Michael Owen has hit back at Gary Neville and Wayne Rooney for questioning Ruben Amorim use of a back-three system, calling their criticism “embarrassing”.
The Manchester United manager has been under pressure after winning only half of his Premier League matches and crashing out of the Carabao Cup to Grimsby Town on penalties. Amorim is still waiting for his first back-to-back wins since taking charge in November 2024.
– ADEVERTISEMENT –
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Owen said the formation is not the cause of United’s struggles, arguing the club’s issues go much deeper.
“They have changed the manager numerous times since Fergie left,” Owen said. “Then they blamed the players; spent billions on players and got some of the best players in the world… Then it’s the fault of the facilities… the staff… and now it’s because they’re playing a back-three.”
He added: “It’s embarrassing if you’re going to say the main reason for the downturn is because they play a back-three. They could go back to a back-four and play as bad as they did under Ten Hag.”
– ADEVERTISEMENT –
In a separate interview with casino.co.uk, Owen suggested that pundits’ public criticism could be distracting the squad.
“Players aren’t sheltered away from everything,” he said. “They put the radio on, watch TV, read social media… If they hear certain things, it might enter their head, and they could wonder if the manager is doing the right thing.”