‘Very worried’ – Man Utd legends deliver damning Ruben Amorim verdict amid sack rumours
Manchester United have made a poor start to the 2025-26 campaign and the pressure on Ruben Amorim has reached boiling point following their latest loss against Brentford.
The club have already been knocked out of the League Cup and currently find themselves 14th in the Premier League, having only won two of their opening six games.
It’s been reported that Amorim still has the backing of Sir Jim Ratcliffe for the time being, but the pressure on the Portuguese boss has been ramped up in recent weeks.
We’ve gathered the thoughts of six United legends to see what they’ve made to the Red Devils poor start to the season.
Gary Neville
Following United’s latest loss against Brentford, Neville didn’t hold back when voicing his concerns about Amorim and the current squad.
“I am very worried, there is no point in me sitting here and saying I’m not,” Neville recently told NBC Sports.
“The levels of performance, the results and the substitutions yesterday.
“I saw something at the end of the Grimsby game that they lost in the Carabao Cup a couple of weeks ago, which was Mason Mount ending up at left wing-back.
“We admire managers who are stubborn and resilient around their system, we want them to stick to their plan, but when you have Mason Mount playing at left-back, you are going to look pretty stupid.
“It has happened twice now and it can’t happen. The first time I thought it was unforgivable and yesterday it happened again.
“He changes his back three and his back five every single game and the performances and the results are just unacceptable.
“I’m really, really worried. I would never go on television, as I know how difficult a manager’s job can be, and say a manager should be sacked, but I suspect the hierarchy are going to want to see a turnaround.”
Roy Keane
Keane has voiced his concerns that the United squad might not be ‘truly behind’ Amorim, based on recent performances.
“It’s more hope than belief at this moment in time because we are watching them, we see them week in, week out,” Roy Keane told Sky Sports earlier in the month.
“Not convinced, I hope they can prove us wrong.
“My worry is if the players are not truly behind him in the way they are playing in this system because the results haven’t been good enough. A big worry.”
Wayne Rooney
Rooney recently gave a brutal assessment of where United currently are, both on and off the pitch.
“I am not seeing anything which is giving me any confidence, there needs to be big changes in my opinion,” Rooney told BBC Sport.
“Manager, players, whatever that is. Whatever it takes to get Manchester United back.
“I don’t recognise the whole football club. I don’t see players fighting, I don’t see character, I don’t see desire to win.
“I go to a game watching, expecting, here we go again – expecting the team to lose or maybe pick up a point.
“It’s not even just results on the pitch. It’s everything about the club that needs fixing – Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos have walked into a real challenge.
“We’re seeing staff members getting sacked after 20, 30 years who are very important people to that football club.
“The soul has gone from the club. It needs a new engine, a new lease of life. It needs something to kickstart that football club.”
Rio Ferdinand
Ferdinand isn’t a fan of Amorim chopping and changing his backline.
“I look at teams that win, right? Whether it’s my team, whether it’s the old Arsenal teams,” Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel.
“The same centre-halves play every week. There’s a consistency with team selection with that pairing at the back.
“Paris Saint-Germain, same two centre-backs all the way through the Champions League, bang, winning the trophy.
“The consistency of players in that area of the pitch gives you a better chance to win, and this chopping and changing is just… I find it wild.
“I don’t like it and I wouldn’t like it if I played.”
Paul Scholes
Rather than pointing the finger at Amorim, Scholes still thinks that the lack of quality within the squad is costing United at the moment.
“I don’t think the quality is there,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Monday Night Club.
“Whatever two out of the four or five they have got in [midfield] – Casemiro, Bruno [Fernandes], [Kobbie] Mainoo – whatever combination he seems to try doesn’t seem to work.
“That’s a big issue. I thought all summer the absolute priority was a centre midfield player with legs, who can play and can control a game.
“Goalkeeper was [also] a major issue. Did they really need to get to the Grimsby game to realise [Andre] Onana is not good enough?
“If Manchester United were not in the market for Gianluigi Donnarumma when he became available, that is criminal offence.
“The recruitment side went to buy forwards. That did need addressing, but did it need three of them? I’m not sure it did.”
Owen Hargreaves
Compared to the rest of the United pundits, Hargreaves has remained more optimistic, although he has admitted that the midfield is an issue.
“Defensively, they [United] have actually been pretty good up to this point, but today they weren’t,” Hargreaves said on TNT Sports after the Brentford loss.
“The midfield is still an issue, Bruno has got to be a 10 again, he’s the best creator, he has got to be a 10 again.
“Sesko scored which was the only positive for United today.”
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