Incoming Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has been told to sack interim head coach Ruud van Nistelrooy as soon as he arrives at Old Trafford.
It is the only way he can avoid the Erik ten Hag “s***show” continuing on his watch, according to former Watford striker Troy Deeney.
Van Nistelrooy was placed in temporary charge of the team following Ten Hag’s departure and he has two more games to prove his worth. That begins at home to Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea, before hosting Greek side PAOK in the Europa League.
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But after this month’s international break, Amorim will cut ties with Sporting and become the seventh head coach in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era. The 39-year-old will hope to succeed where others have failed.
And he has been issued a strong warning by Deeney, who insists that there is a lot of work needed to be done to transform United into title contenders once again.
“When Ruben Amorim arrives in Manchester, he has got a lot of mess to sweep up in a short space of time,” Deeney wrote for The Sun. “I really like Amorim — he is an excellent coach and everything about him is world-class, even the way he has conducted himself in leaving Sporting Lisbon. But he has a heck of a job.”
Having joined a United team in disarray over the summer, Deeney believes that Van Nistelrooy will come out of the situation better off. That is regardless of whether he is retained as an assistant, though Deeney thinks that Amorim should start with a clean slate in Manchester.
He continued: “The person who will come out of this the best? Ruud. He will have a nice pay packet. His stock will rise and he won’t be tarnished with Ten Hag’s tenure.
“Even if United lose 7-0 to Chelsea, Ruud can say: 'It’s not my fault. The players were distracted by Ten Hag going and the new manager'.
“My one bit of advice to Ruben? Don’t keep Ruud on. You want to clear the decks once you are there, with only your people around you. Only then can you figure out what the problems are — and how to solve them.”
Deeney’s scathing assessment turned to the current squad, who he feels may not be up to the physical task Amorim is ready to lay down.
“I am not saying these United boys are not fit but they will be nowhere near fit enough for Amorim,” Deeney added. “His Sporting teams run their a***s off. There are going to be a lot of ups and downs between now and January 1 and then — oh my God — is he going to have to come out with a broom and sweep the lot.
“If you’re walking into that s***show with that ball of yarn to untangle, where do you begin? Good luck with that, Ruben.”
