Berrada's message about Amorim: Manchester United, after a short and turbulent episode, talks about the price of tactical inflexibility
Omar Berrada, the chief executive officer of Manchester United, has reopened the question of why Rúben Amorim did not fit into the project at Old Trafford in the long term. According to a report by the British newspaper The Sun, Berrada spoke at the FT Weekend Festival in New York about why one previous coach had failed, and the description that emerged after his appearance clearly pointed to Amorim's episode at United. The key message was not that the problem lay exclusively in talent, knowledge or the initial idea, but in the impression that, at a critical moment, the coach held too firmly to his own plan. Berrada's assessment, as reported, boils down to the claim that rigidity became an obstacle when the team needed quick adaptation. In that way, one of United's most expensive and most sensitive coaching decisions of recent years has once again been placed in the broader framework of management, identity and responsibility.
The topic carries additional weight because Amorim's career has already continued in a new and very demanding environment. On 16 June 2026, AC Milan officially announced that it had entrusted the Portuguese specialist with leading the first men's team, giving Amorim the opportunity to rebuild his reputation very quickly after the failure in Manchester. For United, on the other hand, that episode remained an example of the risk that arises when a club brings in a coach with a clearly built system, but does not provide him with enough time, preparation period and squad harmony for that system to take hold. Amorim arrived at Old Trafford as one of the most interesting European coaches of the new generation, but United's official announcement from January 2026 confirmed that the separation came while the club was sixth in the Premier League. That fact shows that the decision was not merely a simple reading of the table, but the result of a broader assessment of the direction in which the team was heading.
The festival in New York and the message that resonated beyond the hall
In the announcement of the American edition of the FT Weekend Festival, the Financial Times listed Omar Berrada, chief executive officer of Manchester United, among the speakers in the programme held in New York in June 2026. According to The Sun, after Berrada's appearance, one participant summarised his message on LinkedIn with the claim that the previous coach's problem was not tactics or talent, but rigidity. The same summary emphasised that the coach had arrived in the middle of the season, without a preparation period and under constant pressure, but that precisely then he held too firmly to his ideas. Since Berrada, according to the same report, marked that post with a like, the British media outlet interpreted it as confirmation that the description referred to Amorim's tenure. Manchester United has not, according to the available information, published an official transcript of that part of the conversation, so it is important to distinguish official club documentation from the interpretation that appeared after the festival appearance.
Still, the message itself fits into the debate that followed Amorim almost from his first weeks at Old Trafford. The Portuguese coach was recognisable for his system with three players in the back line and a formation framework that brought him success at Sporting, but at United such a structure did not quickly produce stability. The Sun states that Amorim remained extremely loyal to the 3-4-2-1 setup, although the results did not bring continuity, and the team, according to the same report, rarely managed to put together a longer winning run. In such a context, Berrada's message about adaptation does not sound like criticism of the tactical idea itself, but like a warning that an idea without flexibility can become a burden. For a club the size of Manchester United, where every series of weaker matches turns into an institutional question, the line between principle and stubbornness is often extremely thin.
How Amorim's episode at Old Trafford ended
Manchester United officially announced on 5 January 2026 that Rúben Amorim had left the position of head coach of the men's team. In that announcement, the club recalled that Amorim had been appointed in November 2024 and that he had led the team to the UEFA Europa League final in Bilbao in May 2025. At the same time, United stated that the team was in sixth place in the Premier League at the moment of the decision and that the club leadership had concluded that the right time for a change had come. Such wording was measured, but it clearly indicated that the results position itself was not the only criterion. When a club changes in January a coach who is still close to the fight for the Champions League, the decision almost always also reflects an internal assessment of relationships, communication, team development and trust in the long-term process.
According to The Sun's report, the final weeks of Amorim's tenure were also burdened by internal tensions, including disagreements connected with the football department and the director of football Jason Wilcox. The newspaper states that the disputes intensified further after the match against Wolverhampton and later public statements, while the question of authority and the names of functions became part of the broader story about who actually directs the sporting project. Such details were not confirmed by an official club statement, but they match the impression that Amorim's tenure ended because of a combination of tactical, communication and organisational reasons. Berrada was, meanwhile, one of the key people in the system that first supported Amorim's arrival and then took part in the assessment that change was necessary. That is why his later messages about the importance of adaptation carry weight that goes beyond an ordinary comment about one coach.
The formation as a symbol of a broader problem
A system with three defenders is not problematic in itself, and in modern football there are numerous examples of teams that have turned it into a source of control, aggressive pressing and stable build-up from the back line. In Amorim's case, that system was part of a clear identity, and it was precisely its recognisability that brought him the status of a coach for the biggest European jobs. But Manchester United, according to the available reports, often looked during his tenure like a team caught between an old squad profile and a new tactical architecture. The wing-back positions required great physical and technical specialisation, the midfield had to cover a large area, and the attacking mechanisms demanded precise automatisms that are difficult to build without a longer training block. When such a process is carried out during the season, under pressure for results and with constant media attention, every tactical compromise becomes as important as the initial philosophy.
Berrada's alleged criticism can therefore also be read as a message to future United coaches, not only as a retrospective assessment of Amorim. A club with global pressure, major commercial obligations and a complex fan history cannot easily allow itself months of experimentation without visible support in results. At the same time, changing coaches too often creates the opposite problem: the team fills up with players of different profiles, every new specialist wants a different squad, and the club strategy loses continuity. After years of oscillations, United tried to create a clearer model in which the technical director, chief executive officer and coach share the same vision, but Amorim's case shows how difficult that balance is to achieve. When the coach's philosophy and the club's development rhythm diverge, the question of formation becomes only the most visible symptom of a deeper mismatch.
Carrick's turn and the return of results stability
After Amorim's departure, United appointed Michael Carrick on 13 January 2026 as head coach of the men's team until the end of the 2025/26 season, the club announced on the official coaching staff page. Carrick had strong symbolic capital in Manchester because, as a player, he had been part of one of the most successful generations in the club's modern history, but his coaching task was not nostalgic. He had to stabilise the team quickly, restore confidence and find a structure that suited the existing squad. United's official website states that the club confirmed Carrick's contract as head coach on 22 May, after he had taken over the role in January. In that way, a temporary solution was turned into a longer-term direction.
The success of that turn is also confirmed by the final Premier League table for the 2025/26 season. According to official Premier League data, Manchester United finished third with 20 wins, 11 draws, seven defeats and 71 points. That placement returned the club to the upper part of English football and gave Berrada an argument that the change of direction had brought a short-term result. But such an outcome does not necessarily mean that Amorim was the wrong idea from the very beginning. Rather, it shows that United at that moment needed a different form of dressing-room management, a simpler tactical transition and a coach who could adapt the plan more quickly to the existing players.
Amorim gets a new opportunity in Milan, but also new questions
AC Milan officially announced that on 16 June 2026 it had appointed Rúben Amorim as head coach of the first men's team. In the Italian club's announcement, it was emphasised that Amorim began his coaching career in 2018, after a playing career at Belenenses, Benfica and the Portuguese national team. The move to Milan is an opportunity for him to show that the failure in Manchester is not proof of the limitations of his model, but the consequence of a poor context, insufficient time or a mismatch between the idea and the squad. For Milan, at the same time, it is also a strategic bet on a coach who still has the reputation of a specialist capable of building a recognisable team. That is precisely why his ability to adapt in Serie A will be followed with special attention.
The Milan context differs from the English one, but the pressure is not significantly smaller. Milan is a club of great European tradition, with fan expectations that do not allow long-term wandering, and Serie A punishes predictability tactically just as mercilessly as the Premier League punishes rhythmic and physical incompleteness. If Amorim in Milan again insists on the same structural framework, the key question will be whether he can adapt it to the players he has available. If, however, he shows greater elasticity, his Italian episode could become an answer to Berrada's criticism. In that sense, Milan is not only a new job, but also an important test of coaching evolution.
The financial and managerial dimension of United's decision
Manchester United is not only a sports club but also a large international company, so every coaching change has a financial and reputational cost. The club's data for the third quarter of fiscal 2026 show that United increased its projection of annual revenues to a range from 655 to 665 million pounds and adjusted EBITDA to 200 to 210 million pounds. Such figures do not speak directly about Amorim's departure, but they explain why sporting decisions at Old Trafford are also viewed through a business lens. A coach is not only the person who chooses the formation, but also a key actor in protecting the value of the team, transfer planning, commercial perception and investor confidence. When it is judged that a project is losing direction, the board of a big club rarely waits for the crisis to become irreparable.
The British Guardian reported that Amorim's move to Milan also has financial consequences for Manchester United because it can reduce obligations connected with the earlier agreement on payment after his departure. The Sun, meanwhile, wrote about the high costs of the arrival from Sporting and the termination with Amorim's staff, although the club did not confirm such amounts in detail in statements. For that reason, it is most precise to speak about estimates by British media, not officially published figures. But regardless of the exact amounts, United's decision shows how expensive it is when a sporting strategy has to be reset in the middle of the season. Every such turn affects the budget, the transfer plan, the negotiating position and trust in the people who made the previous decision.
What Berrada's criticism says about the modern coaching job
Berrada's message about rigidity fits into a broader change in the way the biggest clubs assess coaches. A decade or so ago, a coach with a recognisable philosophy was often presented as a guarantee of identity, while today there is an increasing demand for the ability to adapt quickly without losing basic principles. In elite football, it is no longer enough to have an idea of how a team should look in ideal conditions. It is equally important to know what to do when there are no ideal players, when the schedule does not allow training, when injuries change the balance of the team or when the dressing room does not accept the rhythm of change. Amorim's case has therefore become a textbook example of the difference between a model that works in one environment and a model that has to survive the extreme pressure of another.
For Manchester United, the lesson is also uncomfortable. If the club wants to bring in coaches with clear systems, it must know in advance whether it is ready to adapt the squad to that idea or whether it expects the coach to adapt to the existing squad. If flexibility is demanded of the coach, then the technical department must define the limits of that flexibility before the crisis begins. If, on the other hand, the club commits to a long-term project, it must withstand the initial costs and the media pressure that such a project brings. Amorim is not the first coach to discover at a big club that a good idea is not enough, and he probably will not be the last. But the fact that his tenure is still being discussed after his departure shows that United is still trying to explain where the coach's responsibility ends and where the responsibility of the system that chose him begins.
Ahead of the new season, two stories will develop in parallel. Carrick in Manchester will have to prove that the spring surge was not just a reaction to change, but the foundation of a sustainable return to the top. Amorim in Milan will have to show that he can keep his own identity, but also change details when circumstances require it. Berrada's assessment is therefore not only the postscript to one dismissal, but also an announcement of the criteria by which coaches at the biggest European clubs will increasingly be measured. In football that changes from week to week, loyalty to an idea remains a value only until it becomes an obstacle to the team.
Sources:
- Manchester United – official announcement on Rúben Amorim's departure from the position of head coach in January 2026. (link)
- Manchester United – official coaching staff page and confirmation of Carrick's role as head coach (link)
- AC Milan – official announcement on the appointment of Rúben Amorim as head coach of the first men's team (link)
- Financial Times – announcement of the FT Weekend Festival US and list of speakers, including Omar Berrada (link)
- Premier League – official final Premier League table for the 2025/26 season. (link)
- Manchester United Investor Relations – financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2026. (link)
- The Sun – report on Berrada's message at the FT Weekend Festival and the interpretation of the reasons for Amorim's failure at United (link)
- The Guardian – report on Amorim's agreement with Milan and the financial context for Manchester United (link)