Jamie Carragher and Paul Scholes believe Rúben Amorim’s time as Manchester United manager should already be over.

Jamie Carragher and Paul Scholes have delivered a damning verdict on the current state of Manchester United under Rúben Amorim, openly questioning why the Portuguese coach remains in charge at Old Trafford.

Both former England internationals, who are now among the most influential pundits in British football, believe that Amorim’s tenure has run its course and that the club is delaying the inevitable by keeping him in the job.

Carragher, a Liverpool legend, was particularly blunt in his assessment. Speaking on the Fan Debate show on the YouTube channel The Overlap, he admitted he does not enjoy calling for managers to be dismissed but insisted that Amorim’s position had become “unsustainable.” For him, United’s decision to persist with the former Sporting CP boss is not about faith in his project but rather an unwillingness to acknowledge a mistake.

“I don’t like saying a manager should be sacked, it’s disrespectful and we’re talking about a man’s livelihood,” Carragher said. “But right now, I think Rúben Amorim’s position is unsustainable. It’s inevitable this will happen before Christmas. His time has to end as soon as possible. The only reason he’s still in the job is because the club doesn’t want to admit it failed.”

The comments reflect growing frustration in the English media and among sections of United’s fanbase. When Amorim arrived from Sporting in Portugal, he was seen as a bold and modern choice, a coach with fresh ideas who had already demonstrated his ability to win trophies and develop young talent. However, adapting to the intensity and scrutiny of the Premier League has proven far more difficult than anticipated.

Paul Scholes, one of Manchester United’s greatest midfielders and someone who knows the pressures of Old Trafford better than most, echoed Carragher’s concerns. He argued that Amorim has been given sufficient time to implement his vision but has failed to deliver consistency or results worthy of the club’s stature.

“With Rúben Amorim, we’ve reached a point where we don’t want to keep talking about sacking managers. Manchester United usually gives time, but in this case, I think he’s already had too much,” Scholes explained. “It was after the defeat to Brentford, 3-1, that I thought: ‘This is dragging on too long.’ It now seems only a matter of time until it’s over.”

Scholes also pointed to United’s looming trip to Anfield as a potential tipping point. Matches against Liverpool have historically defined the careers of United managers, and with Jürgen Klopp’s side in strong form, many fear a heavy defeat could force the club’s hierarchy into action.

“Rúben Amorim has to try to get something at Anfield. I’d be thinking about a draw and finding a way to stop them,” Scholes said. “But Manchester United are in such a big hole that it’s almost predictable they’ll go to Anfield and lose.”

The broader context at Manchester United complicates matters further. The club has been criticized for a lack of long-term planning, with successive managers   from José Mourinho to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to Erik ten Hag   all failing to restore the Red Devils to the heights of the Sir Alex Ferguson era. Amorim was supposed to represent a new direction, combining tactical modernity with the ability to nurture young players, but his project has stalled amid inconsistent results, tactical confusion, and mounting pressure.

For Carragher, the parallels with past managerial failures are clear. He suggested that United’s hierarchy is repeating a familiar mistake by holding onto a coach out of pride rather than making a pragmatic decision for the future of the team. “The only reason he’s still there is because they don’t want to admit they got it wrong,” Carragher reiterated, pointing to the lack of decisive leadership at the top of the club.

United’s next fixtures could prove decisive. The trip to Anfield is followed by a congested calendar of league and European games, and unless Amorim can engineer a dramatic turnaround, the calls for his dismissal will only grow louder. For Scholes, Carragher, and many observers, the writing is already on the wall: Rúben Amorim’s time at Old Trafford is nearing its end, and it may simply be a question of when the club chooses to act.