‘Talk a Lot’—Ruben Amorim Reignites Feud With Man Utd Legends
Ruben Amorim has joked that his rocky tenure with Manchester United has prepared him for any level of criticism, including from legendary former players.
Few posts in the world bring as much attention as the job of Man Utd manager—a reality Amorim discovered during his 63 games in charge between November 2024 and January 2026. The vast number of club legends working in media, such as Gary Neville and Paul Scholes, rarely shy away from discussing the team and often laid into Amorim’s side when the pressure was already high.
“Criticism is normal,” said Amorim, now of AC Milan when asked to reflect on the response to his side’s recent 1–1 draw with Juventus. “It’s impossible that it’s more than what I received at my previous club!”
Pressed specifically on the comments of ex-players, Amorim once again referred back to his tumultuous Old Trafford tenure.
“I was in a club in the past with a lot of legends, and they have big opinions, and they talk a lot about things,” he stressed. “They lived in a time that was completely different.”
dark. FREE NEWSLETTER. New SI FC Newsletter Global Embed. Sign Up to Get Informed With SI FC
Michael Carrick Facing First Taste of Pressure
Amorim seemed to find himself on the receiving end of criticism after each and every game—perhaps unsurprising after winning just 25 of his 63 matches in charge of Man Utd—but was by no means the first to face such pressure. Evidently, he also was not the last, either.
Former United captain Roy Keane has publicly questioned Carrick’s credentials in recent months. More recently, Gary Neville even appeared to compare Carrick to Amorim and his predecessor, Erik ten Hag, after a 2–2 draw with Everton.
“Teams think they’ve got a chance against them,” Neville reflected on his self-titled podcast. “I thought they were a little bit complacent and I was saying it after the first goal, they lacked that killer instinct before that period when Everton equalized and then they react again.
“Everton weren’t at it at all in that first half—United were the better team and didn’t have that killer instinct up top and certainly from 1–0 up to 1–1 they let Everton back in the game. It’s not going full throttle when you’ve got a team down, putting them away and then this liability of conceding goals.
“I don’t think it’s going to go away and that’s my big fear. I think conceding goals is going to chase them and hunt them down the road and I don’t know how Michael deals with it because he’s got his best back four on the pitch.
“I don’t know why Luke Shaw went off with five minutes to go—hopefully he’s not injured. I don’t know why [Diogo] Dalot went off with five minutes to go. To be fair, Ruben Amorim and Erik ten Hag used to change their back four a lot as well.
“You can’t be changing your back four. If you’ve got [Piero] Hincapié to come on for [Riccardo] Calafiori maybe you can, but United have got a back four of Shaw, Dalot, [Harry] Maguire and Lisandro Martínez and they’ve not got much behind that. So you can’t really change your back four at 1–0 or 2–1.”
READ THE LATEST MAN UTD NEWS, ANALYSIS AND INSIGHT FROM SI FC. feed