Leeds United 1 Man United 1
Ruben Amorim sacked as Manchester United manager. I’ve been busy for the last couple of days so I’m only getting to the Sunday matches as of Tuesday so we now know that Ruben Amorim has been sacked by INEOS because of a, ‘breakdown of in relations’ according to David Ornstein and others meaning that Darren Fletcher will be in charge for the game against Burnley on Wednesday. For me this is the right decision for the wrong reasons, he should have been sacked because the results haven’t been good enough since he took over in November 2024 and over the last month or so the results and performances have been nothing short of disgraceful, drawing to Wolves, Bournemouth, West Ham and Leeds then losing to 10-man Everton at home should have given INEOS more than enough reason to sack him but only when he called them out in the press conference after yet another dire performance against Leeds does he get sacked, all eyes are now on INEOS and they simply have to get the next appointment right or else they should be leaving Manchester United as well as Ruben Amorim.
This game sums up Amorim’s tenure as United manager. Alright let’s now talk about the match, I really thought this game was there for the taking in the last 20 minutes as Leeds kept making offensive changes to try and win the game and it gave United chance after chance on the counter which they couldn’t take. Joshua Zirkzee was excellent when he came on and should have started after scoring against Wolves on Monday but Amorim opted to start 9 defensive-minded players instead having Dorgu play as one of the three attackers which was an absolute disaster for the 90 minutes. Benjamin Sesko is neat and tidy in his link-up play but looks devoid of confidence in front of goal where he really should have put United 2-1 up dragging his shot wide from a cutback cross. Matheus Cunha looked knackered towards the end of the game and you can see why as he’s the only player that can run with the ball and get United up the pitch to attack, he desperately needs a rest but I don’t think he’ll get one any time soon.
Leeds continue to impress against the big teams. Leeds fans will probably be a bit disappointed as this was undoubtedly their best chance to beat United for a very long time with the run of form they are currently on under Daniel Farke but they struggled to maintain pressure against United for large parts of the game. That being said they still had plenty of chances to grab that second goal with Calvert-Lewin hitting the post and Joel Piroe going close with a curling effort near the end of the game, it would have been easy to sit back and take the draw in the second half but fair play to Daniel Farke making attacking subs to try and win the game which could have cost Leeds if United made more of their counters but a draw was probably fair enough on the day. Leeds are now 8 points clear of the drop and look good to stay in the league this year which most probably didn’t see coming before the league started.
The Premier League table is misleading this season. In the aftermath of Ruben Amorim’s sacking as Man United manager I’ve seen many say that his sacking is unjust as United are only 3 points off 4th and are currently 6th which was United’s goal at the start of the season but people fail to realise that United are as close to 4th as they are to 12th meaning they continue to drop points with games against Arsenal and Man City coming up they could easily slide down to mid-table and further down by the end of January. The run of fixtures against the sides down at the bottom of the league last month were critical for Ruben Amorim to win and he couldn’t do it. Wins against Everton, Wolves and West Ham would have left United on 38 points solidifying their spot in the top 4 and two of those games were before AFCON were Amorim had a full squad to pick from so there’s no excuses as far as I’m concerned as to why United can’t finish in the top 4/5 this season.
So, who will the interim manager be? There’s been a few names floating about as to who the interim manager is going to be with INEOS opting to wait to the summer to appoint a permanent coach, Darren Fletcher will be taking the next two games against Burnley and Brighton and if those two games go well I wouldn’t be surprised if he was allowed to stay until the end of the season as interim manager. The name that seems to be popping up the most is Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and I wonder if he’ll be the one they go for. We know he’s open to returning to United again and I think it’s a no-brainer for 6 months to let Ole come in as interim and try to salvage a European spot which United simply have to get this season. He’s already loved by the fans even after his stint as manager ended on a sour note at Watford but personally I enjoyed Ole’s time as United manager the most of any manager since Sir Alex Ferguson retired and I’d be lying if I said didn’t want him back for six months to get us to the summer, I suppose we’ll know over the next few days as to who United will appoint as interim manager and I hope they can get a bit of positivity back into United even if it’s only for six months.