Omar Berrada says Ruben Amorim struggled as Manchester United’s head coach because he “cornered himself” by sticking too rigidly to his ideas.
Speaking at the FTWeekend Festival in New York last Saturday, United’s chief executive expanded on the reasoning behind Amorim’s departure last January, only 14 months after his appointment.
Amorim was sacked by the Old Trafford hierarchy, including Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox, following a breakdown in relations behind the scenes.
Berrada paid tribute to Amorim, who was recently appointed as head coach of AC Milan, for improving the dressing room culture and his contribution to United qualifying for the Champions League under his successor, Michael Carrick.
But Berrada believed that the former Sporting CP head coach struggled with the scrutiny of managing United by dogmatically following his tactical principles, including his 3-4-3 system.
“I look back at the process of the appointment, I think the the rationale for choosing him was sound,” Berrada said. “He was a coach that had been very successful, in Portugal, Sporting Lisbon.
“He was young, he was dynamic. He had a way of explaining his football knowledge and ideas that was very clear. We felt he was able to relate and communicate with the players and dressing room.
“Off the back of lots of changes of coaches in the last 10 years, we really wanted to give Ruben time to develop his ideas, his concepts and give him the freedom on the training pitch to be able to implement his ideas.”
Berrada cited “many reasons” why the appointment ended up not working.
“Again, Ruben, I think has done many good things that contribute to the success we’ve had this season just past,” he said. “He helped raise the standard in the dressing room. He participated in the recruitment of the four players that we signed over the summer that had a very positive impact on the performance of the team.
“I think maybe where he got stuck is the size of the club — and a little bit on the reflection I made — the scrutiny of your ideas and decisions is so constant that perhaps he struggled managing that … Not that it was too big for him, but he maybe cornered himself in a position where he wanted to stick in a very rigid manner to his ideas because he wanted to show everybody that it’s going to work.
“And in the context of the volatility of emotions you get by being part of Manchester United, when you lose two or three games in a row, then it’s the end the world. So I think that was very hard to manage.”
Berrada added: “You have to remember he came in mid-season. He didn’t have a pre-season. He didn’t have time to implement his ideas. Then by the time he got to the second season, he did have time to implement his ideas over the summer and we actually saw a really good start, we played really well in multiple games, but the weight of the previous season was still there.
“He perhaps wasn’t able to move on at the right time, so we felt had to make a change. And Michael Carrick came in in January and the team has turned it around.”
Berrada also praised Carrick, identifying the “sense of calm” that he brought to United’s dressing room upon taking charge until the end of the season. The 44-year-old was appointed as permanent head coach last month, signing a two-year contract.
“What he brings is an understanding of the club’s heritage and DNA. He understands the elements we’re talking about — getting the communication right with the media, transmitting ideas, connecting with our academy, working with the wider football operation team.
“And importantly, he’s also brought a sense of calm. He’s somebody that as a player who has won everything with the club, so for him going to the Emirates Stadium and winning there is nothing special because he’s done it as a player.
“I think be able to transmit that to a group of players that have been dealing with the pressure that we talked about, and just to normalise going to the Emirates, to the Etihad, to Anfield and having performed their best level, became I think his number one contribution.
“He allowed the players to believe in themselves and to have the freedom on the pitch to express themselves.”
After recent media reports that some of the Glazer siblings, United’s majority owners, may look to sell their stakes in the club, Berrada said: “My sense is they are very committed to the club and they are here for the long term.”
When asked when United plan to extend captain Bruno Fernandes’ contract, the Old Trafford chief executive said: “Bruno Fernandes is very happy and we’re very happy with him.”
