Man Utd legend calls out 'embarrassing' Wayne Rooney & Gary Neville in public backing of Ruben Amorim after Red Devils boss hit with criticism for stubborn tactics

Amorim took over as United boss last November following Erik ten Hag's sacking and immediately instilled the 3-4-2-1 setup that delivered ample success during his time as Sporting CP head coach. The Portuguese boss won Liga Portugal twice during his four full seasons in Lisbon with the three-man backline vital in Sporting's domestic dominance.

However, the same system hasn't had the desired effect at Old Trafford, with United struggling under Amorim's guidance. The ex-Sporting head coach is yet to win back-to-back league matches during his time in charge while he could only watch on as his United side was knocked out of the EFL Cup by lower league side Grimsby.

Former United heroes Rooney and Neville have been critical of Amorim's refusal to compromise on his tactical principles, which means United are currently 10th after seven matches despite spending big to sign Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, Benjamin Sesko and Senne Lammens over the summer. Owen, though, believes it is 'embarrassing' to blame Amorim's 3-4-2-1 formation for the ongoing problems at Old Trafford.

And as the anniversary of Amorim's appointment nears, Owen believes the problems run deeper than Amorim's use of a 3-4-2-1 system, telling casino.co.uk via the Daily Mail: "They have changed the manager numerous times since Fergie left. Then they blamed the players; spent billions on players and got some of the best players in the world, only for the club to be seen as a bit of a graveyard for players in the last decade.

"Next it was the people buying the players, so everyone wanted rid of them. Then it was the board, so the board was shuffled around when Sir Jim Ratcliffe got involved. Then it's the fault of the facilities so they wanted to revamp the training ground and put plans in for a new stadium.

"Then it's the staff, so half the backroom staff, physios, doctors, canteen lady, the whole thing, wiped clean and a new start there. The latest one is it’s because they're playing a back-three."

"If I'm not wrong, I watched Erik ten Hag about a year ago playing a back-four, and it was some of the most awful football I've ever seen from a Manchester United team," Owen continued.

"Some great teams over the years have played with a back-three. I'm not saying that's my favourite formation at all, and I'm not saying that Amorim is right to be steadfast in his beliefs in that formation. But I certainly don't think all of United's problems now are because they play with the back-three.

"It's embarrassing if you're going to say the main reason for the downturn is because they play a back-three. I mean, it really isn't. They could go back to a back-four and play as bad as they did under Ten Hag, then the screams would be equally as loud."

Owen added that he understands that some of the players may be affected by the negative comments about his philosophy, echoing Amorim's thoughts, stating: "Players aren't sheltered away from everything. They're driving cars to training, putting the radio on. They sit at home in the lounge with the TV on. They read social media. They can do all these things. If you're interested in football, you can't get away from what people are thinking and saying about it.

"Whether footballers should be swayed by those comments or impacted by them, that's a different argument. But I've got no doubt that people will watch and will listen to people they probably respected and thought were great players growing up. They’ll listen to those opinions.

"If they're saying certain things, then it might enter their head, and they could perhaps wonder if the manager is doing the right thing. They might have their own ideas, but that's not a new phenomenon.

"That will never change. It never has changed, but I do think it is a relevant point to make by Amorim."