Arsenal legend Paul Merson believes Ruben Amorim might be regretting his decision to become Manchester United’s head coach.
Merson thinks Amorim, whose team faces Fulham at Craven Cottage tonight and remains in the bottom half of the Premier League table, is under immense pressure due to high expectations despite inheriting more than a decade of decline at Old Trafford.
Merson asserts that United’s issues are not a reflection of Amorim’s coaching skills and believes any head coach would struggle in the current situation at United.
“This man’s 39 years of age. I mean, there are players just finishing their footballing careers at 38,” Merson said on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday.
“He’s young and in management, really young. He’s done well in Portugal, he’s coming to one of the biggest clubs in the world, by far not the best team in the world, but one of the biggest clubs in the world.
“And he’s finding it hard. The pressure’s on him. Someone’s obviously said to him, you need to backtrack on that and start blaming yourself a little bit here because the players won’t have that, they won’t have that, they won’t be sitting there saying that, but it’s gonna be hard for him.
“I don’t see where this turns around. With the Tottenham one, I can see the players when they get back I think, ‘oh yeah, they’ll cause teams problems on their day,’ especially the way they play.
“I think the manager will be sitting there deep down and thinking, ‘should I have taken this job?’ He didn’t want to take it until the end of the season and I think, I think he’ll be sitting there now thinking. ‘I ain’t sure I can do this job.’
“I don’t think it’s just him. I think any manager, I think you’re looking at financial fair play rules and how far they’re behind now, and look where they are in their league, they’re 13th in the league. Bournemouth have got better players. I mean, when has that ever happened?”
Man United last night confirmed the exit of Antony on loan to Real Betis, while Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho remain linked with moves away.
