Graeme Souness has not held back in a scathing assessment of Manchester United under Ruben Amorim, claiming that the top four and Champions League football remain out of reach for what is an ‘average’ team.
The Red Devils dropped points for the third successive Premier League home game on Monday evening, throwing away the lead three times in a dramatic eight-goal thriller against Bournemouth.
It meant that following 98 minutes of madness, Amorim’s side had once again failed to capitalise on results elsewhere and stayed in sixth place behind Crystal Palace and fourth-place Chelsea.
And Souness, who has been critical of United under Amorim in the past, can’t see a scenario in which the 20-time English champions break into the Champions League places come the end of the season.
‘[Manchester United] are still average,’ said Souness, speaking to Sky Bet. ‘Is it Ruben Amorim’s fault? Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo are good players, but the rest of them are an average lot, and I don’t see them getting to the top four, which they have to do.
‘Manchester United, biggest club in our football, maybe the second, third biggest club in world football. But right now, they’re going through a difficult period.
‘But they need to get back into the Champions League for the obvious reasons – to generate more finance, to buy even better players, and to be attractive to the genuine big players that are out there that are up for grabs.’
United made serious improvements to their team during the summer, bringing in Mbeumo, Cunha, and Benjamin Sesko for a combined £214m, and their attacking improvements have seen them work their way into the top half of the table following a disappointing first campaign under Amorim.
However, consistency remains a problem for the Red Devils, and Souness has pointed out that the team’s unpredictability is a primary concern for the Portuguese boss.
Souness added: ‘What Ruben Amorim’s got with that group of players is he doesn’t know what he’s going to get from them.
‘He doesn’t know what Manchester United he’s going to get, and that’s not a good place to be. You’re sitting there with a wing and a prayer – what are we going to get today? I hope everyone’s on it today.
‘You can sit in your dressing room as a coach or manager and look at them before the game. You think, “They’re all in it today, we’re going to have a good day today”. And they go out and they’re not on it.
‘Or it can be the other way around. You’re thinking in the dressing room at 10 to three, ‘Look at them, they’re quiet’ – and they go out and they’re on fire.
‘So that’s the problem that Man United have right now. You don’t know what you’re getting from this group of players.’
One of the sticking points for United under Amorim has been the midfield, and the struggle to find the right balance with Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes in the middle of the park.
Manuel Ugarte and Kobbie Mainoo are options, but both have only been used sparingly by Amorim, and there is one former United midfielder who Souness believes was better than the crop the head coach currently has at his disposal.
‘Bruno Fernandes is an outstanding creator,’ Souness continued. ‘They’ve spent a lot of money on Ugarte and Casemiro, paying him a lot of money. I got much criticised for saying I thought he was an ordinary Joe when they signed him. I still see him as an ordinary Joe, a very steady player.
‘They sold the best one – Scott McTominay. He was better than those two, and he’s just grown in his job since he’s been at Napoli. I understand why you would use Bruno as a six, but then you want to use him as a 10 as well. So, he has a license.
‘He got a goal the other night [against Wolves] – he wasn’t playing as a six when he got his goal. I always thought a midfield player had to do a bit of everything – defensive work when needed, be creative when needed, and maybe chip in with a few goals.
‘That’s what Bruno’s doing right now. He is their go-to man. He’s easily their most talented player. But he has shortcomings. I still don’t like him waving his arms and telling other people what to do all the time. Slightly frustrating. I couldn’t have played with him if he was like that.’
Scott McTominay, a Carrington academy product, was sold by Erik ten Hag’s United for £25million in the summer of 2024 and has since become a smash hit in the Serie A after an MVP campaign at the heart of a title-winning season with Napoli.
Now, Mainoo looks to be in a similar boat to where the Scot was pre-transfer. The 20-year-old was once the jewel of United’s midfield after breaking through in 2023, but these days he struggles for game time under Amorim.
The United boss is clearly not his biggest fan, even stating that he would be ‘really pleased’ if Mainoo requested to move away from Old Trafford on loan, which seems like a growing possibility.
Amorim has come under fire from United legends Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt in recent weeks over his handling of the young midfielder, with Scholes even stating that the ‘kid is being ruined’.
But Souness is not in the same camp as the Old Trafford icons, and believes Scholes would have had Mainoo ‘on toast’ in his pomp.
‘I’m not a fan [of Kobbie Mainoo] and I’d have to disagree with Paul on this,’ Souness said. ‘Paul was a Man United player of greatness, one of the greats.
‘But if you look at [Adam] Wharton, there’s no comparison. Wharton understands that position. He understands when you haven’t got the ball what you have to do.
‘Whereas Mainoo is a complete off-the-cuff player. Better on the ball, possibly, than Wharton. He’s got a trick and a cute pass, and he looks like he’s got the technique, but he doesn’t understand that central midfield position.
‘If Paul Scholes were to have played against Mainoo, he would’ve had him on toast because he would never be where he should have been when Man United are out of possession.
‘It looks like he’s never been coached to play as a central midfield player when you don’t have the ball. That’s what he looks like to me. I disagree with Paul on that, and I agree with most of the things he says, but on that one, I disagree.’
