. Vivell has mentioned internally that United need more variability, and earlier in the season highlighted Fulham manager Marco Silva’s comments about Amorim’s side being easy to play against.
On Sunday, Amorim marked his territory, suggesting people at the club might not be able to “handle” the criticism of former United captain Gary Neville. It is believed to be a reference to the possibility that Ratcliffe watches Neville’s podcast, in which he has questioned Amorim’s tactics, but it surprised people at United.
Amorim finished his outburst by saying: “It’s going to be like this for 18 months or when 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.”
If Amorim’s conduct on Friday had made his position close to untenable, prompting discussion between Ratcliffe and the majority shareholders, the Glazer family, in the United States, his words 48 hours later were a clear invitation to make a change. Berrada and Wilcox made that decision, supported by United’s co-owners, informing the 40-year-old at Carrington on Monday morning.
Berrada and Wilcox then called a meeting with the players. Wilcox told those listening that the last two days had really shocked him. He insisted the club had given Amorim what he wanted, but he had made his feelings clear on an exit. “We don’t understand where the last 48 hours have come from,” he told the squad. Wilcox said Amorim had changed and United had to act.
Wilcox, who has taken soundings from players, also told them he had sensed some situations where they were not on the same wavelength as Amorim.
Wilcox informed the players that Fletcher would be in charge for the next two games, taking in Wednesday’s trip to Burnley and Sunday’s home FA Cup tie against Brighton & Hove Albion. Fletcher then took the session alongside Travis Binnion, the under-21s lead coach. The mood was said to be excellent.
Later, Amorim was seen walking happily in the snow with his wife around his Cheshire home, even shaking hands with photographers.
United are liable to pay up Amorim’s contract in full, £10m for him and his six staff members. There had been speculation that the compensation figure had been reduced once Amorim was in place for a year, but he negotiated a strong deal because United wanted him to leave Sporting CP early.
The sum would have dropped had United’s hierarchy pulled the trigger once the team had finished in a lowly Premier League position, detailed specifically in his terms. This was believed to be midway into the bottom half of the table, only coming into effect after a full campaign.
United will take their time on a new permanent appointment, potentially waiting until summer when the contracts of Oliver Glasner (Crystal Palace), Andoni Iraola (Bournemouth), and Marco Silva (Fulham) are set to expire.
Fletcher will get a chance to show his credentials, but a longer-term caretaker has not been ruled out, with Solskjaer even under consideration in what would be an emotional comeback. Michael Carrick has also been mentioned for a possible return, while Evans could also be appointed to the club’s coaching staff, possibly in time to assist Fletcher at Burnley tomorrow. Wilcox, who will lead the process, and Berrada are aware that knowledge of United can be beneficial.
Fletcher’s name was raised internally as an interim candidate as far back as September, when contingencies were first lightly floated after the 3-1 defeat against Brentford. United backed Amorim then, and that support was clear at the football board meeting at Old Trafford attended by Sir Alex Ferguson and Gill.
Berrada and Wilcox, alongside Amorim, pointed to good underlying numbers, including expected goals (xG), as reasons to detect progress. They mentioned how such an approach had aided Manchester City’s rise. For instance, United staff showed Matheus Cunha how a shot he tried from outside the area at Brentford, with Bruno Fernandes free, had a low xG.
Ratcliffe wants United to embrace the numbers and is in regular contact with Michael Sansoni, the club’s director of data science, although that has not always been seen as helpful by other football staff.
At the Old Trafford meeting, Gill had thoughts of his own, challenging Amorim on the logic of consigning some of the club’s biggest names to the ‘bomb squad’ — pointing out that exiling Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, Jadon Sancho and Antony had cost the club millions.
Some at United feel the treatment of Garnacho, who departed for Chelsea in a £40m deal in August, reduced his value by £15m. Tyrell Malacia did not leave and was eventually reintegrated into the first-team squad, but not before a spell training with the under-21s on Amorim’s insistence and, on one occasion when that squad was involved in a match, with the under-18s.
That was, though, a sign of United backing Amorim — and arguably treating him as a ‘manager’, rather than the head coach of his job description. He also attended the executive committee meeting at the end of last season, a high-level summit including Ratcliffe and executive co-chairmen and directors Joel and Avram Glazer, while the club went along with his wishes to scrap an Amazon documentary.
Indeed, last summer, United were so committed to Amorim they were prepared to sell Kobbie Mainoo for £40m. Mainoo is one of the big winners from Amorim’s departure. Feeling he had no future under Amorim, the 20-year-old midfielder wanted a loan away, but he is now expected to stay.
But as time went on, Amorim felt that power eroding. When it came down to signing Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins or Sesko from RB Leipzig, Amorim would have preferred Watkins — older, then aged 29, but proven in the Premier League.
That, however, was not a major issue: a bigger point of contention was the goalkeeper.
Amorim wanted experience, namely Emiliano Martinez, also at Villa. United, having been recommended the 23-year-old Lammens by Tony Coton, the club’s chief goalkeeping scout, went for the younger player. He was also much less expensive in transfer fee and wages.
Emiliano Martinez had support from some in United’s team, specifically compatriot Lisandro Martinez, who went as far as lobbying for his signing to Ratcliffe, as they were already in contact over his rehabilitation from an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
It aggravated Amorim, but United believe that signing Lammens shows that figures such as Wilcox and Vivell are taking the long-term view.
But Amorim continued to feel a reduction in his authority. That might be attributed in part to the Glazers, who have been expressing their dissatisfaction over results as early as August. They are still expected to let Ratcliffe run the club but can, in theory, step in at any time as majority shareholders. They do have questions about the setup and relevant experience of those in charge.
There are big questions for Berrada, after he backed Amorim’s appointment so decisively. Dan Ashworth, then sporting director, initially recommended candidates with Premier League experience. Wilcox had reservations about picking a manager so wedded to a back three but came round.
The INEOS ledger currently reads poorly, with three major decisions going wrong in retaining former manager Erik ten Hag, and then hiring and firing Ashworth and Amorim, who was sacked with a 38.1 per cent win ratio, the worst record of any United boss in the Premier League era.
The cost of all this sits awkwardly against the mass redundancies of ordinary staff.
While Amorim was charming and generous with fans and regular staff, some players wanted better communication from him.
On occasions, though, he responded positively to being challenged. He and Martinez squared up to each other during training in December, in the period when United faced Crystal Palace and West Ham United. Martinez considered himself ready to start and, feeling Amorim was overlooking him, made his point in what has been described as an “intense” manner.
Martinez, who made substitute appearances against Palace and West Ham, was not named in an XI until the Boxing Day game against Newcastle, but he was made captain and continued to wear the armband for Amorim’s final two games, demonstrating how the head coach admired his energy.
Those who have observed Amorim say that kind of strength from his assistants would have been beneficial. His group, which he brought from Sporting, is seen as mirroring his ideas rather than offering alternatives or challenges.
Fletcher, for instance, was one of those who lobbied Ten Hag to change systems after the 4-0 defeat against Crystal Palace in May 2024. The 4-2-4 that Ten Hag then chose ultimately won United the FA Cup.
People at United feel that kind of nuance would have gained United more points, notably in November’s defeat at home against 10-man Everton.
Amorim’s relationship with the academy was also a subject of contention. He declined the chance to give Shea Lacey his debut in the stress-free surroundings of the 4-1 victory at Wolves, instead throwing him on with United 2-1 down at Aston Villa.
Bendito Mantato’s arrival as a late substitute against Wolves, when his previous performance at Old Trafford for United’s under-21s against Athletic Club suggested he is still a raw 17-year-old, left some confused. Calls such as those are the head coach’s prerogative, and he might have felt any questions to that end were unjustified — but one senior member of staff did not recall Amorim ever attending an academy game during his tenure.
Similar observations were made about Amorim staying in the dugout while the shootout took place in the Carabao Cup against Grimsby Town. Jorge Vital, the goalkeeping coach, was also withdrawn from view, with deputy Craig Mawson taking a prominent role in talking Andre Onana through the penalties. That game will be remembered for Amorim’s tactics board and his post-match accusation that the players had “spoke really loud”.
Idiosyncrasies aside, United say the head coach is a key part of the club’s “ecosystem”, but they cannot sit above it, and a collaborative approach is the way to achieve success. Whoever comes in next on a permanent basis will need to adhere to that.
Wilcox is on record on that theme. “I’m a coach at heart,” he told the United former players’ association in September. “That’s a strength in my role now but also causes me a bit of a problem because I always want to interfere in what the managers are doing.”
For all the sense of turmoil at Old Trafford, the current season is very much alive, with United in sixth, three points off the Champions League places.
That is another reason the club have acted now — to generate the upturn they felt Amorim could not deliver.
Amorim himself was always attuned to the vagaries of football. After his team had beaten Brighton to win three games in a row, including victory at Anfield, he replied to a close observer of the club who had sent a congratulatory message. “Did you see Vitor Pereira’s situation? Was a god two months ago. You never know what will happen tomorrow.”