The week that broke Manchester United’s season | OneFootball

‘Twas the week before Christmas, when all through the Theatre of Dreams, a manager was searching, for how to improve his new team.

Ruben Amorim arrived at Old Trafford in November amidst a sea of excitement and expectation with Manchester United fans braced to welcome their tenth different manager since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement.

The Smiling One

Having swapped Portugal for England, the 40-year-old Sporting CP coach was replacing a dour Dutchman in Erik ten Hag, who had lost the support of the club’s executive structure, large swathes of the fanbase, and much of his own team.

Where Ten Hag lacked charisma and personality in interviews, Amorim exudes both in abundance. For much of the former Ajax manager’s reign, a smile was a rarity; the ‘Smiling One‘ from Sporting can light up a room with his. Ten Hag possessed the shoulders to carry the burden of United’s managerial role but he lacked the face; Amorim walks, talks and acts like he was born for the role.

There was hope Amorim – who has been dubbed the ‘Second Special One’, after comparisons with another Portuguese coach who arrived on English shores in a similar state of fanfare – would be able to right a ship which had been threatening to capsize under Ten Hag.

The Red Devils were 14th in the Premier League at the point INEOS decided to pull the trigger on the Dutch manager, seven points above the relegation zone. A last-sixteen tie in the Carabao Cup against Leicester City awaited while United had drawn all three of their Europa League fixtures. The FA Cup third round would not take place until January.

Fast forward to May – seven months after Amorim assumed the helm at Old Trafford – and United are 15th in the league, having been dumped out of both the Carabao Cup and FA Cup. They are still yet to hit the 40 point threshold which typically guarantees safety from relegation with only three games to go.

The Europa League offers the last chance of salvaging success in an otherwise dismal season for the club with the Reds having progressed to the final of the competition after a pulsating 7-1 aggregate victory over Athletic Club in the semi-final. They will face Premier League rival Tottenham Hotspur in Bilbao – a side they have already lost to three times this season.

But, in the words of Amorim himself, even a European triumph would not be enough to overcome the club’s abysmal domestic season. This is mirrored by his players with both Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho echoing their manager’s scathing assessment.

And that’s because, away from an impressive Europa League campaign, United’s form in the Premier League has been nothing short of appalling. The club is on track for comfortably its worst season in the history of England’s top division with a host of (unwanted) records broken, or soon to be, in terms of league position, points, goals, and losses.

While the domestic cup exits were unlucky, as the Reds deserved to beat both Tottenham Hotspur (Carabao Cup) and Fulham (FA Cup), it is performances in the league which are the bread and butter of a team.  And United have resembled a piece of burnt toast sans the dairy this year.

So where has it gone wrong? Why has the ‘Special One’, who arrived in Manchester with expectations of revolution, become seemingly as marred by the cycle of misery at Old Trafford as his Dutch predecessor? Why are United’s performances in the league as ineffective now as when Amorim first took over from Ten Hag seven months ago?

Perceptions off the Pitch

The first point to ponder is the problem of perception.

While a young manager arriving from a European league with a clear philosophy is the type of exciting appointment any fan dreams of, this is just one side of a coin; the positive twist on a much more complicated choice.

Replace ‘young’ with ‘inexperienced.’ Swap ‘European league’ with ‘weaker division.’ And change ‘clear philosophy’ to ‘narrow tactics.’ Are you still as excited? It’s the same manager, the same appointment, the same personality, and the same resume. Just a shift in perception.

The reality is this: Amorim has never managed outside of Portugal; he has never coached a side to play anything other than his trademark 3-4-2-1 system; the level of scrutiny and pressure of the hot seat at Old Trafford is unfathomable until you sit in it; and the Premier League is the toughest league in Europe, where anyone can beat everyone on any given day.

This isn’t said to detract from Amorim’s abilities as a coach nor is it a pessimistic premonition for his future.

This writer is not suggesting he was a poor appointment or that he will end up a failure at Old Trafford, rather the contrary. Amorim feels the man most suited to the role out of the long line of previous incumbents in the post-Ferguson malaise, though perhaps that may just be his charming smile.

But the idea that a then 39-year-old manager was going to arrive in England, with zero experience of the league, at the biggest club in the world, with a squad wholly unsuited to his specific system, and immediately succeed while dogmatically applying this philosophy was an illusion at best. Or, a delusion at worst.

Problems on the Pitch

The main reason this initial hope bordered on delusional is that this group of players are simply not good enough.

It would not matter who the manager was, no one – not even the great Sir Alex – is challenging for the Premier League title with this United squad. Ferguson would likely be happy with a Europa Conference spot this season at best, based on the options available.

Let’s start at the front and make our way back from this motley crew.

The senior striking partnership of Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee have totalled just seven league goals between them. By comparison, Jamie Vardy – Leicester City’s 38-year-old captain – has scored more than both United forwards combined for a side destined for relegation before the season kicked off.

The club’s highest-paid attackers, the ones you would expect to lead a relatively inexperienced attack, are absent from Old Trafford as both Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho are currently on loan at Premier League rivals.

The midfield is a disjointed unit, outside of talismanic club captain Bruno Fernandes. Players either past their prime without the physicality to survive in the Premier League – e.g. Casemiro and Christian Eriksen – or inexperienced operators, such as Kobbie Mainoo (19), Toby Collyer (21), and Manuel Ugarte (23, but inexperienced within English football), who are still struggling to find their feet.

The defence is the strongest area of the pitch for United with a favourable selection of options and age ranges. But it’s also perhaps the most important part of Amorim’s system, with the wing-backs absolutely essential to his tactical approach.

None of the existing cohort of defenders have laid a strong claim to the role on either side of the pitch, despite the club signing a specialist in Patrick Dorgu in January. In fact, the best performances at wing-back have come from an attacker – Amad – which further exacerbates the goal-scoring issues if the Ivorian international is moved back.

Similarly, the reliance on the wing-backs to provide width necessitates centre-backs capable of defending the large spaces their teammates have vacated by pushing forward. Out of the senior options, only Leny Yoro and Noussair Mazraoui are comfortable with this demand; Harry Maguire, Matthijs de Ligt, Lisandro Martinez, Victor Lindelof and Jonny Evans are not.

Then there’s the goalkeeping situation at Old Trafford, which resembles more a story of Hyde and Hyde than either option playing the role of the friendly Dr Jekyll.

Both senior shot stoppers – Andre Onana and Altay Bayindir – have committed game-changing errors when picked by Amorim. The sense of panic an unsteady goalkeeper produces spreads like a disease throughout a defence with isolation the only antidote. Except Amorim is unable to drop his senior goalkeeper, Onana, because the replacement, Bayindir, is even more infective.

The Portuguese coach refuses to criticise either player as he knows he has no other viable alternative until the summer transfer window, with the club increasingly linked with a move for a new goalkeeper. Till then, it’s a case of hope and pray any time the ball approaches the Reds’ box.

But, on a more positive note, there are some reasons to be optimistic about United’s squad.

Fernandes remains world-class and is capable of being so in multiple positions in Amorim’s system. The defence is well-stacked and Yoro increasingly resembles a young Rio Ferdinand. Amad has emerged as one of the best young wingers in England, while players like Garnacho, Mainoo, Chido Obi and Harry Amass will only continue to develop as they gain more experience with other highly-rated youngsters waiting in the wings.

But the reality is that years of mismanagement and horrendous recruitment have finally caught up with the Red Devils. This is a squad closer to twentieth than it is first, and the league table reflects that.

When you throw in a new manager like Amorim, armed with a system which does not suit the team, who takes over midway through the campaign without the benefit of pre-season, you are left with the almost unimaginable reality of Manchester United being 15th in the Premier League.

With better players, the Portuguese coach would undoubtedly do better. But this current cohort of United players have a low ceiling; and the brutal reality is, only new signings in place of the worst offenders will help raise it significantly.

A chef can only do so much with bad ingredients.

The Week Before Christmas

Now, this does not absolve Amorim of blame. While United’s squad is a disjointed mess, there is enough talent in it to scrape into the top half. Success in the Europa League should have been matched by better campaigns in the domestic cups as well.

The 40-year-old coach has made tactical errors, both with selection and in-game management. He’s not been brave enough in terms of applying his own philosophy, frequently opting to play traditional fullbacks at wing-back, as opposed to wingers, resulting in United lining up with a back five, rather than a back three. And he has persevered with underperforming players – e.g. Onana and Hojlund – when the team would have benefitted more from their removal, if only temporarily.

But perhaps the most conspicuous part of Amorim’s reign thus far is the lack of the tried and trusted ‘new manager bounce’ – a stereotype within football for a reason, such is the reliability of an upturn in results when a change in the dugout happens.

Momentum is a powerful force within sport. Contests, whether between two football teams on a pitch, two boxers in a ring or two tennis players on a court, can appear to be foregone conclusions, only for the momentum to radically shift on a sixpence and a completely different outcome unfolds.

Michael Jordan once remarked, “Momentum is a powerful force; once you build it, it drives you forward effortlessly.” And it’s this sense of being driven forward which a ‘new manager bounce’ taps into. But Amorim failed to get his new car to start in the period after his appointment, despite coming close with powerful revs on two occasions.

United’s opening three results after the Portuguese coach arrived were a 1-1 draw away to Ipswich Town, a 3-2 win at home to Bodo/Glimt, and a 4-0 demolition over Everton at Old Trafford. It was the beginning of a bounce, before the ball promptly burst.

Back-to-back losses against Arsenal and Nottingham Forest brought United back to earth after a sense of momentum had begun to build. A last-minute victory away to Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League helped steady the ship, before the daunting prospect of a trip to the Etihad to play local rivals Manchester City on December 15.

And it was this week before Christmas – December 15 to December 22 – which ultimately broke Manchester United’s season. Because the momentum which could, indeed should, have been generated from it would have effectively propelled the team forward and created an enduring sense of positivity which, for example, David Moyes was able to inspire with Everton after returning to Goodison Park in January.

But the opposite happened – for a variety of reasons – and a key opportunity to kickstart United’s season was missed, with the effects reverberating across the rest of the campaign.

December 15:

Amorim makes the biggest decision of his brief tenure at Old Trafford so far: he drops Rashford and Garnacho from the first-team squad to play Manchester City, citing issues with their performances in training but extending olive branches for a return. A bold choice, but it pays off.

United triumph over their rivals with a stunning late winner by Amad, after largely matching, if not outplaying, City on their own turf. Amorim even plays a crucial role in the last-minute goal, instructing Martinez to find the 22-year-old winger with a brilliant lofted pass.

This should have been the pivotal moment for United’s new head coach.

He had laid down a gauntlet to his most experienced attacker (Rashford) and one of the team’s most exciting youngsters (Garnacho), while making the rest of his new squad squad certain about the standards he demands from them. All while beating Pep Guardiola away from home in the process.

Except only Garnacho rose to the challenge presented by his coach. Rashford, by contrast, chose to cower from it.

December 17:

Two days after Amorim demanded Rashford demonstrate improvements in attitude and application, the 27-year-old forward – whose contract with United is worth in excess of £350,000 a week – publicly declares his intention to leave the club in an unauthorised interview.

“I’m ready for a new challenge,” Rashford revealed. Just obviously not the challenge of training harder for your boyhood team who pay you incomprehensible amounts of money to do so.

The interview was not well-received amongst the executive branch at Old Trafford, nor by Amorim and his coaching staff. Plans were immediately put in place to expedite Rashford’s exit in the January transfer window, even if temporarily, and the forward did not play another minute under Amorim before his eventual loan move to Aston Villa.

Maybe Amorim saw Rashford as a sacrificial lamb, a player he would publicly lambast in order to send a message to his new squad: my way or the high way.

The fact that Garnacho was subject to the same treatment but welcomed back into the side after offering tangible improvements dispels this idea, however. As does the fact that multiple managers have now taken issue with Rashford’s conduct, including Ten Hag, who made the England international a centre-piece of his side.

Rashford has long displayed issues with attitude, behaviour and effort, with multiple off-the-field incidents at Old Trafford in recent years. Amorim is simply the first manager to publicly call him on it and back it up with actions.

December 19:

United travel to London to play Spurs in the Carabao Cup. Amorim heavily rotates from the victorious side over City with Bayindir, Lindelof, Eriksen and Antony all coming into the starting eleven. Perhaps most crucially, Amad is rested, despite his heroics a few days previously. Rashford does not travel.

A chaotic match ensues, littered with mistakes by both sides, as Ange Postecoglou’s side emerge 4-3 winners. Bayindir, in particular, is woeful in goal as his errors cause United to exit the cup, with the momentum of the City win beginning to falter.

Sky Sports presenter Jamie Carragher later describes the loss as “missed opportunity” to build upon the Manchester Derby success, questioning Amorim’s decision to change the team. But the actual performance by the Red Devils was deserving of a comfortable victory in spite of the rotation.

United racked up an xG (expected goals) of 2.58, scoring three times, while Spurs mustered just 0.78, despite scoring four. From a statistical perspective, Amorim’s team should win that match 9 times out of 10. Alas, football is not played on a spreadsheet.

If it was, the ‘driving force’ of momentum would not be nearly as powerful.

December 20:

Mason Mount, forced to withdraw in the Manchester Derby after just 14 minutes with injury, is confirmed to be out for “several weeks“. This deprives Amorim of the only other Premier League-proven attacker in his squad after Rashford, given Fernandes had been successfully redeployed in central midfield at this stage.

December 22:

United host AFC Bournemouth at Old Trafford. Amorim switches Fernandes back into the attack, as neither Mount nor Rashford are in the squad, and the midfield suffers in the captain’s absence.

Despite this, the Reds once again play well, but ultimately lose due to a series of inexplicable errors, with Andre Onana taking over the role of chief villain from Bayindir.

Amorim watches his side outplay Bournemouth but the Cherries inflict a crushing 3-0 defeat. The xG battle – United (2.66) – Bournemouth (1.4) – once again favours United, but mistakes conspire to snatch defeat from the jaws of (a statistically probable) victory.

A Missed Opportunity

The week before Christmas ends with United having suffered their third league defeat in four games. An unceremonious exit from the Carabao Cup, despite outplaying the opposition. A key attacker set to miss an important part of the season with injury. And the team’s most experienced, and best paid, forward publicly pushing for an exit.

The momentum generated from the derby win the previous weekend has fully dissipated. And while it can be a driving force for good, it can equally propel you towards failure once it finds its gait.

United go on to suffer back-to-back 2-0 losses to Wolverhampton Wanderers and Newcastle United – both thoroughly deserved, even from an xG perspective – over the Christmas period, making it one win in six in the league. The ‘new manager bounce’ has burst before it got off the ground and Amorim’s side never truly recovers for the rest of the season, outside of their European adventure.

In an alternative reality, Rashford takes on board the words of his manager and he knuckles down to try and prove Amorim wrong. The effort levels the 27-year-old forward has demonstrated at Villa Park are night and day to the lethargic performances which characterised the previous eighteen months in Manchester since his contract renewal.

United’s attack has been so poor this season that an invigorated Rashford would have been an invaluable asset for Amorim, who has been forced to rely on the ineffective pairing of Hojlund and Zirkzee. Instead, the ‘local lad’ chose to declare his desire to leave Old Trafford just days after his team’s impressive victory in enemy territory.

If Amorim could have played Rashford against Spurs in the Carabao, maybe the club’s best forward would have helped convert an xG win into an actual one. And it’s an identical story against Bournemouth, where Fernandes was forced to vacate the midfield to take over Rashford’s position with the team desperately lacking a clinical touch.

United could have entered the Christmas period with a semi-final in the Carabao Cup on the horizon and back-to-back league wins against tough opposition. This would have constituted the momentum shift Amorim was so desperately craving at this crucial stage of his tenure.

It did not materialise, however, for a variety of reasons – both in and out of the 40-year-old coach’s control.

And while this prospect of a rejuvenated Rashford remains a hypothetical, what is certain is the club’s most expensively paid player, who has been at Old Trafford since he was seven years old, taking the extraordinary step to publicly declare his wish to leave undoubtedly produced a negative effect in a vital week for his club.

The academy graduate is perfectly entitled to push for an exit. But to do so by way of a public interview, just forty-eight hours after a 2-1 win over Manchester City at the Etihad with a Carabao Cup clash against Spurs two days later, is as unforgivable as it is selfish.

Yes, Amorim could have played a stronger team at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium but he was only trying to do what he thought was the right thing for his players’ fitness levels. Rashford was simply thinking about himself and no one else.

If United fans want to point the finger at one individual for their team’s catastrophic league campaign, it should be Marcus Rashford, not Ruben Amorim. The English forward was the Grinch that week before Christmas without ever returning to give back what he took.

Featured image Shaun Botterill via Getty Images

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