The past four games haven’t been kind for Ruben Amorim’s legacy at Man Utd, but a Thomas Frank weakness laying bare against United gave Amorim some vindication.
From the players whom he ignored to those he trusted, basically everyone is playing better after the departure of Ruben Amorim.
It doesn’t help that Michael Carrick has made everything look so easy off the pitch as well, handling the cauldron of pressure that is Man Utd with deftness.
Who was your Manchester United man of the match against Spurs?
However, Man Utd fans will have to accept that Amorim did receive a degree of vindication for his legacy at Old Trafford due to what Thomas Frank did against United.
Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur - Premier League
Photo by Neal Simpson/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
Thomas Frank’s weakness was laid bare against Man Utd
Now that Amorim is gone, Thomas Frank is the person who is in the hottest seat since his tenure keeps reaching new lows every week.
Frank, who was a candidate for the United job, getting as far as to be interviewed in Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s garage, has had a nightmare at Spurs.
This loss to United was bad, but the obituary of his time at the club had been written before even a ball was kicked, due to his weakness getting exposed.
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Despite pleading in public all week, effectively begging for a move away, Cristian Romero was selected by Frank to play in his starting XI, named captain as well.
Romero promptly received a red card to leave his team fighting from underneath, and leaving Frank to answer some very uncomfortable questions in the media afterwards.
Instead of sending a message on professionalism non-negotiables, Frank bowed down to the player, throwing all the standards out of the window.
Ruben Amorim’s cultural reset visible after Spurs disaster
Amorim, for all his faults, of which there were many, must be credited with bringing in a cultural reset.
Ruben Amorim deserves ___ % credit for Michael Carrick’s BRILLIANT start at Man Utd
Fill in the blank. Did Amorim lay the foundation for success at Old Trafford?
Michael Carrick and Ruben Amorim as Man Utd managers split image
Michael Carrick and Ruben Amorim as Man Utd managers
Frank showed against United how hard it is to make professionalism and accountability a key pillar of a dressing room.
Amorim, in contrast, drew a line in the sand when it came to players like Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford.
His comment about him rather playing his 63-year-old goalkeeping coach in place of Rashford will go down in history as one of the most brutal comments ever made by a Man Utd manager.
It was taken for granted then, but Frank has shown that it’s not easy to leave a key player out of the starting XI when you’re struggling for results, regardless of what their behaviour is.
Amorim stuck to his guns by putting down a marker, laid out his non-negotiables, and stood by them unflinchingly even when the results weren’t going his way.
The result is a more united and professional dressing room with no problematic characters, the effects of which are enjoyed by Carrick.
Romero leaving Frank to fend for himself after being unprofessional all week just showed how difficult it is to achieve that. Finally the slightest bit of vindication for Amorim.
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