What next for Manchester United? Insight into Darren Fletcher and Jason Wilcox after Amorim Sacking

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0:38Yes, guys, welcome to this episode of Rio Presents. This is brought to you by Crafted on a huge, huge day for Manchester United. And listen, guys, Ruben Amarin has been sacked earlier this morning. So big news. It's been a talking point all day. So in this video, I'm going to go through three key points. Now the dust has been settled. And listen, I've obviously got Joel Baer with me. And there's so much to unpick, but I think we've got to just narrow this down, Joel. What do you think? Yeah, for sure, man. It's, you know, massive shout to everybody who supported us as well today, by the way. Like, you know, you guys were on us with the live show.

1:14that's also available to watch after you watch this one. I want to ask you, Rio, what did you think when you saw the news, that we were live together? Was that on your New Year 2026 wish list? Well, no. Listen, I was as surprised as anybody. Listen, I was surprised. But then when you see the cold, hard facts, the black and white of it, 38 % win rate, the worst win rate of any manager post Sir Alex Ferguson is what Ruben Amarin had. wasn't any consistency. A style of football, attacking style of football that we're used to seeing in Man United hadn't been brought to the front and to the fore. And one of the things when you look at it and you go, well, our position was suggesting there was improvement.

2:00We finished 16th last season. They're wearing six right now, so 10-place difference. Things look a little bit better in that sense. But the nagging kind of element of there is a consistent style of football. is this the style of football and the formation? Is it suiting the players that are there? Are the players really understanding what the manager wants? So I think there was still a lot of question marks as much as we were still in a better position than we were last season. And I think that I would say that the real, real, real undoing of the manager, I think, when I'm reading between the lines is, we'll start with a statement, a statement at the last couple of press conferences.

2:39And I'll take you back to when I went and interviewed Bruno at Carrington before Christmas. and I said the vibe at the training ground felt good. By that I meant with the players when I was around the players and watching training and stuff. I actually met the manager and spent about probably five to ten minutes with him just talking, as I always do when I go to the training ground or when I see him on tour, et cetera. And he's normally so enlightened, he's wide-eyed, he's insightful, he's energetic. This time he just felt drained. He looked drained. He looked distant. he looked a bit depressed and a little bit down and I can only say this with hindsight now and I thought that must have been the start of the change and the start of the end for Ruben Amarin because there was a difference and then came the two press conferences where he wasn't answering questions some of the most likeable moments and the reason why people have given him more time than most given the results is because how he's been in the press conferences how transparent he's been how open he's been.

3:43And I think it's just, it's been difficult in that sense to see that. And those last two ones, then he calls out the sporting director, Jason Wilcox, then he calls out the recruitment team. I just think that the hierarchy said, listen, we're not having that. That's it. Now let's talk about the potential biggest winners and losers from this change. Are you expecting a different formation, Rio? Yes or no? 100%. I think the formation will be a big change. Going back to the formation with the manager, I think that's another big reason why he's failed at the club because he hasn't been as adaptable as they may would have liked it and I think that seeing him play four back in the last couple of games at times, at moments and it looked more positive and the players looked more confident I think the hierarchy again why wouldn't you adapt and do that more and he just said listen you sign me for who I am and what I do and the way I play and my style of football and the formations I'm not going away from it and that's been part of it as well but But I look at it and you talk about the potential biggest winners and losers at the football club.

4:45There's no doubt in my mind that Kobe Maynard will be walking back in the building today with a bounce in his step. He'll be walking in because there's always losers in this, which will be the manager and his staff who have worked hard. No one likes to see people lose their jobs. But there are going to be winners. And Kobe Maynard will be one of the guys who will be sitting there going, he has a chance now to be a winner in this situation. His fortunes could change. We have to remember, he came home from European Championships of England as one of our best performing players and hasn't kicked the ball properly or consistently for the last 18 months since.

5:15So he'll be sitting there going, this is my chance. And his conversations that he's had previously, like we said on the live with Darren Fletcher, he'll be looking back at those and going, have I got a chance? He'll know deep down if he's got a chance or not of playing and starting in a Darren Fletcher team. and if he does I wish him all the best like he do all the guys What about Marcus Rashford? I think that's a well listen I think I think there'll be managers it depends who comes in isn't it? It's going to be up to the person that comes in Darren Fletcher can't do anything about that Marcus Rashford or Jadon Sancho right now but the new manager that comes in in the summer if it isn't Darren Fletcher it's going to be dependent on how they feel about it as well because, listen, imagine if Marcus Rashford, for instance, wins the La Liga.

6:07Don't know how they're going to do in Champions League. Plays a massive role in that. Then goes to the World Cup, has a big role to play for England, right? You'd be a fool not to think, you know, I wouldn't mind that in my team. I think it depends how he does and who the manager is. So we'll see. I think one of the things I would say, the recruitment team, they come under fire from Ruben Amarim and they've come under fire from different sections of the fan base and the media. But what I would say in the recruitment, in the five or six players that have come in under Amarim, I don't think there's any of those players that have come in that can't adapt to a new 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 or whatever new formation is going to be played outside of a back three or back five.

6:48So I think in that sense, they've done a good job in making sure that they have players that are adaptable to a new shape change. I mean, you've spoken about the formation there. I mean, this has been a massive talking point throughout the whole course of the season. Players who were bought in under Ambram to play a 3-4-3. You've got Dogu, you've got Cunha, you've got Mbwemo. Sesko, obviously, he's the number nine and Lemmen's the way he plays, right? At the moment, Rio, you now, if you're going to shift it back to a 4-3-3, you've now got, you know, loads more centre-backs than you require. You've got De Ligt, Hevin, Euro, Martinez, Shaw, who can obviously play as a left-back, we know, but Maguire.

7:26So that means you've got potentially six centre-backs into a two at the back. Who is the best four for the club to play when everybody is fit? I'd say it's a five into two you've got to get. But most of the best clubs will have five centre-backs on their list anyway to go into two. And you've got to remember that Heaven and Euro are teenagers. So Deleet, Heaven, Euro, Martinez and Maguire, they're your five that go into two. I think this next game that's coming up, given he got injuries as well, I think you've got, I would go with, and obviously the players away at the AFCON, I'd go Dalloe right back.

8:09I would go on form right now. I'd probably play Martinez and Heaven or Jorou. I won't be bothered which one I'd play out of them two. And I'd go Shaw left back. that's where I would go and I think that won't be far off what they're going to go with given what he's got to pick from. But listen, I have to say, listen, it's a difficult situation to be in. The club obviously are now going to go in a new direction and we're going to have to see now what Darren Fletcher looks like in the hot seat at Manchester United. I mean, look, we know that he could or could not be a manager until the end of the season, okay?

8:52Someone you've played with, someone you know personally do you think it's a good choice to have him as the Man United manager, caretaker Man United manager at the moment? I think it's a good choice, I think he's somebody who knows the fabric of the club, I've always said that, it's nice to have that, I think he's somebody who's grown up at the football club through the academy, knows the standards, knows what's expected knows what's required, played through one of the most successful periods arguably at the football club, won trophies here, played under the greatest manager that there's been at the football club.

9:24He's been somebody who personally has had trials and tribulations. His health was a huge, huge moment in his life. Sees life very differently. A great student at a game. A great guy. And somebody who absolutely loves the football club. But most importantly, knows what the fans want and expect and knows what is expected at the club. and so you look at him and you think is he going to play the Man United way well I'll tell you what you should be doing I said this on the live earlier go and look at some of the performances of the under 18s team since he took over the way that they play I'm not saying they're the best team in the under 18s Premier League but what I would say they play a style of football that you go I like that aggressive relentless against people I can go 1v1 all over the park if you want he demands that from his players demands that even if we go one, two, three, four goals up, we will play with the same intensity and drive and desire.

10:25All things you want to see in a football club, in your team. And so if he can get that and replicate that in our first team, I think it's something that the fans will look at and go, I'm happy to see that. I'll pay to see this. Now, will he get the results? Will he improve things here? That remains to be seen. But we've got somebody who I think believes in a certain way that Manchester United fans and people that are attached to the club will be able to identify with. And I really hope Darren Fletcher goes in there and makes it hard for the hierarchy when they're making a decision about who they're going to employ for the next role as manager of this football club.

11:02Because you've got to understand as well, he's got two sons that are trying to make their career at Man United as well that have got exposure in the first team now. He's going in as the manager. What person on this earth can say they've ever had a week like this? Madness. The team manager of Man United Football Club, the club they support, the club they grew up in, the club they played in, the club that they love. And their two sons are on the cusp of having careers at the club as well. Imagine being his wife, mum of them kids, his dad and his mum. Imagine being in that family, man. Jesus. Right, man, we've got loads still to come right on this pod, but we'll be back shortly after this.

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12:25Now, for everybody watching, this is Rio Presents. If you have just come in, welcome to the channel. We've got new subscribers from earlier on and hopefully new subscribers. Now, this is the place to be. So make sure you press that subscribe button. You put on the notification and also on socials. Do not cheat on us. All right. Follow us across the board. We got that. Make sure. Make sure, you know. But I want you, Rio, to tell me more about the importance of him understanding the Manchester United way. I thought that was very, very important. It's something that Amarim, Ragnik and Ten Hag have been criticised for not having.

12:56Yeah, I mean, that's one of the things I think that criticism has been aimed at the hierarchy when they employed Amarim because he didn't play anything like the Man United way in the formation that he set up with. His sporting team played in a way that you could identify with and go, well, quick, thrusting football, plays direct at times and really put teams on the back foot. That was a style that you could say was Man United like. But the formation was a sticking point, I think, long term when you look at it as well. The players just couldn't identify with it, couldn't find a way to adapt to it.

13:30And in the end, that was part of the undoing. But listen, I've heard the likes of Gary Neville, Scolese, Nicky Butt, these guys who are on their own podcasts and talking about Man United who never felt comfortable with Man United playing three at the back. And I've always said this as well. One team has won the Premier League playing three at the back and that's Conte's team. And he's an absolute kind of machine when he builds these teams. He's seen the same thing when we've seen previous clubs and where he's at now in Napoli. So it's difficult in the Premier League to do that. And it is hard to achieve here.

14:01But it does, in hindsight, make me think like, why Amarim on the basis of just a style of football in terms of your formation that you're going to play. And apparently they say Dan Ashworth, he left the club because he wasn't happy with the appointment of Amarim due to the way he set his teams up as well. So again, he might be someone who's sitting there going, I told you so, who knows? We'll have to wait and see. Rio, you spoke about the Man United way, but I want you to tell us the three ingredients which make this Man United way? Well, we had Ryan Giggs on one of the Rio meets a while ago and I think he said a few things that I'd agree with.

14:44And I think Man United way is definitely being brave in and out of possession. You've got to be brave. You've got to take the ball. You've got to be brave to get on it. You've got to put yourself in the way of things. You've got to be brave enough to go out there and accept the responsibility that comes with pulling on that shirt. and the expectations that are then put on your shoulders, the responsibility that is there. So you've got to be brave. And you've got to have imagination. You've got to have imagination to create these moments that we've seen all over the years. It's imagination that does that.

15:16It's imagining you can actually, you can do things that people don't expect. You're willing to take that chance to do something that's a bit different at times. And you're willing to go out there and actually, and go, you know what? We're going to play in a fast, aggressive way that others can't keep up with. And I think then you've got to be relentless. You've got to be relentless where you go. You know, we can do this for 90 minutes. We're going to do this for 40 plus games, 50 games this season. And we're going to make sure we go out there and give a good representation of this club week in, week out.

15:46And then they're just the basics. There's more, obviously. These are just basics that you go. That is what the DNA of a Man United player and team. These three things are three of the things that are going to be. Every person that's been associated to the club, these three things will be in their top five or ten on their list. 100%. You know, when you look at Manchester United now, even Ruben Amram, I said it earlier on in the live, and I stand on this, Rio, I think he's not going to be given credit enough for him bringing that kind of like discipline back. You know, I felt like he had set the standards and it's ironic that, you know, talking back or against the hierarchy is why he got sacked.

16:25If I was to ask, what do you think he did well before we talk about what you would like to see going forward? Well, we aren't questioning commitment at the football club now because I think that was a big thing that people were questioning from certain players. But that stems from management, I think. Management dictate how commitment looks. And if it isn't going right, then if they're pointing a finger at anybody, then I think they've got to work towards that. I think the fact that people aren't questioning a work ethic and commitment at the football club, I think he has to take credit for because on a day-to-day basis, he's setting the standard.

17:02I think in terms of the recruitment which he would have played a part in I'm sure like I said there's times when you look at football clubs when players come into a club and you go well new managers coming in now where do them five or six players fit in there now we've got to get rid of them because they don't play the way the new team is going to play I don't think that's going to happen here all the players that have been bought in I think can still adapt to if we play 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 I think he needs to be commended for that But listen, when you've got a 38 % win record, and the cold facts are there that it's the worst that we've seen since Alex Ferguson's been here, then you go, listen, on that basis, are we really surprised?

17:43But as I said, I think he was being backed. The hierarchy were behind him. But I think in recent weeks, I think they've seen things that they've not been happy with. One of them, I think either way, his press conferences have gone. They've been different to what we've known, and they've acted quickly. and that takes me to to someone like Jason Wilcox because this is his first real big decision publicly where everyone's going Jason Wilcox, that's the name he's the guy that's been part of the group that sacked him, I think it's Omar and Jason Wilcox who were the two people who head up the football department of the football club, so this decision falls on their shoulders 100 % so I played with Jason Wilcox at Leeds spent I think 18 months or so with him, what a guy became one of my closest friends at Leeds at the time that we drifted a little bit over the years after that but he wonderful person great human being trustworthy straight as you like but I said this earlier as well he wouldn't be somebody that I would go makes knee-jerk reactions and we'll just go I'm going to make a decision just based on one little detail here or this hasn't gone our way so that's it I think it will be in a culmination of things I think he would have given Ruben time I expected him to give Ruben time.

18:58But he's somebody, whenever I spoke to him, he made me feel like he had a complete understanding of what Man United should be playing like. And I think the longer this went on, forget results. He wasn't seeing a true reflection of what he feels Man United should be playing like. And I think that's a big part of the decision why the manager's gone as well. Regarding the next manager, what are the qualities required to be the next permanent Man United manager, would you say? I think the style of football is going to be a huge factor. I think that they're going to be looking for somebody that plays that attacking, thrusting, adventurous, brave football.

19:35Just based on what I hear from Jason Wilcox when I speak to him, that is what he wants to see. That's what he knows is the DNA of this football club. So I think he wants to see that in the DNA of the next manager. They need to have shown this in their previous work at the different clubs that they've probably been at. So it's going to be interesting to see who they go for. And I think that you look at it, they've got to have the personality and the character to be able to withstand the pressure that comes with Manchester United. The intensity, the scrutiny, the pressure, the responsibility that comes with being here is huge.

20:12So you've got to be confident that somebody can deal with that. And I look at that and I go, well, who are the guys that fit all of those categories? And I think Deserby just keeps jumping off the page to me. Thomas Tuchel jumps off the page to me. Two big characters, two people that I think have been in. You look at Marseille, it wouldn't be considered one of the big European teams in that sense, but there's a demand there. There's a wealth of history there. It's a hotbed. You know that if you go to Marseille, it's a footballing area where there's huge demands and there's fanfare there that is very, very hot.

20:54So there is pressure there, maybe a different pressure. Yeah, he hasn't managed a team of the magnitude of Manchester United, I know that, but his style of football and the way that I hear that he coaches, the demands that he puts on the players, he's kind of hungered to play really good attacking and controlling football. I think it jumps off the page to be somebody that you feel has the credentials to manage Manchester United. and Thomas Tuchel for me. Before you go into Thomas Tuchel, don't forget as well, on your platform, we've had the likes of Kevin Prince-Bratang saying he's the best coach he's ever had.

21:29Ever had. Like, didn't think twice about it. How many times have we seen Pep Guardiola praise his genius, you know? Yeah, yeah. No, no, I 100 % agree. And you spoke about difficult situations and Marseille maybe it not being, you know, a different pressure to Man United, but he's gone in and he's had difficult situations to manage. Plus, we shouldn't forget, by the way, that he had to navigate the Mason Greenwood situation. So he's dealt with some big stuff. If he came back in, would he demand to bring someone like Greenwood back? Because he looks at Greenwood like a world beater. Would he be someone that goes, no, no, I'm only coming if Greenwood comes.

22:02There could be Spanners in the work and another soap opera. We don't know. But listen, at the end of the day, I think he has the character and I think the style of play that would excite the hierarchy at Manchester United to come into the club. So I think I wouldn't be surprised if they approached him. and Thomas Tuchel, if they got into him now and said, listen, we know you're going to go to the World Cup. Darren Fletcher's going to stay. He's shown good enough credentials already to get us into the season. We want you to go and win the World Cup with England and then come and manage Manchester United.

22:32That would not be a wild, wild, wild, wild ask, I don't think. And I think it's something that wouldn't surprise me at all if that happened either. I'd be happy with either of those people. But everyone's talking, I can hear Xavi's name getting mentioned. I wouldn't be up against that again. He went into Barcelona at a time when there was a need of somebody who could stable the ship, played loads of youngsters, played to the DNA at a football club that he knew. He knows about the back of his hand, done really well when he was there. Like, those are the three names that are jumping off the page for me right now.

23:02Mareska's just gone, though. Mareska's just left Chelsea. Mareska, well, Mareska's, he's an interesting one because he's obviously been at City when Omar Barada was there and Jason Wilcox were there. So that would make a free ball that you go, oh, they all know each other. They know that there's going to be no surprises there. that might be a more comfortable appointment in terms of knowing the beast that you're going to go and appoint. So again, that wouldn't be a surprise in that sense. But again, there's three ex-City people then at Man United in their top three or four positions at the football club.

23:31So would that be the right way to go? I don't know. But what I would say is that I like the way Mariska's teams play football. But the first names on my list would be Deserby and Thomas Tuchel. Is that the Man United way? Appointing City, guys. But I want to ask you though, Rio, you've thrown names here, left, right and centre. And to be honest with you, you might know more than we do as the audience, but I know that you've got a nice relationship with United. So you're only going to speak when you can. But if I was to ask you as a fan, right, your number one pick, who would it be? Just one, not three like we did on the live show earlier on, because I let you off lightly there.

24:09One pick, Man United manager right now. Let's go. I'd go Thomas Tuchel. Okay. and that's because, what is it? He's managed big clubs. He's won trophies domestically, right? He's won the Champions League. He knows how to win. He knows how to get a team to win in the Premier League as well in terms of they won the Champions League. He knows he's won leagues in other countries, and I think he's had a journey that you go, has prepared him for a club like Manchester United. And you see, I mean, obviously, you see the way he handles the media as well. He's not afraid to speak. But yeah, we'll see. We'll see how it goes.

24:49And listen, I want to give a shout out to everybody that's been watching. It's a big day today in football. You know, unfortunately, we're not going to be able to cover Arsenal. Gladly. Arsenal winning the league already, you know, in January. You know what? Let me just shout out one guy though. Go on. Declan Rice. Oh, yeah. Needs a shout out. Can't be having a weekend like he had scored two goals for the first time in the Premier League. But my man is like, he's looking like Mr Dynamo. He's doing a bit of everything. scoring creating I don't think there's been a player who's actually had more passes into your opponent's box this season just a little stat for you there that's for someone who's a box-to-box midfielder right now and doing things at a level that is top, top tier top tier well man well listen great to see you man you too man looking well bruv I was saying earlier on to the team my man looks bronze bruv everyone else I was at a bronze Christmas it's Dubai Dubai Sun man so nice it's nice I'll catch you out here soon cool alright guys thank you very much for watching There will be more videos from Rio this week and the team.

25:47Make sure you keep on watching. Joel, Rio, signing out. Rio Presents. Peace.

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