Jamie Carragher has given a wild explanation as to why Manchester United are yet to sack Ruben Amorim. The Old Trafford hierarchy put their faith in the young Portuguese coach last November after removing Erik ten Hag from his role in the hot seat, but results have not picked up since the former Sporting CP boss took over.
While there has been a noticeable improvement in performances this season and the understanding of his system from the United players, he has only picked up one league win this term, taking his record to eight victories in 30 matches in the English top flight. And Carragher believes he knows why United haven't pulled the plug on the Amorim experiment.
Carragher's Amorim Theory
Jamie Carragher
Speaking on the latest episode of the 'Fan Debate' on the Overlap YouTube channel, Carragher suggested that the reason why Amorim hasn't been removed by Sir Jim Ratcliffe yet is down to his charisma and his appearance. Amorim has often received praise from journalists for his brutal honesty, though some of his comments at times have been deemed as being too honest, such as his reaction to when United lost to Grimsby or when he called his squad the worst in the club's history last season.
While Carragher accepts that Amorim is a character, he inferred that his personality may currently be hiding the fact that he is yet to produce on the pitch consistently.
"He's box office and he comes out with stuff. You always remember Brian Clough. He was a winner. I remember as a kid, you'd always listen to Brian Clough because he's a winner. The problem at the moment with Amorim is that he's great in press conferences but because he's not winning it's like 'shut up, stop speaking.'
"If he was winning we'd all go 'what a personality, what a character.' I actually look at it and think that if he wasn't so charismatic in the press conferences and if he wasn't such a good looking man, he might've lost his job a lot earlier when you look at the results."
While Carragher has his theory, Ratcliffe has previously insisted that he believes that Amorim is the right man for the job, saying back in March to The Times: "I think coaches are emotional, and Ruben’s no exception to that. And he’s a young coach. And he’s not perfect. You know, he’s not a guy who … he’s got to be good on the stage, but we want him to be good on the grass. And part of that is life on the stage, isn’t it?
"You know, you’re a young guy, you’ve come into the Premier League for the first time in your life, you’ve come in mid-season, it’s not your natural language. You have to give the guy a bit of a break. I mean, give me a hard time, I have no problem with that. But give Ruben a break. I think he’s a good guy; he’s working hard, and I think he’s doing a great job.
"I speak to Ruben. I sit down and have a cup of coffee with him and tell him where it’s going wrong, and he tells me to f*** off. I like him."