Phil Jones has called for Manchester United players who “don’t like” Ruben Amorim to “pull yourself out of your a***”, but the Red Devils boss is clearly “the problem” in Kobbie Mainoo’s case.
“It’s our responsibility, we’re the ones on the pitch. Simple as that,” Diogo Dalot said when asked about speculation over Ruben Amorim’s future at Manchester United after the embarrassing Carabao Cup defeat to League Two Grimsby Town.
It’s the only thing footballers say if they want to continue to play football under a manager at risk of the sack. What’s the alternative? Blast the philosophy and tactics? Under-fire managers will continue to have the full public support and backing of the players until the time comes when they’re no longer the manager. But as Phil Jones says, there are inevitably United players who “don’t like” Amorim.
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“Do I think there were players at United who didn’t like him? To be honest, that’s probably a ridiculous question because I’d say there are people in the United team now who don’t like the manager,” Jones told Ladbrokes.
As there will be at Manchester City under Pep Guardiola and Liverpool under Arne Slot – we can’t imagine Federico Chiesa’s too enamoured with the Reds boss right now, for example.
“Trust me, I’ve been there myself,” Jones continued. “I’ve been a young kid moaning about training being rubbish. But in reality, it’s not rubbish; you’re just hurt and you don’t know how to deal with it.
“You have to realise what’s going on, pull yourself out of your a*** and get back to where you need to get back to. Nine times out of ten, that’s what the problem is.
“That comes with experience, though. The more mature I got, the more games I played and the more managers I had, the more of an understanding I had about it all.
“You know, it wasn’t the manager who was the problem, it was me. When I think of some players now, more often than not, they find it very easy to just pass the blame onto the manager.”
And those sidelined players aren’t daft. Kobbie Mainoo and Joshua Zirkzee know full well that the only effect of breaking ranks to have a go at the manager will for them to be jettisoned from the first team and made to train away from the squad. What’s the use in picking up a spade when Amorim is doing such a stand-up job of digging his own Manchester United grave?
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It will be particularly difficult for Mainoo to accept that he’s “the problem” and not Amorim. He’s gone from being a Manchester United and England pin-up when Amorim arrived to a benchwarmer denied a loan exit in search of game time in a World Cup year.
The combination of Amorim not playing him thanks to a system that doesn’t suit Mainoo, along with the majority of his teammates, and him (or maybe the club) refusing to let him leave must be incredibly frustrating.
Amorim has insisted that Mainoo must “fight for his place”, but the 20-year-old will view that fight with captain and talisman Bruno Fernandes as one he can’t win.
We can’t imagine Mainoo is the sort of footballer who will sulk and down tools. There are videos on social media of him doing extra training sessions this week having not been selected by Thomas Tuchel for England duty. We suspect he will continue to fight that losing battle.
But upon hearing Jones’ call for United players to “pull yourself out of your a***”, Mainoo may be wondering what the point is, because in his case – that one in ten instance Jones referred to – he’s not “the problem”, Ruben Amorim is.