Ruben Amorim looks "exhausted mentally and emotionally" at Manchester United and will quit the club before he's sacked after the humiliating defeat against Grimsby, according to a top expert
12:28, 28 Aug 2025Updated 12:39, 28 Aug 2025
Ruben Amorim is under pressure at Manchester United after a humiliating start to the season
Ruben Amorim is under pressure at Manchester United after overseeing a terrible time at the club
Ruben Amorim looks "exhausted mentally and emotionally" at Manchester United and will walk away from the club before he's sacked, according to a top body language expert.
The Portuguese manager slammed his expensively-assembled flops after United suffered one of the worst results in their history by losing to League Two side Grimsby Town in the second round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night. The Red Devils went two goals down against their fourth-tier opponents, before clawing it back to 2-2, only to lose 12-11 in a penalty shootout.
The fallen giants, who last term finished 15th in their worst campaign since being relegated in 1974, are in crisis just two weeks into the new season, after a defeat at home to Arsenal and draw away at Fulham. With no European football, their only realistic prospect of lifting silverware is now winning the FA Cup. And, after the defeat to the Mariners, a stunned Amorim's comment that "something has to change" has led to speculation that he might be considering quitting Old Trafford.
Speaking to OLBG in the wake of the ex-Sporting Lisbon boss' interviews, body language expert Darren Stanton - aka 'the human lie detector' - picked apart the gestures and signals that he believes show a change in the 40-year-old manager's demeanour, including signs of disbelief and shock.
He said: "There's so much to like about Ruben Amorim. He is straight with you. He doesn't try to blank things or skate around the issues. Usually he's grinning like a Cheshire cat, even if things haven't gone so well, but not now. I don't see the same level of conviction we are used to from Ruben. He looks exhausted, mentally and emotionally.
Manchester United's flops hit a new low on Wednesday night
Manchester United's flops hit a new low on Wednesday night(Image: Paul Currie/Shutterstock)
"It's the disbelief really that I think is the most interesting emotion. He was just absolutely gobsmacked to be in this situation against Grimsby. I didn't think he really ever thought they'd lose this game.
"His comments about his own players 'speaking loudly for him' was very interesting. He almost seems in a state of shock. He is a deeply disappointed man and I don’t think he fully understands what was going on in that match.
"We see evidence of pure frustration plus anger and disappointment. He spent most of his post-match interviews with his head dipped down. That’s also a sign of shame. We see the anger in how his eyes come together, pulled down and the furrow lines in his forehead.
"When he says the team has been getting better and improving I feel that he's suggesting his players have thrown it against Grimsby. You feel he's not far off claiming his plans are being sabotaged, like his team is throwing him under a bus, even though it means they're losing these games."
Ruben Amorim speaking to Sky Sports after Manchester United's shock defeat at Grimsby in the Carabao Cup
Ruben Amorim speaking to Sky Sports after Manchester United's shock defeat at Grimsby in the Carabao Cup(Image: Sky Sports)
Stanton said Amorim, who enjoyed great success in Portugal by ending Sporting's 19-year league title drought, couldn't fathom how his side failed to beat the League Two outfit, and would quit Old Trafford rather than change the tactics and approach that has served him so well in the past.
He said: "He looks like a man who thinks there’s more going on to explain why they haven’t. Is there some agenda going on against him?
"He's come to Manchester United looking like someone who really believed they were getting promoted to the big job but now he has the appearance of the person who ended up overlooked for that position, almost like he's been cheated out of the real opportunity."
Stanton added: "I think he's going to try and address whatever issues are going on in the locker room with the team but it could come to a point where he looks at it and goes, you know what, this just isn’t working for me. I've tried my best. You're not prepared to play ball. You're not prepared to play my way and work with me and my ideas.
Manchester United's players have come in for criticism
Manchester United's players have come in for criticism(Image: Getty Images)
“He has nowhere else to go otherwise but I think, from what we've seen of Ruben so far, that he is going to do his darndest to try and resolve the situation and get to the bottom of what’s going on at United, both with the individual players and the collective.
"But I also don’t think he's a man that's gonna suck it up forever. He's just got his professional integrity as well. All football managers have egos. I don't think he’s going to roll over and allow himself and his career to be tarnished, and he wants to work at the highest levels after this job too.
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"If he walks it won't look good on him so he'll try and turn it around to the best of his ability but he's not going to allow himself to continually be thrown under the bus. It will get to a point where he will walk, I believe."