footballtransfers.com

Amorim is right to challenge a Man Utd tradition the fans love

Robin Bairner

Ruben Amorim, Man Utd, 2025/26

Ruben Amorim has signalled that a change could be coming at Manchester United that he feels is long overdue.

The club’s use of the academy over the years has been one of their defining characteristics. United have had a graduate in their squad in every match since 1937. It’s a run of 4,338 successive games.

Fans are naturally proud of such a record, but it nearly came to a shuddering halt against Tottenham last month. But with Kobbie Mainoo out, Amorim named Jack Fletcher in his matchday squad to preserve the record.

“It’s really important,” Amorim told TNT Sports at the time. “We’re in a moment when if we cut corners to have success right away, it’s the wrong thing.

“There is something special in our club which has to be bullet proof. The way we behave, the way we feel about the club.

“We’re not going to stop with academy players. It doesn’t matter about the result. We will continue with these small details which are the foundations of the club.”

Ruben Amorim: Man Utd manager wants a change of culture

Respecting tradition without being ruled by it

While United’s tradition may be, as Amorim puts it, “bullet proof”, that does not mean there are not challenges that come with it.

The manager appears to have learned that in recent times, with Harry Amass and Chido Obi Martin both using social media to exert pressure on him to be included in the first-team picture.

Similarly, Kobbie Mainoo is unsettled. His half-brother appearing pitchside with the now-infamous ‘Free Kobbie Mainoo’ T-shirt was a clear dig towards Amorim prior to the January transfer window and bore similarities to Alejandro Garnacho posting an image of himself wearing a Marcus Rashford Aston Villa shirt while on holiday in Ibiza last summer.

Kobbie Mainoo's hallf-brother was pictured with this T-shirt

Amorim challenges the culture

It was this that led to Amorim challenging the culture and attitude of the academy’s top players on Friday.

“I think the feeling a little bit of ENTITLED one we have in our club. Sometimes strong words are not bad words, difficult moments are not bad for the kids. We don’t need always to be accolades for every situation,” he said.

“You guys talk about players who speak against clubs because you feel entitlement, then you have legends so if you don’t play, leave because everyone is wrong. No, stay and FIGHT, I have the feeling we need to fight against this feeling.

“I’m the first one to say I’m failing. Outside the pitch I guarantee I’m not failing this club. We forget the players what it means to play for Man United, we as a club forget sometimes who we are. It’s the environment, the kids feel entitled and free to respond to the manager with a picture.

“My office is open but nobody is coming to me. We need to change as a club. I didn’t say anything wrong, I spoke about how the luck of playing for Man United. Sometimes you play for Man United and see different realities and you understand football can be so different. That was my point.”

Amorim’s stance on the Mainoo issue appears to be a pragmatic one. He says that the incident with his half-brother against Bournemouth will not affect team selection, which presumably means that the England international will remain frustrated on the bench.

While he doesn’t expect his young players to be angels, he does expect them to fight.

Kobbie Mainoo has struggled for game time at Man Utd this season

Nothing is guaranteed at elite level

Perhaps Man Utd academy players have been given too easy a ride in the past. Supporters are willing them to become the next David Beckham, Ryan Giggs or Gary Neville. Naturally, they want to see the Carrington kids thrive and are often protective of those seen as their own.

Has this helped to foster an attitude of entitlement among the best of the academy kids? Potentially. As Amorim hinted, they’ve grown up being told how good they are only to face the harsh reality of a leap to the Premier League.

Rather than take a place in the Man Utd squad for granted, Amorim wants them to earn their spot, but he is willing to do everything in his power to help them achieve it.