I played in Man Utd side that got relegated and have no idea why Amorim said current team is our worst ever
LOU MACARI woke up yesterday morning still scratching his head over why Ruben Amorim would call his team ‘maybe the worst in Manchester United’s history’.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who spent £1.03billion to buy a 25 per cent stake in the Red Devils and replaced Erik ten Hag with Amorim in November, is bound to be asking the same question.
The Portuguese could now be facing a player rebellion, with at least half of the squad knowing they are not wanted.
One of those who looks to be on the way out is £85.5million one-trick pony Antony, who is a loan target for Spanish side Real Betis.
Macari spent 11½ years at Old Trafford after joining the club in January 1973.
The Scot, 75, insists he is an Amorim supporter but cannot work out what the point of his Sunday night bombshell was — especially with United in crisis.
Macari said: “I don’t know why he said it. It doesn’t do any good to say something like that. Not at all.”
Amorim made his shock statement following the 3-1 defeat at home to Brighton — and the stats seem to back him up.
The loss to the Seagulls marked a sixth home league defeat of the season — the most from United’s opening 12 home games since the 1893-94 campaign when they were still called Newton Heath.
Macari was at Old Trafford on Sunday along with many other of United’s famous former players to pay tribute to club legend Denis Law, whose death at age 84 was announced on Friday.
CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS
After the upset of losing his old friend and former United and Scotland team-mate, Macari was left baffled by Amorim’s damning indictment — and worries about the effect it could have.
He said: “I didn’t know what he had said until I got home then saw the quotes and they were everywhere.
“Was he reading it off something? It looked like he was.
“He kept looking down to his right as though he might have written it first.
“The problem is you don’t know what the right idea is, do you? Everyone’s got an opinion.”
The general opinion among United fans is the team that actually was the worst to wear the famous red shirts — at least in living memory — was the one that was relegated after the 1973-74 season.
Macari was on the pitch when Law produced a back-heeled winner for Manchester City in United’s penultimate game of that nightmare season.
Law never forgave himself for clinching a 1–0 win at Old Trafford on that April day but other results meant Tommy Docherty’s side were down anyway.
Macari does not believe that fate awaits the current crop of United players.
But since Amorim replaced Ten Hag in November, they have taken just 11 points from 11 Premier League games and sit a dismal 13th in the table, ten points above the drop zone.
And Macari added: “Of course, back then we never thought we’d go down and the current team won’t be thinking that, either. And anyway, they won’t.
“There’s too much in this team for them to go down, I’m certain of that.
“But I don’t even really want to touch on the subject because it’s a can of worms. It wouldn’t be right to compare our team that went down to Amorim’s — it’s not the same situation at all.
“But right now, I don’t know what the answer is going forward.”
Amorim threw his team under the bus in cold blood, declaring: “We are getting a new coach who is losing more than the last coach. I have full knowledge of that.
“We are the worst team maybe in the history of Manchester United. I know you [media] want headlines but I am saying that because we have to acknowledge that and to change that.”
The Portuguese, 39, had already admitted on New Year’s Eve that relegation was “a possibility” and pundits lined up to criticise his comments after Brighton’s sixth win over United in seven Prem games.
Former Aston Villa midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker declared on BBC Radio 5 Live: “Absolutely crazy. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“I think Amorim is too honest and he needs to be a bit more of a politician. By saying that comment and putting it out into the domain, it puts more pressure on the players.”
And ex-Tottenham defender Michael Dawson said on Sky Sports: “I’m not so sure I’d be very happy if my manager came out and said I was part of the worst Manchester United team in history. I understand what he’s trying to do but this is becoming embarrassing.”
And former Everton midfielder Leon Osman said on Match of the Day 2: “I personally wouldn’t enjoy being called out like this.
“But it’s probably an honest — and right on the mark — statement.”
The answer as to why Amorim decided honesty was the best policy is almost certainly to rouse Ratcliffe to find the money to replace sub-standard players.
It will take until the summer at least for United to raise transfer funds after escaping a points deduction for going perilously close to breaching the Prem’s Profit and Sustainability Rules.
In the meantime, Amorim has vowed to stick with his tactical philosophy of three at the back.
United legend Alex Stepney, another member of that relegated side, is backing Amorim.
The former keeper, who walked with Sir Alex Ferguson as he laid a wreath on the pitch for United’s ‘King’ Law, insisted: “He tells it like it is which shows he’s got a strong mentality.
“I’ve no doubts he will turn things around. He’s seen enough to call his players out because they’ve been nowhere near consistent enough.”