Three-man Man Utd shortlist to replace Ruben Amorim named – but only one actually makes sense

Three managers have reportedly been shortlisted to replace Ruben Amorim as Manchester United manager following the demoralising 3-1 defeat at the hands of Brentford on Saturday, although TEAMtalk believes one of them is a strong enough fit for Old Trafford.

Amorim’s wait to secure back-to-back wins at Man Utd is showing no signs of stopping soon after the defeat in the capital, just a week after the Red Devils had secured a morale-boosting win over Chelsea.

The club’s hierarchy are reluctant to axe Amorim despite a dismal run of only 33 points from his 34 Premier League games in charge. However, if they do pull the trigger, they are likely to wait until after Saturday, November 1, to reduce the level of compensation.

Although Amorim has said publicly he would walk away without a payoff, it’s believed sacking him now would cost Manchester United around £12million.

As for who could replace the Portuguese, talkSPORT states that former England boss is an option for the club if they let Amorim go.

United minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been in direct contact with Southgate in recent weeks, and the 55-year-old was considered when the Red Devils hired Amorim last year. However, he did not want to return to club management at the time.

Other potential replacements also include Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner and Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola.

The duo are currently in charge of teams who sit second and fifth respectively in the Premier League table after impressive starts to the new campaign.

In terms of Southgate taking on the job, he’s not been in charge of a domestic club since Middlesbrough in 2009 and was in charge when the Teeside outfit got relegated from the Premier League.

He is a specialist at man-management but England fans were never particularly thrilled with the brand of football, despite Southgate taking the nation to two main finals during his tenure.

In terms of Glasner, the Austrian has done a teemedous job with Palace and guided the club to their first piece of major silverware when they won the FA Cup last season.

However, Palace do not really play the type of front-foot football that United fans demand at Old Trafford and excel more when it comes to quick transitions and hitting teams on the counter – which they do very well. A case in point was the win over champions Liverpool on Saturday, where they had 28% possession but still managed to secure the three points.

Iraola is the most intriguing of the three from TEAMtalk’s perspective, having also been heavily linked with Tottenham over the summer before they turned to Thomas Frank instead.

Bournemouth play attacking front-foot football but Iraola is adaptable enough to change things up depending on opponents, masterminding a superb 1-0 win at Spurs weeks ago that could easily have been four or five, such was their dominance.

He also plays with a back four that would arguably suit the players United currently have in their first-team squad more, something that Amorim was never able to get to grips with due to his stubborness over his 3-4-2-1 formation.

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The numbers behind Amorim’s struggles at Man Utd

Since his first match in charge of United last November, no team has conceded the first goal in more Premier League games than Amorim’s side. Indeed, they have shockingly let in 21 opening goals in that time.

On top of that, Man Utd still have not managed to win consecutive Premier League games under the Portuguese boss.

The 40-year-old has taken charge of 33 games in the top-flight and has never won two in a row.

In total, he’s only won nine of the 33 matches, losing 17 and drawing seven, with that record severely concerning.

And it doesn’t stop there for Amorim, who, with a loss in his 200th game as a manager, has now lost three more of his 33 Premier League clashes (17) than he did in 167 Primeira Liga matches (14).

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