‘What I Liked Least’—Ruben Amorim’s Assistant Lifts Lid on Man Utd Disaster

A member of Amorim’s backroom staff has broken their silence on the club’s situation for the first time since the change of management.

Ruben Amorim (left) was sacked by Man Utd after just 14 months. | Robbie Jay Barratt-AMA/Ash Donelon/Manchester United/Getty Images

Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United assistant Adélio Cândido has claimed that the most dissatisfying aspect of the Portuguese coach’s tumultuous tenure at Old Trafford was that his ideas “weren’t fully implemented.”

Amorim was appointed by United in November 2024. The well-spoken operator arrived with a reputation as one of Europe’s premier tacticians after leading Sporting CP to a pair of top-flight titles with a dogmatic style based around a very specific 3-4-2-1 system.

The first three games of his tenure brought a draw and two wins, with a 4–0 victory over Everton upheld as a sign of the good times on the horizon. Amorim argued otherwise, warning that “the storm is coming.” He was proven painfully correct.

A smattering of false dawns were spliced into 14 months of largely dire results before Amorim and his entire backroom staff were put out of their misery in January. The head coach (or should that be manager?) has not made any public comments since his departure but Cândido has recently broken ranks.

“Experience is always experience, whether the outcome is good or bad, we always come away with learning,” the Angola-born coach told A BOLA. “In Manchester, I really liked the city and the way the fans experience football, more focused on the project than on the immediate result. What I liked least was, without a doubt, feeling that our ideas weren’t fully implemented.”

Cândido shrugged off questions of external pressure, pointing to the youthful nature of Amorim and his backroom staff which lay behind a “positive daily routine at work.”

“With the existing pressure, it’s normal for people to get more upset than usual on a coaching staff, and that wasn’t the case for us,” he insisted.

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Was Ruben Amorim Let Down By Man Utd’s Players?

Cunha built a strong relationship with Amorim. | Ash Donelon/Manchester United/Getty Images

It was telling that Cândido refrained from any comments on Manchester United’s current form. Michael Carrick has the exact same set of players at his disposal yet is inspiring a run of results which Amorim was never able to achieve.

Benjamin Šeško damningly admitted that the players have cranked up their work ethic under Carrick, whose soft touch has been hailed by Lisandro Martínez. Luke Shaw’s assertion that the “biggest” difference between Amorim and his successor is that Carrick “knows the club” gives the impression that the former Benfica midfielder never stood a chance.

Matheus Cunha provided the most intriguing insight into Amorim’s struggles. The Brazilian forward blamed the negative media scrutiny on his 3-4-2-1 system. “The pressure for that tactic to work was so great that we forgot how simple the overall context was and focused too much on the negative,” Cunha explained.

This blinkered view gripped Amorim as well.

The first 60 games of his tenure were conducted exclusively with a back three. A combination of injury and international duty robbed the manager of so many players ahead of a Boxing Day clash with Newcastle United that no other alternative was possible.

Amorim was all too eager to point out that he was not changing his system because of the intense media criticism. Yet, in doing so, he revealed that he was deliberately sticking with a destructive tactic just so that his authority among the players remained in tact.

“We don’t have a lot of players, and we need to adapt, so they understand why we are changing,” Amorim pointed out. It is not because of the pressure of you guys [media], or the fans.

“When you [media] talk about changing the system all the time, I cannot change because the players will understand I’m changing because of you and I think that is the end for the manager. When we are playing well in our system, that is the moment to change.”

Unfortunately for Amorim, that point never arrived.

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What Went Wrong for Ruben Amorim at Man Utd?

Jason Wilcox (left) and Sir Jim Ratcliffe had different relationships with Amorim. | Michael Regan/Getty Images

There were many performance factors which could have got Amorim the sack long before he was shown the door in January. Yet, it was only a clash of personalities with his direct superior, director of football Jason Wilcox, which ultimately led to his departure.

The Portuguese boss kept his job after steering the Premier League’s record champions to an embarrassing 15th place and was still in position to lose the Europa League final to a Tottenham Hotspur side which finished two positions lower.

Amorim received the backing of the club’s hierarchy when he froze out beloved academy graduate Marcus Rashford, convincing United to ship out the winger for a fraction of his previous valuation after publicly criticizing him at every turn. Alejandro Garnacho was also jettisoned following a fallout with his manager.

Even without any revenue streams from European qualification, United still conspired to spend in the region of $330 million during Amorim’s two full transfer windows in charge. He and Cândido may point out that four Premier League teams recorded a larger outlay over the same period, yet the identity of the players who were purchased suggests that the hierarchy were fully behind Amorim’s overhaul of United’s tactical system.

Patrick Dorgu was signed in January 2025 with the explicit intention of filling the left wingback role he had experience of playing for Lecce. Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo cost a combined $176 million after excelling as No. 10s in Amorim’s beloved 3-4-2-1 system for other Premier League clubs.

However, United’s spending last summer was limited by the English top-flight’s financial regulations. The obvious issue in midfield was not addressed. As Amorim headed towards the January 2026 window, he showed increasing signs of frustration that he would not receive the backing he expected.

On Christmas Eve, Amorim admitted: “I have the feeling that if we have to play a perfect 3-4-3 we need to spend a lot of money and need time. I’m starting to understand that is not going to happen so maybe I have to adapt.”

That angst reportedly burst out in the form of a stern confrontation with Wilcox before his final match at the helm against Leeds United. In the aftermath of a 1–1 draw, Amorim went out in a blaze of glory, demanding that “the sports director needs to do their job.”

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