Shots fired at Man Utd? Jose Mourinho's former assistant sends 'face of unsuccessful project' message following Ruben Amorim sacking

Just days after United parted ways with Ruben Amorim, Faria has emerged from the shadows to deliver a withering assessment of how modern "great clubs" are run. Faria, who served as Jose Mourinho’s loyal right-hand man for nearly two decades, including their spell in Manchester between 2016 and 2018, took to Instagram to post a graphic titled "MIND PIECES".

While the text itself is a philosophical takedown of corporate interference in football, the visual context leaves little doubt as to who the message is aimed at. The text is overlaid on a background image of a coach wearing a tracksuit, with the United crest and branding clearly visible, albeit slightly obscured by the graphic design.

For many observers, this is a thinly veiled "shots fired" moment at the United hierarchy. Faria was present during the Mourinho era, a period defined by public spats over transfer targets, "football heritage," and the eventual combustion of the manager's relationship with the board. By posting this message in the immediate aftermath of Amorim’s dismissal, Faria appears to be suggesting that nothing has changed at the theatre of dreams, regardless of who is sitting in the dugout.

Faria’s text begins by contrasting the football of the past with the corporate reality of the present. He argues that the criteria for hiring a manager have shifted fundamentally, moving away from a pure desire for trophies and towards a requirement for corporate compliance.

"A great club’s philosophy used to be about silverware," he wrote. "Coaches were hired for their winning streaks in order to achieve the club objectives. Today, coaches are often hired according to their willingness to accept a club's business plan. Coaches are led to believe they're at the helm of a sports project in which they can manage their own decision-making while influencing different departments in order to achieve sporting success. The club's business plan, however, is essentially about numbers - with each department set up to achieve its own objectives, contesting any coaching decision that could hinder its own targets - regardless of on-field results. A winning football team is more than the sum of departmental parts and the setting of department-by-department objectives often comes at the cost of points and silverware won. Yet the coach still remains the face of an unsuccessful project - even when their power is reduced to almost nothing!"

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Faria, who worked as a head coach at Al-Duhail for a year, met Mourinho in Barcelona and began working as his assistant at Uniao de Leiria. He then followed the iconic coach to each club he worked at until his time at United came to an end. 

His post comes in the wake of his compatriot, Amorim, being dismissed by the Old Trafford club. His sacking followed a 1-1 draw with Leeds in the Premier League and his public criticism of the board, with the Portuguese coach telling reporters: "I just want to say that I’m going to be the manager of this team, not just the coach. I was really clear on that and that is going to finish in 18 months and then everyone is going to move on. That was the deal. That is my job. Not to be a coach. If people cannot handle the Gary Nevilles and the criticisms of everything, we need to change the club. I just want to say I came here to be the manager, not to be the coach. In every department - the scouting department, the sporting director needs to do their job, I will do mine for 18 months and then we move on."

United were held to a 2-2 draw with Burnley in their first game since Amorim's sacking, with former midfielder Darren Fletcher leading the team. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is expected to be brought in to take over first-team duties at the Red Devils, who sit seventh in the Premier League and three points behind fourth-placed Liverpool. After the weekend's FA Cup clash against Brighton, they will host Manchester City in the Premier League on January 17. Eight days later, they will make the trip to north London to face current league leaders Arsenal.