Much has been written about Kobbie Mainoo proving Ruben Amorim wrong, but a bigger embarrassment for him is the flourishing of his own success story player.
The last four games haven’t been kind to Ruben Amorim’s stock at Manchester United, to put it politely.
Kobbie Mainoo has led the way in terms of proving him wrong about what he thought of him as a player, but that was always likely to happen.
Should Manchester United have sacked Ruben Amorim earlier this season?
Could we really have been title contenders?
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What should be a bigger embarrassment for him is how another player, who was one of Amorim’s biggest success stories, is also flourishing after his departure.
Kobbie Mainoo and Luke Shaw clapping the fans
Photo by Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
Luke Shaw looks freed under Michael Carrick
Of all the players in the Man Utd squad, Luke Shaw is probably the one who feels the most grateful towards Amorim.
Not only did his fitness regime help Shaw stay fit for an extended period of time, but Amorim’s use of Shaw also ensured his intensity stayed manageable.
Amorim went as far as to call Shaw ‘world-class’, and anyone who knows him can understand how rare it was for Amorim to throw praise like that.
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Despite all that goodwill and understanding, Shaw has looked like a freed man under Michael Carrick.
For starters, he’s back playing at his preferred left-back position, something he accepted publicly when he was having LCB stints under Amorim.
Furthermore, Carrick’s style of play, which relies on a lopsided full-back system, gives him the best of both worlds.
When Diogo Dalot overlaps, Shaw tucks inside to form a back-three, and vice versa, helping him to manage his load throughout the game.
More than Mainoo proving him wrong, misprofiling Shaw is a bigger embarrassment to Amorim.
Ruben Amorim misprofiled most Man Utd players
It speaks volumes about how misguided Amorim’s vision was that even players like Amad, Matheus Cunha, Luke Shaw, Bruno Fernandes, and Harry Maguire, who played well under him, look better now.
Man Utd have ALREADY got more points than 2024/25 with 13 games to go!
How many points will we end up with in 2025/26?
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He said until his last day in the job that the formation doesn’t matter, and that he needs backing in the market, but could the board really afford to back such a dysfunctional mess?
Shaw’s strengths lie in overlapping and ball-progression from the first-third of the pitch, both of which were taken away in a centre-back role.
Amad is a menace with the ball at his feet in the final third, and Amorim had him covering the back post as a wing-back when United didn’t have the ball.
Much has already been said about Bruno Fernandes’ transformation since playing as the No. 10, while Cunha, despite not starting initially under Carrick, is a man reborn.
It took a public fight against the board to sack Amorim, but his results and process should have seen him lose the job far before that.
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