EPL: What I saw at Man United before Amorim’s sack

Former Manchester United defender, Rio Ferdinand, has revealed what he noticed at Old Trafford before the sacking of Ruben Amorim as the club’s manager.

The Red Devils made a surprise announcement on Tuesday, confirming that Ruben Amorim had been dismissed as manager, less than a day after the team played out a 1-1 draw away to fierce rivals Leeds United.

After the match, Amorim faced the media and appeared visibly angry, reportedly shouting, possibly in the direction of the club’s board. He stated that he accepted the role as a manager, not merely a coach.

The Portuguese also indicated that he was prepared to move on to a new opportunity elsewhere once his contract expired at the end of the 2026/27 season.

However, Amorim did not get the chance to make that decision himself, as the 40-year-old exited under difficult circumstances, recording the worst win rate (38.71%) of any full-time Manchester United manager in Premier League history.

Darren Fletcher, the club’s Under-18 team coach and a former United player who won five Premier League titles, has been placed in temporary charge and will oversee preparations for Wednesday’s match against Burnley.

Ferdinand revealed that during a recent visit to United’s training ground, where he met Amorim, he sensed that tensions had begun to build.

“I watched his last two press conferences and I was thinking, ‘Something isn’t right here.’ This guy, one of his best traits and most likeable qualities, has been his ability to be quite sharp in his press conferences, upbeat and cheerful,” Ferdinand said on his Rio Ferdinand Presents YouTube channel.

“The last two he did seemed really sad. I didn’t say that back then… but the last time I went to Manchester United and interviewed Bruno Fernandes, I met the manager, Ruben, and we talked for about five to 10 minutes. He was warm, he spends a lot of time with you, and he goes into detail.

“He’s as honest as can be, and you can read him like a book. But when I went there the last time, I noticed right away that he seemed colder than before, and there was a big change from what I had seen earlier.

“Now that I look back on it, I think things were already starting to change before Christmas. This isn’t something that happened all at once when it comes to his conversations with the leadership and how he’s been feeling about everything.

“I saw that coldness in him during the last two press conferences. The atmosphere around the training ground with the players was nice, but he seemed a little apart from everyone else.”

EPL: What I saw at Man United before Amorim’s sack – Rio Ferdinand