Manchester United languishing in 14th place in the Premier League table. A manager who argues results are not an accurate reflection of performances and insists relations with the club hierarchy are tickety-boo. A growing sense that change is inevitable. Oh yes, we have been here before with Manchester United.
For Erik ten Hag twelve months ago, read Ruben Amorim now – albeit with one small but important difference, if we are to believe the beleaguered but ever-affable Portuguese.
For while Sir Jim Ratcliffe declined to comment on whether he retained faith in Ten Hag when the question was put to him around this time last year, Amorim insists he continues to enjoy the full support of United’s billionaire co-owner, who arrived at United’s Carrington training base by helicopter on Thursday morning for a meeting that was also attended by club chief executive Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox, the director of football.
Ruben Amorim: ‘In this moment, it’s normal people pay attention’
“He was offering me a new contract,” Amorim laughed when asked about his conflab with Ratcliffe. “No, it’s normal things, just to show the support, explaining that it is a long project. He said many times that this is my first season – for me, it is not – but normal things.
“I spoke with him, with Omar, with Jason, just trying to see all the data around the team. So a normal meeting, and we have had several. But in this moment, it’s normal people pay attention to that.”
What is not normal is that the United have just one victory to show from four Premier League outings this season, a miserable start that was compounded by last month’s humbling League Cup exit to League Two side Grimsby Town.
‘I think we are improving compared to last year’
With Chelsea due to visit Old Trafford on Saturday for a game that has seen United issue a statement warning fans against discriminatory chanting, all connected with the club will want to banish memories of last weekend’s 3-0 battering at Manchester City. Amorim, whose tactics have come under intense scrutiny, appreciates that results must come sooner rather than later.
“This is football, and this is the club with maybe more pressure [than any other] in the world,” said Amorim. “But we want to win. You can say whatever. I think last year I was very critical of the way we play. I think we are playing well until the boxes; defending and attacking, we need to be more aggressive in the boxes. We need to be more clinical.
“The rest I think we are improving compared to last year, I think we are in a better place. But again, we need to win. We lost against Arsenal and we lost against City – and here, losing, especially in the beginning [of the campaign], after last season [when United finished 15th], is a problem.”
Yet it is not only Amorim’s problem. As United’s first managerial appointment since Ratcliffe’s Ineos Group took control of football operations at United in February of last year, there is a strong will at executive level to make the club successful under the 40-year-old’s stewardship. The alternative is an embarrassing loss of face, particularly after this summer’s £230m outlay in the transfer market.
That said, United cannot continue in current vein forever. Speculation about Amorim’s future will continue to grow unless and until things change. In the meantime, Ratcliffe’s backing for the manager should come as no surprise.
