Ruben Amorim is the subject of plenty of criticism right now for the way his Manchester United team have performed this season.
The 2025-26 campaign has been plunged into crisis faster than anyone could have predicted, with Ruben Amorim already under fire.
Back in May, Amorim promised Manchester United fans the good times were coming, only for the good times built up during the summer to end by the final week of August.
Amorim called out his players for their performances against League Two Grimsby, admitting he was shocked after the 12-11 penalty shoot-out defeat.
Following this latest defeat, Phil Jones slammed Amorim’s tactics, stating that there are major question marks around the team and way things have been set up.
Over the past week, Kobbie Mainoo’s role under Amorim has been cast into the spotlight, with many left furious as the 20-year-old wasn’t given a minute in the opening two games of the season.
Now, Tony Mowbray has hit out at Amorim over how he has been using another talented player.
Amad Diallo dribbling with the ball for Manchester United vs Grimsby.
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Tony Mowbray says Ruben Amorim is wasting the talent of Amad
Tony Mowbray is a typical English football league manager, with a long resume of clubs throughout the pyramid.
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This has seen the manager take charge of some very special footballers, with one being a Manchester United loanee at Sunderland.
During the 2022/23 season, Mowbray had Amad on loan at Sunderland and it was here that United’s number 16 really announced himself to English football.
Amad made quite the impression and spoke glowingly about Mowbray for his impact, seeing him as a father figure. Now, speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast with Sam Allardyce, Mowbray has revealed his annoyance at how Amorim has wasted Amad.
“Why would you be so stuck on one system?”, Mowbray asked. “Trying to force Amad Diallo as a right-wing-back. Amad is a brilliant footballer, Man United class I would say. Amad Diallo, he’s a genius.
“Talk about not having to look at the ball, the ball is stuck to his left-foot, a brilliant football player and a brilliant human being. But they’re playing him at right wing-back just to fit into your system.
“I had him at Sunderland and he was a genius. Amad always wanted to get better and practice.
“He should be bending it into the top corner with his left foot, he should be sitting people on their backsides and and scoring wonderful goals like I know he can, why’s he chasing people back into his own box?”
In a way, Mowbray is spot on, with Amad’s form dipping massively this season as he has permanently been moved back to wing-back, where he isn’t close enough to goal to cause big problems.
Amad and Bryan Mbeumo are two sides of the same coin at Manchester United
Mowbray might be correct with his claims that Amorim is effectively wasting Amad by using him in the wing-back role, but there isn’t really a place for him elsewhere in the starting line-up.
Amad sees Bryan Mbeumo ahead of him in the right sided number 10 role, with the £65m forward one of the league’s best players on his day, which makes him an instant starter.
Therefore, Amad would either be a wing-back or second fiddle to Mbeumo. It is a happy problem for Amorim, as both are very similar in terms of being creative goalscorers with a top class left-foot.
When functioning correctly, Amad at right wing-back can work, as he would effectively be a winger, but right now he and Mbeumo are learning eachother’s game, as their similarities are clashing on the pitch.
This is yet another problem for Amorim to solve, but it also might solve itself, with good footballers often learning pretty simply to play with other good footballers.