Is Ruben Amorim in danger of axe? Inside Man Utd boardroom disagreement that could have seen Thomas Frank hired
CAST your mind back 11 years to the last time David Moyes was in a Goodison Park dugout for an Everton v Manchester United match.Then, we were treated to the ghoulish sight of a bookmaker’s stooge dressed as the Grim Reaper, seated yards away from Moyes, dangling his scythe at the soon-to-be-former United boss.David Moyes’ brilliant Everton run could inflict more misery on Man UtdCredit: PARuben Amorim’s side head to Goodison on Saturday lunchtimeCredit: ReutersMoyes knows more than anyone about the scrutiny that comes with being the Man Utd managerEverton won 2-0 and two days later, Moyes was sacked.‘The Chosen One’ banner, displayed at Old Trafford since he had replaced Sir Alex Ferguson, was hauled down after eight months in situ.And 11 years later, the Red Devils haven’t recovered from their spiral of chaos and doom.On Saturday, Ruben Amorim takes what remains of his battered United squad to Goodison for his club’s final visit to Everton’s historic home. READ MORE MAN UTD NEWSAnd this time, Moyes himself can play the Reaper.The Scot, 61, who returned to the Toffees last month, has amassed 13 points from his past five matches — four wins and a dramatic draw against runaway leaders Liverpool.That points tally is only one fewer than Amorim has mustered in 14 league games as United boss.One month ago, Everton were nine points adrift of the Red Devils and also West Ham. Most read in FootballCASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITSAlready, Moyes’ side have leap-frogged both of the clubs who scorned him.It would be too simplistic to claim that if United had stuck with Moyes back in 2014, rather than becoming just another hire-and-fire Premier League club, then everything would have turned out fine and dandy.Ruben Amorim makes blunt admission as Man Utd face cash crisis It is likely that no manager in world football could have successfully succeeded Ferguson.United’s squad was ageing and Fergie was a genius who had run the whole Old Trafford empire, leaving behind no recognisable modern management infrastructure.And perhaps Moyes’ skill-set has always been better suited to overachieving at clubs just outside the elite, rather than getting the best out of world-class players. But still, the contrast in fortunes between Everton and United is glaring.Amorim’s side plunged into the bottom six at an advanced stage of a Premier League season for the first time when they lost Sunday’s ‘Hell Clasico’ to fellow strugglers Spurs.There, the Portuguese named eight teenaged substitutes who had never previously played for United’s first team, using only one of them — forward Chido Obi — as a 91st- minute replacement for a gone-at-all-levels Casemiro.Perhaps Amorim should actually have named his 63-year-old goal-keeping coach Jorge Vital among his subs in North London having claimed last month he would rather select the old boy over Marcus Rashford.Amorim named eight untried teenagers to his bench at SpursDefeat by Tottenham was United’s sixth in nine league matches.And looking at the table, it is easy to imagine United finishing in the bottom six.Their position is not a false one, unless you want to argue that they should actually be even further down, among the dead men.Three of the four league wins Amorim has mustered have been fortunate — they trailed 1-0 at home to Southampton after 80 minutes, they were 1-0 down to Manchester City before a miraculous late derby turnaround, and won 1-0 at Fulham with their only shot on target, which was massively deflected.Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou offered no sympathy for Amorim’s current injury crisis — ‘welcome to my world, mate, try it for two months’ was his comment.But United had left themselves wide open to this eventuality by loaning out Rashford and Antony in the winter window, without replacing either.The subsequent season-ending injury to Amad Diallo — the one bright spark of Amorim’s reign — would not have felt quite so debilitating had United not left themselves so short of attacking numbers.And the fact that Antony has now won three successive man-of-the-match awards for Real Betis, while Rashford is showing early promise at Aston Villa, only adds to questions over Amorim’s decision-making.His insistence on refusing to compromise on a 3-4-3 formation, even when robbed of the services of 12 senior players, is beginning to look like severe bloody-mindedness. Beware of the dogma.There’s much to like about Amorim, such as his unswerving, often damning, honesty about United and a charismatic strength of personality which makes it believable he could turn around the club’s fortunes in the long term.But there comes a point at any major club — and we still have to regard United as one of those despite a dozen years of trauma — when things become so bad that you have to wonder whether the manager even has a long-term future.Amorim’s appointment seemed like a massive coup. He was the hottest young property in management after an excellent spell at Sporting Lisbon.And yet it is increasingly intriguing to consider why Dan Ashworth — United’s hugely-respected, short-lived sporting director — should have left after just five months having disagreed over Amorim’s appointment.Brentford’s Thomas Frank was Dan Ashworth’s pickbefore United hired AmorimAshworth is believed to have favoured replacing Erik ten Hag with a manager experienced in the English game. His three previous appointments — Eddie Howe at Newcastle, Gareth Southgate at England and Graham Potter at Brighton — were all great successes and all three were linked with United.By the time Ten Hag was sacked, Brentford’s Thomas Frank was Ashworth’s pick, with Amorim the choice of chief executive Omar Berrada — the finance man, rather than their football man.Sir Jim Ratcliffe has spent £25million in hiring and firing Ashworth, sacking Ten Hag and poaching Amorim with some of this cost being recouped in demoralising mass redundancies among the club’s staff.United must sell before they buy this summer, reviving the prospect of stars Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho being flogged off to keep the club in line with Profit and Sustainability Rules.READ MORE SUN STORIESWith a dysfunctional current squad and no quick fixes in sight, Amorim, 40, must be wondering whether he made a serious mistake in taking on the biggest basket case in world football.So perhaps, at Goodison Park on Saturday, Moyes should bring along a Scary Movie mask and scythe.Man Utd ratings v SpursMANCHESTER UNITED slipped to a 12th defeat in the Premier League with Rasmus Hojlund coming under fire again.Here’s how SunSport’s Katherine Walsh rated the Manchester United players against an underachieving Spurs side – who are now three places above them in 12th – in North London.Andre Onana – 3United can’t do anything with him between the sticks. Can’t be trusted to collect anything.His opposite number Vicario showed him a thing or two after returning for the first time since Spurs thrashed Man City in November.At fault for the first goal when he palmed out a relatively weak bouncing shot into Maddison’s path in the 13th minute.Noussair Mazraoui – 5An OK performance. Clever link-up play with Zirkzee but couldn’t get hold of Spence down the left-hand side.Pulled out an excellent cross for the Dutchman’s headed chance late-on.Matthijs de Ligt – 6His clearance stopped an obvious 2-0 before the half-an-hour mark.Harry Maguire – 5A mixed bag. Long ball over the top for Hojlund’s chance in opening 10 minutes and went on a few attacking runs himself in the first half.Did well to stop Dejan Kulusevski from having a go at the edge of the box. But bizarrely stopped in his tracks when a cross came flying into Son later on.Diogo Dalot – 6A difficult afternoon for the Portugal international as Son and Djed Spence left him for dead a few times.Hesitated when asked to shoot from five yards to make it 1-0 but helped Onana out with some clearances too.Patrick Dorgu – 4A Prem debut to forget. He was almost invisible from the left-hand side. And lacked quality when asked to get involved more in the second half.Was stupidly caught offside with Bruno Fernandes offloading a stunning cross pitch pass and booked late-on.Casemiro – 5Looked every bit a player that hasn’t played Premier League football for two months. Unsurprisingly booked for a late one on Son.Bizarrely dropped to the turf asking for a free-kick when nobody touched him. Was forced to play 89 minutes with eight teenagers on the bench. A difficult afternoon, indeed.Bruno Fernandes – 5Interceptions and breaking up play is not a part of the captain’s game. An uncharacteristically poor cross left United open on the counter.Did get back to stop Son from having a shot at Onana on the hour mark and started ticking in attack in the final 20 minutes.Alejandro Garnacho – 4Looked shaky and cut a frustrated figure after blazing over an absolute SITTER from 10 yards to level the scores.A bit of a shocker and looked a completely different player to the one who got United into the fifth-round of the FA Cup last week.Woke up a bit in the second half as Vicario kept him at bay with several superb stops. But the 20-year-old is clearly better off the bench.Joshua Zirkzee – 6The best of a desperately poor front three. There’s a street player in there and he’s great with his touches at times.But curled wide from 23 yards, stuck a header wide in the 70th minute and kicked an air shot in the final five minutes.Rasmus Hojlund – 3Is Hojlund the worst No 9 in United’s recent history?The young Dane, who was unlucky to have a chance saved by Vicario, was second best in every loose ball and kept losing possession.He was even caught offside after a pass from an Onana goal-kick in the first half – how often do you see that happen? More
