Manchester United legend Paul Parker has confessed that he is starting to feel concerned about the club’s direction under manager Ruben Amorim.
Parker has defended the former Sporting boss, who has endured a dismal start to life at Old Trafford; stressing that any manager ought to get the right time and support in order to give them the best chance of succeeding, after a succession of changes in the last decade.
But United’s start to the season has been poor once again and, more concerning than yesterday’s 3-0 defeat against Manchester City in isolation, was the ‘narrative’ surrounding the game. United went into the match playing Altay Bayindir in goal, Robbie Mainoo on the bench, and playing a system almost destined to fail – and, when Amorim’s side fell behind, he brought on Harry Maguire again to rescue it. When United lost even more heavily, the manager spoke afterwards about his belief that the team played well in the opening day defeat to Arsenal.
“I am starting to have worries, to be honest,” Parker admitted on this week’s Talking Devils podcast. “I’m not as strong with him as I was with other managers, but I don’t want to keep seeing it (managers sacked). It makes United look like any other ordinary club. They should be better than that.”
Parker repeated earlier comments he has made about the ownership structure supporting the manager. “If the people who are running it aren’t doing their job properly then there’s always going to be a problem regardless of who the manager is. He needed help from day one, and didn’t get it. Everyone was hoping he’d get it in the summer. They didn’t, again, get what I believe they needed.
“The goalkeeping situation should have been sorted out and everyone is still wondering if it was the right decision to go down the path they went down. They needed assurances and they needed to look at the bigger picture rather than the long game. You could see by the Manchester City goalkeeper and his presence. He hasn’t been given a midfielder either.”
Nonetheless, Amorim’s persistence with things that are not working has started to make the United legend worried. “When I look at his substitutes and see the same players who are coming on, and I look at players of perhaps lesser value or lesser note, and maybe even quality, but I’m seeing them being aggressive in what they do, I’m wondering what he’s looking at and where he’s trying to go. I’m worried. I was covering the game and I was predicting the substitutions. It was obvious. Repetition. Harry Maguire ran out and probably thought he was a hero. He wasn’t picked because he wasn’t good enough. It can’t keep happening.”
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