'Something's broken' - Wayne Rooney makes worrying Ruben Amorim replacement
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Charlie Grace
Fri 29 August 2025 11:16, UK
Manchester United’s poor start to the season continued as Ruben Amorim’s side lost on penalties to League Two Grimsby Town in the Carabao Cup.
The aftermath of the fixture was marred by questions over Ruben Amorim’s behaviour during the penalty shootout, and how United’s new striker Benjamin Sesko took the penultimate penalty.
Answers were provided for Sesko’s penalty decision but questions remain over Amorim’s commitment to the job after his comments in the post-match press conference.
United’s preseason optimism has soured drastically with results and Amorim’s treatment of players like Kobbie Mainoo coming into the spotlight, and now Wayne Rooney has chimed in on affairs at Old Trafford.
Credit: Imago
Amorim will lead United in their home match against Burnley on Saturday, but there are no guarantees that he manages the club beyond the two week international break that follows.
Speaking the Wayne Rooney Show, the ex-United striker said: “That’s the biggest concern [Amoirm’s post match comments] the manager saying that after the game was damning on the players.
“Having been in a dressing room, if your manager comes out with those words it’s seems like there’s something broken,” he continued.
GamesResultvs Arsenal (H)0-1vs Fulham (A)1-1vs Grimsby (A)2-2 (11-12)Manchester United’s start to the season
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“I think what we forget is he’s 40, he’s a young manager, and Manchester United is so different to where he’s been in before […] there’s a pressure at Manchester United which he’ll have never felt before.
“When you’re not winning games that [pressure] can start to get to you and he looks like yesterday [Wednesday] was a breaking point for him,” Rooney finished.
(Credit Imago)
Football Insider verdict
Amorim’s lack of a contingency plan to his 3-4-2-1 shape poses numerous issues for United, as was shown against Grimsby when the Portuguese head coach brought on Mason Mount and played the English international at left wing-back instead of changing the formation.
Nonetheless, United’s multi-million pound team should have been capable of comfortably beating a Grimsby team who, despite their promising early season form, are a much smaller club than the 20-time English champions.
Tactics don’t mean players earning hundreds of thousands of pounds per week can’t outrun and out-battle their opposition.