Gary Neville belives Ruben Amorim’s recent comments to the media are a signal that the Manchester United boss is not happy with the Old Trafford hierarchy.

But Jamie Carragher has scoffed at Amorim’s criticisms, claiming the Portuguese “is barely competent enough to be a Premier League manager right now”.

Amorim told reporters after the 1-1 draw at Leeds that he had joined Manchester United to be their manager rather than a head coach and seemingly indicated that he will leave the club at the end of his contract.

“Something has happened in the last week which means that Amorim is starting to unleash a little bit,” said Neville on his podcast.

“It looks to me that he is not happy with something in the hierarchy.”

Amorim’s comments followed a suggestion on Christmas Eve that he has not received the backing he anticipated in the transfer market to play with his preferred tactical system.

But his remarks received a scathing rebuke from Carragher, with the Sky Sports pundit insisting that Amorim should not be in charge of Manchester United.

“I don’t think he is in any position whatsoever to be questioning the people who appointed him,” responded Carragher. “Because he’s not good enough. He’s not good enough to be Manchester United’s manager. He’s barely competent enough to be a Premier League manager right now.”

Pressed on what might be the cause of Amorim’s gripes, Carragher suggested: “It can only be two things. It can either be about the January transfer market, that he’s not being backed. Or the people above him are questioning that he’s flip-flopping between systems.

“It started to look like he was getting somewhere with a back four, he went back to a five at the back against Wolves and it was possibly the worst performance from a team we’ve seen against Wolves this season.”

Man Utd’s next five fixtures

• January 7: Burnley (A) – Premier League, kick-off 8.15pm, live on Sky Sports
• January 11: Brighton (H) – FA Cup third round, kick-off 4.30pm
• January 17: Man City (H) – Premier League, kick-off 12.30pm, live on Sky Sports
• January 25: Arsenal (A) – Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm, live on Sky Sports
• February 1: Fulham (H) – Premier League, kick-off 2pm, live on Sky Sports