Owen weighs in as Rooney and Neville question Amorim's United
10 October 2025
Context and Criticism
Michael Owen, the former England star, criticized some of his old Manchester United teammates for their ongoing attacks on the club and especially manager Ruben Amorim, arguing the fault lines run deeper than tactics and lineup choices.
Owen notes that Gary Neville and Wayne Rooney had publicly slammed Amorim's 3-4-2-1 formation during a stretch of poor results for the Red Devils.
He suggests the club's problems are not reducible to a single tactical blueprint but stem from administrative and structural issues that have built up since Sir Alex Ferguson's departure.
He says the club has changed coaches, recruitment chiefs, and boards repeatedly, while the results have stubbornly remained poor, painting a portrait of a club that has become a graveyard for players.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Owen adds that after Ferguson left, they shifted blame to players, spent billions on stars, and then blamed everything on coaches and the management team as a new wave of promises to rebuild rolled in.
He describes a purge of staff from physiotherapists to medical doctors, and even cafeteria workers, yet the on-field results did not improve. He mocks the obsession with new tactical trends and notes that even a three-at-the-back system isn't necessarily a cure, contrasting with Ten Hag's four-man defense as some of the worst he has seen at United.
Owen stresses that even great teams have used three-at-the-back successfully, but blaming all failures on a formation is foolish, and reverting to four won't automatically fix problems.
He warns that media criticism can affect players' psychology. He explains players are not isolated, as they drive to training, watch television, and follow social media, making it nearly impossible to ignore public discourse.
He claims the path back to the top is a matter of time if Amorim can present credible signs of a realistic plan and a steady path. Fans may be patient if they see a clear direction; no one expects an immediate league title, but they want to feel the team is moving in the right direction.
Owen adds that the disconnection between promises and results is exhausting fans more than defeats themselves. He says critics and fans have been in a cycle for years, blaming the coach, then the players, then management, without tackling the root cause.
He compares United's current situation to Liverpool in the 1990s or Arsenal after Wenger—an era of searching for the right manager and project that may take time, but success belongs to big clubs.
He concludes that it could take two, four, or even ten years, but Manchester United will return to win the Premier League. A club this big and rich has no right to stay out of the competition forever; the question is when they will set things right.
Punchline 1: If patience were a player, United would have already won the league, but the trophy committee is still negotiating with the coffee machine.
Punchline 2: The club may be famous for its history, but its headlines are louder than the celebrations.
