Dion Fanning: When Ruben Amorim took over at Manchester United, he walked into a trap

The Manchester United soap opera, which was once full of cliffhangers, has become a whodunnit, and the list of suspects responsible for the club’s predicament is long.

Ruben Amorim seems stunned by what he has to put up with at Manchester United, but that may be another failure of his. Pic: Martin Rickett/PA Wire.

One last drama awaits. More than 10 years ago, Richard Arnold, who was then Manchester United’s commercial director, found an upside to the club’s downturn in fortunes.

In November 2014, Arnold spoke at a conference in Dublin and asked, “Why do people watch soap operas?”. He explained why he felt they did. They want to know, he explained, “what will happen next? – the hanging music and then the next episode”.