Omar Berrada | Man Utd CEO

[steffyr2]

Jesus we'd have some transfer kitty then.

bleach, let me try again!

Man Utd has 1.1 billion fans (so says google). Sale price is $8 billion. Piece of cake! $7.5 per fan and the problem is solved! (Hey, make it $8 per person, and that leaves us with $800M to buy a midfielder or 8 with!)

 

[DevilRed]

I don't think we fire Omar at all, or Wilcox personally.

I think Wilcox could go back to his Technical Director role that he was hired for, and we get a really top Sporting Director.

The reality is INEOS have had two windows now, and the first they were new and couldn't plan a great deal.

When City for example got taken over, the squad overhaul took a while and the infrastructure too took a while to build. Liverpool under Klopp took a while with FSG too.

You don't just go into a summer window and you're challenging again, we have fallen off a cliff with investment in the right areas. We've overhauled Carrington we've bought some players for squad building and we've reduced the wage bill so we're building.

I think we need another window or two and a top coach and we'll be nailing Champions League consistently and we start to see glimpses of challenges that will fade out in February before we can really go all the way.

What we need now is a top coach hiring, no bullshit and a solid summer plan.

I think we're the only club in the world that when sacking a SEVERELY underperforming manager (after backing him with 300m in signings), that would also have fans consider trying to remove the CEO And football director as well.

If anything, we had a great summer window that propelled us from one of the worsts attacks in the league to one of the best. Media rarely mentions this (ABU agenda) but we revamped the frontline through our senior management teams astute transfer dealings.

Its insanity really. If you look at any other club in the world, sacking a manager is a "routine" thing that's done every so often and you move onwards and upwards (hopefully). We aren't significantly worse than bayern, barcelona or even real madrid when it comes to the number of managerial changes.

 

[OverratedOpinion]

I think we're the only club in the world that when sacking a SEVERELY underperforming manager (after backing him with 300m in signings), that would also have fans consider trying to remove the CEO And football director as well.

If anything, we had a great summer window that propelled us from one of the worsts attacks in the league to one of the best. Media rarely mentions this (ABU agenda) but we revamped the frontline through our senior management teams astute transfer dealings.

Its insanity really. If you look at any other club in the world, sacking a manager is a "routine" thing that's done every so often and you move onwards and upwards (hopefully). We aren't significantly worse than bayern, barcelona or even real madrid when it comes to the number of managerial changes.

Well it's been pretty much confirmed that he was the driving force behind hiring that severely under performing manager. To the extent that the most qualified football man at the club was ousted for pointing out his concerns with it. He also kept on the former underperforming manager too long.

I'm not saying he should be sacked, I don't think we have enough insight into what he does day to day to really say that. But there are definitely reasons from the outside looking in that he would be under huge pressure. Ultimately he's the most powerful man at the club apart from owners. We are drastically underperforming during his tenure. Both him and Wilcox need to change that in rapid fashion or both will be holding a P45.

 

[Apokalips]

I think we're the only club in the world that when sacking a SEVERELY underperforming manager (after backing him with 300m in signings), that would also have fans consider trying to remove the CEO And football director as well.

If anything, we had a great summer window that propelled us from one of the worsts attacks in the league to one of the best. Media rarely mentions this (ABU agenda) but we revamped the frontline through our senior management teams astute transfer dealings.

Its insanity really. If you look at any other club in the world, sacking a manager is a "routine" thing that's done every so often and you move onwards and upwards (hopefully). We aren't significantly worse than bayern, barcelona or even real madrid when it comes to the number of managerial changes.

It's insane just how desperately in love with managers United fans are, regardless of performance. I have never seen these fans say that execs at other clubs should be sacked for picking a manager/head coach who didn't do well. It is a truly absurd suggestion and isn't consistent with the claim that stability is the reason behind not wanting managers sacked.

 

[romufc]

So, you need results and performances first in order to earn backing? He got like 4 players and you expect him to do what exactly? We are where we are on the table - within touching distance of European spots.

And its about time someone calls out this moronic board.

Yes... I was one that defended Amorim alot in this forum. He got sacked for his comments in the press conference.

This narrative that he didn't get backed is nonsense. Whilst you have to earn your backing, there is no manager in football right now that gets backed 100%.

Also.. when he signed, the board had always said... we cannot fix everything in one window? So for him then to throw his toys out the pram, is fully on him.

The board without CL football backed him, for getting rid of players, he got new players in.

 

[TheRedDevil'sAdvocate]

Can't help but think this might make those "top managers" a little antsy about coming to Utd (assuming they aren't already antsy after watching the last 10 years).

We still have enough prestige and money to lure candidates. However, do you recall the ancient Roman ritual in which a slave dressed in rags would follow a victorious general a few steps back during his parade and whisper to him "memento mori"? Someone should prepare our managers similarly, when they're all smiles holding the shirt during their presentation, whispering in their ear that in 12 months time they will have the look of a man who has known all the pain in the world written on their face.

 

[Bastian]

Yes... I was one that defended Amorim alot in this forum. He got sacked for his comments in the press conference.

This narrative that he didn't get backed is nonsense. Whilst you have to earn your backing, there is no manager in football right now that gets backed 100%.

Also.. when he signed, the board had always said... we cannot fix everything in one window? So for him then to throw his toys out the pram, is fully on him.

The board without CL football backed him, for getting rid of players, he got new players in.

Ten Hag had a lot of backing when he first joined.

 

[romufc]

Ten Hag had a lot of backing when he first joined.

They all did. Its not just limited to Ten Hag.

 

[VP89]

They all did. Its not just limited to Ten Hag.

Ten Hag had a lot of backing when he first joined.

My definition of backing is a bit different. I'd argue no one has been backed until Amorim.

Managers need to be saved from themselves somewhat. They need a dependable reliable structure to allow them to trust scouts and recruitment to get the right players in, with some input from themselves of course.

 

[romufc]

My definition of backing is a bit different. I'd argue no one has been backed until Amorim.

Managers need to be saved from themselves somewhat. They need a dependable reliable structure to allow them to trust scouts and recruitment to get the right players in, with some input from themselves of course.

Whilst I somewhat agree, Amorim is the only manager to have a proper structure above him.

I get what you are getting at though.. Amorim is the only manager where, if he didn't want a player, they got shipped out, whereas other managers had to deal with it.

However; I dont think Amorim got backed blindly though... like Garnacho, Rashford, Hojlund, Onana was good decisions, he didn't get rid of Kobbie because the board were not ready to do that.

He got backed the right amount.

 

[ayushreddevil9]

Not sure who you thought we should sign but they gave him Cunha who he’d been cosying up to for months, Mbeumo one of the better wide players in the league, a promising young forward in Sesko, plus he had Ugarte who he’d worked with in Portugal before, a promising new goalkeeper and he had players like DeLigt, Maz, Casemiro, Bruno etc
He had enough to show better results than he produced

Again, as you kept adding players at the end shows you missed the point. He didn’t want Maz as WB, Casemiro or Bruno as his CM options (he chose Bruno because he had nobody else). Ugarte, he needed to go this summer as it was widely reported that Amorim wasn’t a fan of him anymore.

If you wanted him to just make do with players we had then he didn’t need hiring. He has a specific system with needs of specific skillsets for each position. This is not something that came as a surprise. Dont hire him if you can’t support the signings.

 

[ayushreddevil9]

Yes... I was one that defended Amorim alot in this forum. He got sacked for his comments in the press conference.

This narrative that he didn't get backed is nonsense. Whilst you have to earn your backing, there is no manager in football right now that gets backed 100%.

Also.. when he signed, the board had always said... we cannot fix everything in one window? So for him then to throw his toys out the pram, is fully on him.

The board without CL football backed him, for getting rid of players, he got new players in.

The idea of hiring a manager that already has established that he has a specific system with specific skillset requirements and making him work with the dross we have at the club is nonsense.

The board backed him with attackers. We are 3rd in the league in terms of goalscoring. So Amorim did his job there. No backing in midfield or defense and you see how bad we are in those depts. 7 players in 3 windows is not too much to ask for. A couple more signings and he would have been good imo but the board gave up on January signings.

 

[ayushreddevil9]

Why do people say this? No club in the world can buy every player a manager wants all the time. It's like criticising a parent for not buying their kid every single toy each year at Christmas. We do have budgetary constraints and additionally, once those players the manager wants for big money turn out shite the senior leadership get laughed at for how dumb the signings were - e.g. Antony, Sancho, etc.

It is just illogical nonsense to defend poor managerial performance. Not even Pep gets every player he wishes, nor should they.

How hard was it to buy a midfielder and a wingback? When you already indicated that you had 70m for Baleba last summer and then 65m for Semenyo this January then just tell me where are these budget constraints coming from?

Just lap up the tripe this board is throwing and throw another manager under the bus. The fanbase is so gullible it’s unfortunate.

 

[simonhch]

Again, as you kept adding players at the end shows you missed the point. He didn’t want Maz as WB, Casemiro or Bruno as his CM options (he chose Bruno because he had nobody else). Ugarte, he needed to go this summer as it was widely reported that Amorim wasn’t a fan of him anymore.

If you wanted him to just make do with players we had then he didn’t need hiring. He has a specific system with needs of specific skillsets for each position. This is not something that came as a surprise. Dont hire him if you can’t support the signings.

He also came in and discarded the entire frontline. Some of it clearly merited, but was all of it necessary, especially in terms of the "bomb-squad" which just reduced their value. Under him we shipped out Rashford, Antony, Sancho, Hojlund and Garnacho. To date we received 18m for Antony and 40m for Garnacho. The rest went out on loan with the potential for future fees or just a straight release. We then had to spend 230 (before add ons) to repopulate the forward line. In addition to other signings he/we wanted. So a lot of the transfer issues, he was a part of creating. It was clear from the get go that we wouldn't be able to get all the players in he wanted right away. That should've factored into everyone's thinking. And as far as we are aware, he was fully informed on all this.

 

[ayushreddevil9]

Plus Dorgu and Heaven. Within 10 months the club spent 280m€ and brought 6 players.

Why not add Leon and Kone if we’re throwing names just to make up the numbers?

 

[ayushreddevil9]

He also came in and discarded the entire frontline. Some of it clearly merited, but was all of it necessary, especially in terms of the "bomb-squad" which just reduced their value. Under him we shipped out Rashford, Antony, Sancho, Hojlund and Garnacho. To date we received 18m for Antony and 40m for Garnacho. The rest went out on loan with the potential for future fees or just a straight release. We then had to spend 230 (before add ons) to repopulate the forward line. In addition to other signings he/we wanted. So a lot of the transfer issues, he was a part of creating. It was clear from the get go that we wouldn't be able to get all the players in he wanted right away. That should've factored into everyone's thinking. And as far as we are aware, he was fully informed on all this.

To make it clear, I’m not questioning the backing he had until this point. I’m questioning why the club decided to give up on January window (based on numerous reports). As I mentioned in earlier post, the club wanted Semenyo. So the club clearly had 70m for transfers. Why not try to boost the midfield?

 

[ayushreddevil9]

It is just illogical nonsense to defend poor managerial performance. Not even Pep gets every player he wishes, nor should they.

And is it logical to defend poor hierarchy that didn’t know anything about the type of manager they were hiring.. mid season? Transitioning from 4 back to 3 back is not a fifa task.

Amorim had his issues and results showed us that he needed to go but i don’t think anyone will succeed under this idiotic board. Lets have this conversation again in 2 years.

 

[JPRouve]

Why not add Leon and Kone if we’re throwing names just to make up the numbers?

Because neither have been first team players and decent contributors? I didn't think that Sesko, Mbeumo, Cunha, Lammens, Heaven and Dorgu would be a controversial list but maybe I'm wrong.

 

[golden_blunder]

To make it clear, I’m not questioning the backing he had until this point. I’m questioning why the club decided to give up on January window (based on numerous reports). As I mentioned in earlier post, the club wanted Semenyo. So the club clearly had 70m for transfers. Why not try to boost the midfield?

Well you had us all fooled because that’s how it came across

 

[ayushreddevil9]

Because neither have been first team players and decent contributors? I didn't think that Sesko, Mbeumo, Cunha, Lammens, Heaven and Dorgu would be a controversial list but maybe I'm wrong.

as I said in earlier posts, we are top 3 in the league when it comes to goals scored. You look at the recruitment this summer, it was focused on attack. So don’t you think Amorim actually made use of the backing he received during the summer?

All I’m questioning is why the Semenyo or Baleba funds were not available for January for a new midfielder or/and a wingback? Backing is not complete until the squad is tailored to the requirements. Atleast thats what I believe in.

Amorim had his flaws but he was an open book when it came to what he needed in the squad. He didn’t need Casemiro, Ugarte, Dalot or Mazraoui. In addition to that there were constant murmurs of Wilcox wanting change in systems. I as a fan I dreaded the 343 but then why hire a manager that was wedded to the system and which was public information? My problem is with this idiotic board. They had a huge role to play in Amorims failure. It wasn’t fully on Amorim, imo.

 

[ayushreddevil9]

Well you had us all fooled because that’s how it came across

Well yeah that’s my mistake.

 

[Crashoutcassius]

I think we're the only club in the world that when sacking a SEVERELY underperforming manager (after backing him with 300m in signings), that would also have fans consider trying to remove the CEO And football director as well.

If anything, we had a great summer window that propelled us from one of the worsts attacks in the league to one of the best. Media rarely mentions this (ABU agenda) but we revamped the frontline through our senior management teams astute transfer dealings.

Its insanity really. If you look at any other club in the world, sacking a manager is a "routine" thing that's done every so often and you move onwards and upwards (hopefully). We aren't significantly worse than bayern, barcelona or even real madrid when it comes to the number of managerial changes.

I think the important context here is if the CEO was picking the manager against qualified advice and without any qualifications of his own

 

[Apokalips]

And is it logical to defend poor hierarchy that didn’t know anything about the type of manager they were hiring.. mid season? Transitioning from 4 back to 3 back is not a fifa task.

Amorim had his issues and results showed us that he needed to go but i don’t think anyone will succeed under this idiotic board. Lets have this conversation again in 2 years.

Who is defending the hierarchy?

Amorim was shite and the new 'best in class' team has been shite also. Both things can be true, they are shite too.

There is more than enough to criticise them about without adding unrealistic expectations of always buying every player a manager wants otherwise you didn't "back them".

 

[Denis' cuff]

Yes... I was one that defended Amorim alot in this forum. He got sacked for his comments in the press conference.

This narrative that he didn't get backed is nonsense. Whilst you have to earn your backing, there is no manager in football right now that gets backed 100%.

Also.. when he signed, the board had always said... we cannot fix everything in one window? So for him then to throw his toys out the pram, is fully on him.

The board without CL football backed him, for getting rid of players, he got new players in.

Agree with the first part. It was also Ruben that said “we are going to suffer” before it gets better, while he changed things around inasmuch as he could yet what he said came to pass, and people suddenly became hysterical. He was as good as his word, in that we suffered alright but also got better, as he got us to 5th and we’ll never know how it could have ended. Yep.. some bizarre subs or lack of.. probably the main criticism, for me. Agree, the board backed him in the main but I think in the end, probably, rather childishly, stuck to his system and didn’t include players to spite the team and the board. We’ll also never know what assurances he was given re: manager/coach issues. I can’t believe he just made it up that they weren’t allowing him to manage, just like Jose said. But unlike Jose, was finally allowed to get rid of players who were bringing a toxic atmosphere into the club, with the board’s blessing. What we aren’t aware of is, are the finer points that only those behind closed doors are privy to. I know it’s the current fashion but personally not a fan of the sporting director shite unless it’s done properly but involves more/too many people and conflicting interests. Just to clarify, obviously, managers don’t get their every wish but it has always been thus and historically, worked well enough for English clubs to be as successful as any in Europe if you allow for Madrids 1956 Euro successes with no competition and their indulgent local authorities and banks bailing them out from the verge of bankruptcy to supplying a stream of galactico players.

 

[Zedd]

And is it logical to defend poor hierarchy that didn’t know anything about the type of manager they were hiring.. mid season? Transitioning from 4 back to 3 back is not a fifa task.

Amorim had his issues and results showed us that he needed to go but i don’t think anyone will succeed under this idiotic board. Lets have this conversation again in 2 years.

I think this is exactly why the new leadership has be held under a microscope, what has happened is literally what Ashworth warned about (reportedly anyway) which got him sacked as it was 2 against 1. How anybody could have looked at the squad we have, the financial strain the club was under, and think that Amorim was ever going to work out unless the goal was always ignore results until we had the team for his style of play. However, I really don't understand why anyone would want to do that.

 

[ayushreddevil9]

Who is defending the hierarchy?

Amorim was shite and the new 'best in class' team has been shite also. Both things can be true, they are shite too.

There is more than enough to criticise them about without adding unrealistic expectations of always buying every player a manager wants otherwise you didn't "back them".

Ah so your suggestion is to just do half the work and call it a day. He had 1 signing between defenders and midfielders and that was a 20 year old from Lecce.

And the fact is we are 3rd highest goalscorers in the league tells you that Amorim was actually making good work out of the new signings. But nah lets just sit back and relax now that we have given him 4 players. Sound logic.

If you hire a system manager who has been shouting from day 1 that he is wedded to a system and has specific needs for each position, you fecking get him those players. You don’t just sign 3 attackers and ask him to make do with the dross that’s left. Or ask him to change systems mid season. And before you come in with “we have no money” bs, tell me how we were going to sign Semenyo this January or even Baleba last summer.

“The board backed him enough with 3 attackers”. Utter nonsense.

 

[AneRu]

Again, as you kept adding players at the end shows you missed the point. He didn’t want Maz as WB, Casemiro or Bruno as his CM options (he chose Bruno because he had nobody else). Ugarte, he needed to go this summer as it was widely reported that Amorim wasn’t a fan of him anymore.

If you wanted him to just make do with players we had then he didn’t need hiring. He has a specific system with needs of specific skillsets for each position. This is not something that came as a surprise. Dont hire him if you can’t support the signings.

This is impractical, he got rid of 3 attackers who needed replacing and because he had labelled them the 'bomb squad' we didn't get any value from their departures. To then want 3 new midfielders on top of that 200m outlay was delusional.

Hiring him was wrong, that was the mistake but declining to throw the club's financial future at risk by wantonly buying whatever the manager demanded wasn't wrong. Wilcox is said to have told him that it will have to be evolution not revolution and he needed to adjust his tactics so that the club survives until that moment, perfectly sensible and reacted immaturely to that.

 

[davidmichael]

It shouldn’t be an argument of whether Amorim was awful or the higher ups were awful as the reality is that are both being awful is the correct answer, there’s no guarantee that Dan Ashworth would have worked out but what there is no denying us that he was the only one qualified or experienced enough to make footballing decisions and pushed for a PL proven coach to lay foundations as there was no quick fix.

The facts are that Berrada spent the majority of his career is sponsorship and commercial deals before becoming COO of City Football Group but had zero experience in being CEO of a singular club and didn’t make footballing decisions, Brailsford was a cycling coach who got close to Ratcliffe through Ineos Cycling and Wilcox spent his entire non footballing career in youth football outside of a year spell at Southampton when they were in The Championship and only got the promotion at United based on his relationship with Berrada so NONE are best in class.

The irony is that Ratcliffe actually had two highly experienced people in place to be CEO and Director Of Football in Jean Claude Blanc who was CEO at Juventus and PSG as well as Ashworth yet overlooked/underrated both in favour of massively inexperienced and basically naive options who have wasted millions on a coaching set up and hundreds of millions in recruitment for someone they knew was married to a system and one dimensional and after watching it play out exactly how they were told by Ashworth it would do under Amorim they’ve publicly fallen out with Amorim and look to be going the exact way Ashworth pushed for it to go with a PL proven coach so have wasted 14 months and millions of pounds.

 

[Devarshi]

Looks like we've got another bald fraud to deal with, and who knows how much more suffering we have to go through before SJR realizes we need proper people at the helm for the long-term decisions.

 

[Darkhorsez]

I remember once the news broke that we are hiring Amorim, there was one or 2 Portuguese members who made excellent comments. They like him but warned that he was very stubborn and hinted at inflexibility etc. This for me was a huge issue. I fully blame management for this poor hire in the first place. Worse was the timing of the sacking. It is so depressing being Utd supporter post SAF.

 

[Andy_Cole]

I don’t see him as a DOF, or a CEO to be honest. CEO is Ratcliffe and DOF Wilcox. Omar I think is more COO so I don’t think will have much footballing involvement.

Or maybe he does what do I know. But he shouldn’t be blamed for this mess. That is Ratcliffe for me.

 

[Iker Quesadillas]

I think we're the only club in the world that when sacking a SEVERELY underperforming manager (after backing him with 300m in signings), that would also have fans consider trying to remove the CEO And football director as well.

If anything, we had a great summer window that propelled us from one of the worsts attacks in the league to one of the best. Media rarely mentions this (ABU agenda) but we revamped the frontline through our senior management teams astute transfer dealings.

United's attacking performance has improved, but I don't know if that can be attributed to a successful transfer window. Sesko and Cunha have average stats so far. Considering that the signings were all quite pricey, it's understandable that they come into question.

 

[Devarshi]

I don’t see him as a DOF, or a CEO to be honest. CEO is Ratcliffe and DOF Wilcox. Omar I think is more COO so I don’t think will have much footballing involvement.

Or maybe he does what do I know. But he shouldn’t be blamed for this mess. That is Ratcliffe for me.

Berrada was the one who pushed the most for Amorim's appointment, according to reports at the time (https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5883160/2024/10/30/ten-hag-amorim-welbeck-berrada/)

Quoting from the article: "Berrada is a huge admirer of Amorim and has been a key driver behind the push to appoint him at United, although it is a collective call."

Not sure why the CEO who has no footballing know-how in his CV and whose department should strictly be in finance is getting so much clout in this decision. That's part of what's sus in the club's management, and it needs a closer look especially after the Amorim debacle.

Another relevant quote: "Those in charge at United regard the 39-year-old, who has two titles and three cups in four years of first-team management in Portugal, albeit a mixed record in the European competitions, as a strong personality capable of bringing glamour and attractive football to the club. His preference for playing with a back three is not seen as an issue, given the make-up of United’s squad."

Of course it became an issue when the Gary Nevilles and Paul Scholes grabbed on to back three as being the sole reason why United isn't challenging for Top 4.

Becomes even more damning when you look at the hiring and firing of Ashworth who was bundled out precisely because of his misgivings about Amorim.

 

[Jeffthered]

I think we're the only club in the world that when sacking a SEVERELY underperforming manager (after backing him with 300m in signings), that would also have fans consider trying to remove the CEO And football director as well.

If anything, we had a great summer window that propelled us from one of the worsts attacks in the league to one of the best. Media rarely mentions this (ABU agenda) but we revamped the frontline through our senior management teams astute transfer dealings.

Its insanity really. If you look at any other club in the world, sacking a manager is a "routine" thing that's done every so often and you move onwards and upwards (hopefully). We aren't significantly worse than bayern, barcelona or even real madrid when it comes to the number of managerial changes.

Do you seriously think that Omar Berrada is so important, or has some sort of 'talent' to buy players? And you base this on what?

For example, You think signing Cunha is working out well? Because he may be better than Antony? Is Sesko a step up from Rasmus Hojlund?

Some people get starstruck.. Omar Berrada has no background, or 'superior talent' to identify what happens on the pitch.

Berrada and Wilcox are two nobody's, and the fact that they elicit such attention suggests how aimless (and ineffective) they are.