‘Here We Go Again’—Christian Eriksen Hammers Ruben Amorim for Public Outburst

The Red Devils’ manager is never afraid to say what he’s thinking.

Christian Eriksen left Manchester United in the summer. / Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images

Christian Eriksen described Ruben Amorim’s decision to label Manchester United as the “worst team in the history of the club” as “not too clever” in a direct takedown of the Portuguese tactician.

The 33-year-old spent three years at Old Trafford before being released in the summer following the conclusion of his contract, winning an FA Cup and Carabao Cup under the management of Erik ten Hag.

Ten Hag was relieved of his duties after a dismal start to the 2024–25 campaign and Amorim was convinced to leave Sporting CP mid-season to take over as manager. But rather than improve and stabilise the mood around the club, Amorim took a hard line approach to tactics and talking to the media—often straight shooting with his comments even if it meant throwing his players under the bus.

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In one tirade in January, Amorim went as far as to suggest that the crop of players he was working with were the worst to ever pull on a Manchester United shirt. Inevitably, that didn’t go down too well in United’s dressing room and with Eriksen, who is now playing for VfL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga as he heads towards the twilight of his career.

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Eriksen: Some Things Should Stay in the Dressing Room

Ruben Amorim’s honesty can never be questioned. / Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar/Getty Images

“That didn’t help,” Eriksen told The Times of Amorim’s remark. “Yeah, that didn’t help at all. I mean, that was not... I don’t think that helped the players at all. Some stuff you can say inside and it’s not too clever to say outside, to put extra pressure and put an extra label on the players who were already trying to do their best.

“I don’t think that helped at all, no. Then if he’s right or wrong, whatever, but I think for us it was a bit of like, ‘Oh, here we go again. Another headline.’ ”

Eriksen continued: “He came in with his ideas. He tried to change things as you still see, tried to get it his way. Certain players for certain positions, for a certain style of play, that’s how he sees success. He has to change a lot because the players were not used to that system. Also, historically, United always liked a different system.

“And yeah, he’s been very honest and also, yeah, honest with me from the beginning. Very, very, very honest, I would say.”

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Instant Comparisions Do Not Help Current Players

Critics often point to the need for United to unearth a new Roy Keane. / Clive Brunskill/GettyImages

United’s decline has been a major talking point of English football over the past decade. Last crowned Premier League champions in 2013 in Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season in charge, the Red Devils remain the centre of attention for many, intrigued by when the club will return to their former glory.

Eriksen outlined the mental toll on current players inspired by constant comparisons to former greats, specifically on younger talents who are looking to establish themselves in an environment that was used to winning for 20 years.

“The main thing at United is just the perception of how you have to play and how you have to be as a player, because everything you do is compared to who was there before,” he said. So any position, you’ll be like, ‘Oh yeah, now we have Casemiro but you have to compare him to Roy Keane,’ or, ‘We had [Robin] van Persie here, so this striker now has to be able to do this.’

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“So everything at United is like straight away when you wear the logo, you bring all that history with you, you have to follow up what was there before and change that or make it better, which, of course, is almost impossible when you win [the title] eight out of 11 years in the Premier League.

“So that puts a lot of pressure on the players and then, obviously, when you get into a situation where you change a lot of managers, a lot of structures, then yeah, it’s tough as a player to really succeed.”

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