Harry Maguire has shared Rúben Amorim's parting words following his sacking by Manchester United, revealing his thoughts on the former manager's tenure and future ambitions.
There is no denying that the Rúben Amorim experiment at Manchester United did not pan out as anyone would have hoped.
The Portuguese former midfielder was brought in from his very successful stint with Sporting CP in November 2024, following the sacking of Erik ten Hag. Those in charge felt a young, modern manager was the way forward at Old Trafford.
However, the 41-year-old led United to their worst-ever Premier League finish, with the side ending 15th in the league table and losing the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur.
Amorim was then sacked in January 2026, 14 months after being hired, with ideology clashes and his formation being sticking points that the club simply couldn't look past.
Maguire breaks silence on Amorim's sacking
After Amorim was let go from his duties at Old Trafford, he was replaced by United legend Michael Carrick, who has since won seven of his ten games in charge. This has caused many to question Amorim's abilities as a coach.
However, United centre-back Harry Maguire has stood up for his former manager, stating that he feels Amorim is a coach with "great ideas" but that they simply didn't work at United, rather than attributing this to poor coaching.
“I don’t really have much bad to say about Ruben," Maguire told reporters during the recent international break. "I really like Ruben, he’s got great ideas. The ideas just didn’t work at Manchester United.
“It just didn’t click, or work, and us players have got to take a lot of responsibility for that as well."
At the same time, the defender singled out credit and praise for the way Amorim built a good squad of hungry players, which Carrick is no doubt feeling the benefits of.
“But Ruben has led the club in a direction, and he deserves a lot of credit for that. He’s built a good, solid squad."
Has Amorim spoken to United's players since?
When Amorim was sacked from United, he spent a further few weeks in Manchester before heading back to his homeland of Portugal. He is now being linked with the job at Benfica, the club he supported growing up.
Speaking further, Maguire revealed that Amorim spoke to him after his sacking, and the former United head coach wished the players nothing but the best.
“I spoke to him when he left. He wished us all the best," Maguire continued.
“I’m sure he would have been upset, but I know he’s still really young and I’m sure he’s going to go on to great things in management."