Matheus Cunha Gives Simple Explanation for Ruben Amorim’s Man Utd Downfall

Matheus Cunha has offered a blunt post-mortem on Ruben Amorim’s ill-fated Manchester United tenure, arguing that the Portuguese coach’s beloved 3-4-2-1 system collapsed under the weight of its own expectation. Speaking to DAZN, the Brazilian forward—signed last summer to help implement Amorim’s blueprint—claimed the spotlight on the formation became so intense that “we forgot how simple the overall context was and focused too much on the negative.”

Amorim arrived at Old Trafford with a trophy-laden reputation built on that single shape, yet Premier League realities quickly exposed its brittleness. A refusal to deviate from the template only magnified scrutiny, turning each misplaced pass into a referendum on the philosophy itself. Cunha, however, insists the tactical numbers are misleading. “We attack in different ways and end up defending in the formation that everyone says is Ruben’s,” he noted, adding that fragments of the 3-4-2-1 remain woven into United’s current approach, now quietly accepted without headline fanfare.

Fourth place and a buoyant mood belong to interim boss Michael Carrick, who has harvested four wins and a draw from five matches—victories over Arsenal and Manchester City among them—but Cunha stresses the foundations were Amorim’s. “Many new players came because of him,” he said, citing Brentford winger Bryan Mbeumo and himself as direct products of the Portuguese’s recruitment drive. “I was always very grateful for everything Ruben did… he also plays a big part in the success we are having now.”

Beyond tactics, Amorim’s biggest legacy may be cultural. After the toxic final days of Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Ralf Rangnick’s public broadsides, the dressing-room temperature cooled under the Portuguese. High-profile exits, including Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho this summer, were handled decisively as Amorim reshaped the squad in his image. Players backed him publicly even when results dipped, a unity that Carrick has inherited.

Cunha’s verdict is simple: the system did not fail; the pressure surrounding it did. Yet the rebuilt squad, the refreshed ethos, and the points now accumulating all carry Amorim’s fingerprints—an inconvenient truth for those quick to erase his chapter in United’s ongoing rebuild.