Jamie Redknapp thinks “any manager in any league in England” could win back-to-back matches with Ruben Amorim’s current Man Utd side.
The Red Devils beat Sunderland before the international break as Amorim got a much-needed victory with Man Utd 11th in the Premier League table heading into their clash against arch-rivals Liverpool on Sunday.
Amorim is yet to win back-to-back Premier League matches since becoming Man Utd manager around a year ago with the Red Devils boss picking up just 37 points from 34 matches.
That has led to rumours that Amorim could be sacked if those poor results persist but Sir Jim Ratcliffe hinted that the Portuguese coach could remain at Man Utd for three years as he gives him a chance to proove himself.
Roy Keane and Jamie Carragher, who were in the Sky Sports studio with Redknapp on Sunday, can’t see Amorim lasting three years at Old Trafford.
After Ratcliffe’s comments were put to him, Keane said: “Listen, I think it’s probably good getting the backing off the club and the board, but results obviously have to improve. You hope, of course, any manager is given time. Whether he’s going to get three years to play with, it will depend on how they do over next few months.
“They have picked up a little bit, we said at the start of the season, with a couple of attacking players they look like more of a goal threat, and particularly at home, they’ve improved their home record, and on the back of a nice result to home to Sunderland, which I fully expect them to win.
“But the big tests are still games like today [against Liverpool]. What kind of group they have? Are going to turn up here today and show their quality going forward? Are they trying to grind the result out? Are they going to be physical? Are they going to put tackles in? So there’s still huge question marks away from home. Yeah, they’ve picked up, but coming to Liverpool a huge test for me.
“There’s still huge question marks over this United group. I just don’t see it at this moment in time, but the signs are a little bit better going forward, but you still worry about in midfield, in terms of the physicality, and you worry about them defensively. And again, question marks still over the goalkeeper situation.”
Carragher chipped in: “I actually want to come in on those comments, because I understand what the owner is trying to do. He’s trying to quell the talk of the manager losing his job.
“So he comes out to defend his man. He talks about, you know, he’s got three years. But he almost doesn’t help him by saying it, because nobody believes it. Nobody believes for one minute that Ruben Amorim will be the manager of Manchester United in three years.
“If he just said, ‘we’ve got no plans to change our coach over the next 12 months.’ I think we’d go ‘okay, maybe they could get to the end of the season. Maybe things can improve. They can get someone in January.’ That would almost feel like a vote of confidence in that, you know, quell the talk of the manager losing his job.
“But to come out and say three years, we all know that, as Roy’s just said, if the results keep going as they’re going he’s going to lose his job, unfortunately. So even though he’s come out trying to help him, I don’t think he has actually helped him with those comments in the end.”
Before Redknapp went in hard on Amorim for failing to win back-to-back matches at Man Utd, he said: “When you’ve not won back-to-back games in the Premier League as Man United manager, you are coming under intense pressure. I think you could get any manager in any league in England and I fancy him to pick a team with this Man United squad, and win back to back games, that would be the challenge.
“And it can’t be that difficult, but he’s making it look difficult every single week, like Roy says, some weeks you watch him and say: ‘yeah, there’s glimpses here, they’ve got a chance. They’ve got some good players, good performances.’ Then it will just go back to the madness and the same substitutions. Forget the system, he’s not going to change it whatever we say.
“But you can’t not win back-to-back games as Manchester United manager and then say that he’s going to still be there three years. It just doesn’t make any sense.
“It’s not the real world. And also, if he’s still there after a year, and this is not changing, the fans will dictate that. They won’t suffer it because they want to see change. They don’t like the situation the club are in.”