A few years ago I got into a lift with a former colleague I knew a little, but would not describe exactly as a good friend. In the way we all did hundreds of times, I asked what he was like and expected a variant of the standard reaction: “Yes, not bad thank you, size. How are you? “
Instead, this colleague said downright: “My wife wants a divorce.”
I can’t really remember how the rest of the conversation went to our floor in the short but unbearable journey, so paralyzed by clumsiness I was. I hope so, but I can’t guarantee it. My colleague only said what he was thinking about, spoke his truth, but the lack of social filter, the brutal honesty of the interaction was too much and threw me completely off-cooker.
Honesty is good. You shouldn’t lie. In most circumstances it would be better if we all told the truth. In most circumstances. Not always.
There is much to say for the harmless lie, the artistic hidden truth, the light distraction of your true feelings, while it would be much better to just stop everyone involved. That brings us to Ruben Amorim.
The head coach of Manchester United is a very honest man. Incredibly fair. In fact, he is far too honest, apparently a man who is unable to hide his true feelings when they are confronted with questions from the media.
Here are a few examples of the extremely honest things he said in public, since he arrived at Old Trafford in November.
“I am not helping my players right now.”
“David Moyes is doing better than me, it’s simple.”
“I have to sell my idea, I don’t have another one.”
Ruben Amorim often lacks his soul in press conferences (Carl Recines/Getty Images)
“Imagine what this is for a fan of Manchester United. Imagine what this is for me. We get a new coach who loses more than the last coach. “
“We are the worst team, perhaps in the history of Manchester United.”
“This club needs a shock.”
‘That is really clear (That United can be relegated), so we have to fight. “
Amorim has always been like that. Some of his former players told The AtletiC In January that honesty and clear communication are among its strengths. “We prefer the truth,” said one of them.
But although the Straight Shooter of management can be useful, even constructively, there must be a point where it becomes counterproductive. His public self-lagging will not necessarily count with what he says in the dressing room, but you find it unlikely that his players would have been fired after he had declared them the worst team in the history of United-even if he clarified a few days later that he referred more than his team.
It sometimes feels like we, the audience, participate in a mass therapy session, that Amorim is awe at every possible occasion. Maybe that is good, maybe it feels cathartically, maybe it is better than bottling it all.
Imagine being his friend and he constantly told you these kinds of things. You would do your best to help him, but there must be a point where you would say, “Come on, size … Give it a little rest.” He would be the man at a party that everyone bombs out if he happened to have a bad day.
Amorim has supervised 10 victories of his 23 competitions responsible for United (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
And so far there have been many bad days at United. It is impossible not to have a sympathy for Amorim; A young coach who had already achieved a lot, but who came to Sporting CP at the end of a cycle and got the chance that he did not feel he could say no.
He wanted to wait until the summer, as was sensible, but United insisted that he took the job there and then, as was not wise. Perhaps he should have retained his nerve, trusted that he could close the season in Portugal and still get a larger job, and could completely avoid the dazzling mess of Manchester United.
But there he is, more and more besieged on the touchline and then, as soon as he encounters the cameras and the microphones, the world shows his truth.
This would all be very different if things went better on the field. If United won, this column might be about how refreshing his honesty is, how it is certainly a virtue that contributed to his players. But like most other things in football, everything is viewed by the prism of results.
He does not seem to play a character or present a persona, as managers sometimes do to create some distance between their actual self and their audience -oriented self.
Who, for those outside of United, especially the media, is great. A manager have exposed his soul instead of staring empty at the camera and offering a set of interchangeable commonplaces, is entertaining, an interesting distraction from the norm, grimly fascinating.
Amorim is a fascinating speaker … but not one for sugar coating (Alex Livesey/Getty images)
But because of him it cannot be a good thing. Apart from the debatable benefits of public self-collection, many of his statements only serve to emphasize the negativity around United, which does not have to emphasize much and create more debate and fever cover.
Would anyone seriously talk about the prospect that United is degraded, given the state of the lower three, if he hadn’t mentioned it? What is the advantage of comparing himself negatively with Erik ten Hag or Moyes? These are the kind of things that may be true, but you don’t really have to say them.
Apart from everything else, from a self -propagation point, there must be a point when his employers think that he is far too honest, that he pulls more negativity for United than they can tolerate.
Perhaps there was any evidence that the United boss can play the game when he will be replaced the reaction of Alejandro Garnacho to the replacement of Ipswich Town in his last press conference against the bank of the substitutes against the city conference that is being replaced by the replacement bank.
Yet the advice to Amorim is just to call it a little. Everyone will understand if you occasionally try a little positive twist. Nobody will now and then blame you for a small FIB.
And if you get into a lift and someone asks how things are going, say: “Yes, not thank you badly, size. How are you? “
(Top photo: Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty images)