Former Manchester United centre-back Rio Ferdinand believes new head coach Ruben Amorim has the pedigree and charisma required to succeed at Old Trafford.
Ferdinand points to charisma as though Ten Hag lacked that during his time in charge of United. This presumably proved to be an issue with players who couldn’t get motivated by the Dutchman.
United beat Leicester City 5-2 during the week in their first outing without Ten Hag as manager, with Ruud van Nistelrooy standing in as caretaker manager.
Only time will tell if it will be any different under Amorim. Some of these players have thrown managers under the bus before, although I strongly disagree with anyone suggesting that was the case with Ten Hag.
They fought until the end before we all figured that the system we had adapted was flawed for the players available.
Rio Ferdinand says Erik ten Hag lacked charisma
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Rio Ferdinand Presents, the former United defender explained what separates Amorim from Ten Hag.
“If Pep Guardiola had gone, I think that Amorim would have been someone that City were looking at,” said ex-England centre-back Ferdinand.
“There are similarities to what Erik ten Hag was doing at Ajax but what I would say is that Amorim took a club that was on a barren spell.
“They couldn’t compete with Porto or Benfica, hadn’t got near to winning the league. Disenchanted fanbase. Turmoil behind the scenes. He went in there and immediately turned their fortunes around. He changed their style of football, style of play, and expectations.
“I think the biggest difference between the two (Amorim and Ten Hag), from what I am hearing from people who have played for but also been around, is the character and charisma compared to Erik ten Hag will be the big difference.
“United need someone with the character and charisma to go ‘you know what, I don’t care what has happened here, I see a player in you, I see a player in you.’ You need someone who is going to be like that.
“This is a man who built Manuel Ugarte, who has come to Manchester United. He built a £60m player. He changed the landscape for a football club. That is not easy to do. I don’t care what league you are in.
“I spoke to [former United team-mate] Nani the other day and he said ‘Rio, the players love him, the players play for him, love him and they respect him’.
“He said Amorim is very straight and direct. Maybe there were inconsistencies in the way Ten Hag disciplined. You have to have clear lines when you approach these topics and players.”
Having more charisma could make Amorim popular amongst reporters, but it will always depend on results in football. That is how Amorim will be judged as Manchester United manager, like the rest before him.
