ONE of Manchester United’s greatest ever defenders Jaap Stam has issued a come-and-get-me plea to Ruben Amorim.
The current Dutch amateur side manager, 52, has offered up his services to Amorim, who has endured a tough first month at Old Trafford.
Jaap Stam said he would ‘love to help’ out at Manchester United
The Man Utd legend says he’d be more than happy to join Ruben Amorim’s staff
Speaking to Sport Lens, Stam said: “I’d love to coach at Manchester United but they haven’t picked up the phone!
“I think everyone who has been associated with the club would love to go back and help, having been in management myself I have coached and helping them in any role would be great.
“I’m always open for talks because I’d love to see the club back winning trophies and maybe I could help coach the defence.
“But with the manager lots of new staff has come in so they have plenty of options. But you never know.”
United’s leaky defence has been lambasted over the last 12 months, as they conceded 81 goals last season – the highest total since 1976.
It was the first time in Prem history that a United side finished the season with negative goal difference as they yielded 58 to 57 goals scored.
And the backline was embarrassed again on Thursday as Spurs went 3-0 up inside 55 minutes of United’s 4-3 Carabao Cup quarter-final loss.
This isn’t the first time Stam has advertised himself to his former club’s owners as he made similar pleas when Erik ten Hag was announced.
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Speaking to Betting Expert in 2021, Stam said: “If they would ask me to take a coaching role, I would do it straight away without a doubt.“
“You know United is my life as well. I’ve had great seasons over there, won trophies and it’s been very important for me.”
But Amorim will likely move along from Stam’s desire to return to M16, with the 39-year-old bringing his own winning machine staff along from Sporting Lisbon.
The newcomers joined existing first-team coaches Darren Fletcher and Andreas Georgson, and assistant first-team goalkeeper coach Craig Mawson, who have all remained in their roles.
Stam became a United legend after helping the club reach extraordinary heights during his career.
The former Netherlands international finished each of his three seasons at Old Trafford as a Premier League champion.
Stam is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders in Premier League history
The now 52-year-old also helped the Red Devils secure the historic treble in his debut campaign in 1999.
In February 2024, Stam was appointed manager at seventh-tier DOS Kampen, his hometown amateur club where he had begun playing more than three decades earlier.
Stam had been out of work since being sacked by MLS side FC Cincinnati in 2021.
He took Reading to the brink of the Premier League in 2017 and coached Dutch sides PEC Zwolle and Feyenoord.
Why Rashford joining Arsenal is perfect fit
By Martin Lipton
MARCUS RASHFORD is at a crossroads.
But now the England star has to make the biggest choice he has ever faced – does he care about cash, or about his career?
Rashford’s shock admission that he is “ready for a new challenge” after some two decades under the Manchester United umbrella has altered the dynamic around his future.
That Rashford might not fit the blueprint of Ruben Amorim – who has now responded to Rashford’s comments – was not exactly a surprise.
The Portuguese coach prefers a 3-4-3 formation but appears to have settled on Rasmus Hojlund as his starting central striker and wants two “narrow” inside forwards, with the width coming from the wing-backs.
Rashford has always wanted to play through the middle but is often at his best exploiting spaces out wide – and that skillset does not necessarily suit the way Amorim wants to play.
Even so, going public with his evident dissatisfaction at being bombed entirely from the squad for the Manchester derby was a major move, even if he vowed there would be “no hard feelings” if he does leave his boyhood club.
In truth, Rashford has been leaving United almost from the moment he signed that new £325,000 per week contract in 2023.
Something was broken in his connection to the club. His form dropped, his threat dissipated, his issues with the hierarchy deepened.
When Erik ten Hag dropped him for hosting a birthday party after a derby defeat, and he later pulled a sickie to miss the FA Cup game with Newport, it felt even then that the writing was on the wall.
The facts suggest the love affair has ended. After scoring 30 in all competitions to earn that new deal, he has scored just 15 in the 18 months since it was signed.
Amorim’s arrival seems merely to have accelerated what was increasingly inevitable.
Now, though, it is up to Rashford to determine what his future will bring.
If it is only about the money, then his options might be somewhat limited.
It is hard to see a Prem rival coughing up the same £16.9m annual salary – although Rashford’s comments have probably knocked £20m-plus off any transfer fee, even next month.
But Real Madrid have their fill of big-money strikers and Barcelona’s budget remains restricted by La Liga financial controls.
In Europe, then, that probably leaves PSG – but a move to a one-club league.
Or, in the wider world, he could follow the likes of Ivan Toney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Roberto Firmino and Co and head to the Saudi desert.
Lucrative, yep. Certainly a different environment – and that may be exactly what Rashford both wants and needs. But the football? Not in a million years.
What Rashford needs, above all, is to be able to play for trophies and showcase his talents.
There is no better stage than the Premier League – which has far more global eyeballs on it than any other domestic competition.
And in that Premier League there is one club crying out for a goalscoring No 9, especially if he can also play down the left channel to balance out the side and widen its threat.
Rashford has always been more Longsight than London.
Yet Arsenal, and Mikel Arteta, might be the perfect fit.
The Gunners’ lack of a proper scorer is one of the major factors many fans feel has hurt their title challenge this year.
Gabriel Jesus has never been a natural finisher, while Kai Havertz is still a converted midfielder.
And while the link-up between Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka makes their right flank deadly, faith in Gabriel Martinelli on the left is waning.
There have not been too many who succeeded at Arsenal after leaving United – although Danny Welbeck was not a flop.
Rashford has all the attributes to change that history, if he can reproduce what everybody knows is inside him.
And by breaking free, giving himself the chance to start all over, Rashford can make a point to Amorim that will resonate for a very long time.