Pundit Michael Owen has insisted that up-and-coming managers face a “virtually impossible” challenge compared with former Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim.
Ruben Amorim is currently a free agent and has been out of the dugout since his tenure as Manchester United manager came to an abrupt end in January.
The 41-year-old Portuguese coach was in charge at Old Trafford for 14 months before Amorim was sacked as Man Utd head coach after his falling out with Ineos.
Amorim’s sudden dismissal from United paved the way for Michael Carrick to become interim head coach for the Red Devils until the end of the 2025-26 season.
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Ruben Amorim arrives ahead of the Premier League match between Manchester United and Newcastle United at Old Trafford in 2025 in Manchester, England.
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
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Michael Owen explains that young English managers would not be afforded the same opportunity as Ruben Amorim at Man Utd
Ruben Amorim made a real name for himself as an up-and-coming head coach after his success in his native homeland of Portugal with Primeira Liga side Sporting CP.
The former Man Utd manager’s impressive resume at the Jose Alvalade Stadium eventually led to Ineos bringing him to Old Trafford in 2024 as the club’s new boss.
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The 46-year-old former Liverpool and Man Utd striker insisted that Amorim was fortunate to be in a position that not many other England managers would receive.
“It’s impossible for a young manager,” Owen said.
“I mean, someone like Amorim, and I like Ruben Amorim, but, you know, you give somebody a manager’s job on the back of, you know, doing well in their country for a very small, short period of time.
“There’s managers [who] would do equally as well if they went out and managed in other countries or that.
“It’s virtually impossible for a young manager, a young English manager, to come in and do an Amorim type of thing in their country, because, one, you’ll never get the chance to, nobody will ever.”
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Michael Owen breaks down the major challenge for managers amid his Man Utd and Ruben Amorim remarks
Michael Carrick is only a few years older than Amorim and the United legend has stepped up for the Old Trafford hot seat, irrespective of being on an interim basis.
The United interim head coach had been out of the dugout since last summer after Carrick was sacked from his first managerial role at Middlesbrough.
Speaking on Amorim and Man Utd, Owen continued: “But he’s [Amorim] got miles more chance, and so has virtually every manager, of managing at the level that he knows.
“You know, if you ask me to go and manage my local team in the conference, with all due respect, I don’t really know any of the players.
“It’s a different bit of a different sport. That’s not me being, you know, snooty about, but, you know, it’s more of a passing game and whatever at the highest level. Like, I could coach something that I know about.”
Carrick has won six of his first eight Premier League matches in charge of Man Utd since his January appointment, following Amorim’s sacking by the Red Devils.
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