Emery and De Zerbi Emerge as Top Targets After Amorim Sacked; Ferdinand Reveals Turning Point

Manchester United have moved swiftly to remove Ruben Amorim from his post, and the punditry circuit has wasted no time dissecting the fallout. Seven leading voices have offered their verdicts on the sacking, with two names consistently emerging as potential successors.

Rio Ferdinand has pointed to the speed of the decision as telling. "That's been the reason why it's been so sharp and quick overnight – his comments a few hours ago. Two managers now, Enzo Maresca at Chelsea and now Amorim at Manchester United have spoken out against the hierarchy and have been sacked immediately," Ferdinand explained on his YouTube channel.

The former United defender was damning about Amorim's record. "His record is actually the worst of any manager at United post-Sir Alex Ferguson," Ferdinand noted. He also observed a marked shift in the Portuguese boss's demeanour during recent media appearances. "I saw his last two press conferences, and I was sitting there thinking something's not right here. This guy, one of his best traits and most likeable things about him has always been his ability to be quite punchy in his press conferences, upbeat and he had quite a jovial way about himself in those press conferences. The last two press conferences that he did looked depressing."

Jaap Stam has championed Roberto De Zerbi as an ideal replacement. "I really like De Zerbi as a manager and how he conducts himself in terms of managing the dressing room, his tactics and philosophy. He's very clear in his approach and he's tactically very strong; I'd like to see him given the chance at Old Trafford," Stam told Covers.com.

Stam acknowledged that while Amorim's exit was inevitable, the timing surprised him. "The performances haven't been consistent and we were expecting more from him after last season. His system didn't always suit the players at the club, and we haven't seen much progress, even though he has had more time between games and fewer competitions," Stam added, also placing some responsibility on United's recruitment strategy for backing a manager operating in a completely different footballing environment.

Jamie O'Hara was forthright in his assessment on Sky Sports. "He isn't good enough. It's as simple as that," O'Hara said. "Good riddance. He isn't good enough to be the Man Utd manager. Man Utd have not been good enough since he's come in – he made the club worse."

O'Hara suggested Amorim may have engineered his own departure. "I wonder if he's looked at the Maresca situation, the Nuno situation and has though 'You know what? I've had enough of this.' As a manager, if you do want the sack and you've had enough of what you're doing and where you are, you go against the board. I think he wanted the sack."

Simon Jordan has backed Unai Emery as the ideal candidate. "Emery's the Man United manager. He's one of the best in class. Man United's one of the biggest clubs in the world," Jordan told talkSPORT. "He's a brilliant manager, that's why I'm saying Man United, get a manager like him who's a statesman, who can build, who knows how to manage properly and doesn't do what these children managers do every time they don't get what they want, which is scream in front of the media."

Martin Keown highlighted Amorim's tactical inflexibility as a critical factor. "This is a manager who was fixated with playing a particular way in a system, he wanted to play a back three," Keown said. "He recently said that 'I'm starting to get the feeling that I need to play a perfect 3-4-3, we need to spend a lot of money and need time, I'm starting to understand that it's not gonna happen.' He became increasingly vocal towards the director of football. When it's becoming so public as it was, you thought that it was on borrowed time."

Keown drew a parallel to Celtic's situation. "We have the same thing in Celtic, by the way, a manager up there who wants to play one particular way, it's cost him his job."

Mark Bosnich stressed the need for clarity behind the scenes. "This behind the scenes has to be cleared up. They thought they were putting in a team that were in it for long-term success but it hasn't quite worked," Bosnich said on the BBC. "The manager/head coach, whatever you want to call them, he is the one that has to set the tone, he is the one that has to set the culture because it is his name that is on the project. Right now, it's a complete mess."

Rene Meulensteen urged caution in the appointment process, emphasising that the problems extend beyond Amorim alone. "At the end of the day, this is not all about Ruben Amorim. It's about Ineos and the whole team behind it, as well. Because they've basically not backed up what they've been saying," Meulensteen told BBC Sport.

He outlined the qualities required of the next appointment. "They need somebody with pedigree. Someone who understands the Premier League, who's been successful in the Premier League. Someone with a strong personality, with charisma. Someone with good vision about how to take Manchester United forward. The most important thing is that they need to get things right in the background first. And be very very clear that when they do make an appointment that everything is aligned. At this moment in time, it wasn't aligned."