Former Manchester United striker Michael Owen has taken aim at club legends Wayne Rooney and Gary Neville. He recently had his say while speaking to the press, and fans have been reacting.
According to him, it is embarrassing for both Rooney and Neville to blame Amorim‘s back-three formation for the club’s struggles this season when Erik ten Hag’s team was more than awful despite playing with a back-four.
Owen added that even though he is not in support of Ruben’s stubbornness with his system, great teams have played with a back-three over the years.
His words, “They have changed the manager numerous times since Fergie left. Then they blamed the players; spent billions on players and got some of the best players in the world, only for the club to be seen as a bit of a graveyard for players in the last decade.
Next it was the people buying the players, so everyone wanted rid of them. Then it was the board, so the board was shuffled around when Sir Jim Ratcliffe got involved. Then it’s the fault of the facilities so they wanted to revamp the training ground and put plans in for a new stadium.
Then it’s the staff, so half the backroom staff, physios, doctors, canteen lady, the whole thing, wiped clean and a new start there. The latest one is it’s because they’re playing a back-three.
If I’m not wrong, I watched Erik ten Hag about a year ago playing a back-four, and it was some of the most awful football I’ve ever seen from a Manchester United team.
Some great teams over the years have played with a back-three. I’m not saying that’s my favourite formation at all, and I’m not saying that Amorim is right to be steadfast in his beliefs in that formation. But I certainly don’t think all of United’s problems now are because they play with the back-three.
It’s embarrassing if you’re going to say the main reason for the downturn is because they play a back-three. I mean, it really isn’t. They could go back to a back-four and play as bad as they did under Ten Hag, then the screams would be equally as loud.”
WOW.
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United or simply United, is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division in the English football league system.
Nicknamed the Red Devils, they were founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, but changed their name to Manchester United in 1902. After a spell playing in Clayton, Manchester, the club moved to their current stadium, Old Trafford, in 1910.
Alex Ferguson and his assistant Archie Knox arrived from Aberdeen on the day of Atkinson’s dismissal, and guided the club to an 11th-place finish in the league. Despite a second-place finish in 1987–88, the club was back in 11th place the following season. Reportedly on the verge of being dismissed, Ferguson’s job was saved by victory over Crystal Palace in the 1990 FA Cup final.
The following season, Manchester United claimed their first UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup title. That triumph allowed the club to compete in the European Super Cup for the first time, where United beat European Cup holders Red Star Belgrade 1–0 at Old Trafford. The club appeared in two consecutive League Cup finals in 1991 and 1992 the left and the right, but he’s not got any sense of danger yet, and empties the midfield area too readily.
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