Jamie Carragher says he was misled by Ruben Amorim calling his Manchester United squad “probably the worst” in the club’s history and believes it could backfire on the manager.
The United boss delivered his brutal assessment of his side after the 3-1 home defeat to Brighton, a result which leaves the Old Trafford side languishing in 13th place in the Premier League.
In 10 games in the Premier League, we have won two,” said Amorim. “We are probably the worst team in the history of Manchester United. I know you want the titles, but I’m saying this because we have to accept that and change it. Here, your titles.”
Carragher says United’s struggles this season are clear to see and Amorim’s strong words only serve to draw further criticism of the club and players.
“I don’t know the history of Man Utd as well as Gary Neville, but I have to say it was one of the strangest and funniest things I’ve ever heard a manager say,” Carragher said. Sky Sports News ahead Monday Night Football.
“Why would you make a comment like that… that’s the kind of comment an expert would make, someone in my position, and you have to defend it. I don’t know what he gets out of it, what the benefit is.
“We all know it’s a poor Man Utd team. They’ve lost another game at home to Brighton, they’ve done that in the last two years anyway. We know it’s a tough season, we we know it’s a weak team. He Just smoothed it out will be a quote that follows him for the rest of the season.
“He told the reporters there, ‘I’m going to give you your title’. Why you want to do that as a manager, I’ll never know.”
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Sam Blitz looks at whether Amorim is right when he says Manchester United’s current squad is possibly the worst ever in the club’s history.
Carragher feels the comments are unlikely to go down well with the squad and could present Amorim with a problem as he tries to motivate them ahead of games this season.
“It doesn’t help you going forward in terms of confidence,” Carragher said when asked about the impact of Amorim’s words on the players.
“I don’t have much sympathy for the players in the Man Utd dressing room, they’ve been a joke for a few years. A few weeks ago, after they played Liverpool, where Lisandro Martinez was talking about the mentality being different – I almost didn’t I couldn’t stop laughing when I saw how many times Man Utd have been thrown out with bad performances over the last four or five years.
“What I would say is how can the manager go into the dressing room between now and the end of the season and constantly try to strengthen them and give them the confidence to beat the opposition, whoever face, when he said that they. Is one of the worst teams in Man Utd’s history at any point I can’t see what he’s going to get out of it?
Man Utd transfers: Better to hold off until summer, says Carra
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The Transfer Talk panel discusses whether Patrick Dorgu can fit into Amorim’s system
As for United’s poor form, Carragher insists they must hold off on big signings until the summer, when they will have a better chance of bringing in the players Amorim needs to make his system work.
“I don’t think he will get the players he wants in January. We know it’s a difficult market to sell players or bring players in. It’s doubly difficult this season because the European competitions have gone into January,” said Carragher.
“If I’m Man Utd I’d keep my powder dry for the summer, there’s going to be a lot more movement there where you can get players in and get players out as well. What you don’t want to do is end up spending money and then go into the summer and think these players aren’t good enough to improve this team or system.
“They’re going to have to go through a lot of pain – we all know that and accept it. I don’t think there’s too much criticism growing around the manager. They’ve had some good results away from home. against Arsenal in the FA Cup and Liverpool in the Premier League.
“We know it’s going to be a rollercoaster because the players are not good enough – they’ve shown that with different managers and different systems.
“I can’t get away from the quote he said, I don’t believe it was in his best interest.”
