LONDON, Dec 28 — Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim arrived at Old Trafford a little over a month ago with a glowing reputation and backed by many to be the man to turn around the club’s flagging fortunes.
But 10 games into his reign the former Sporting boss has not only struggled to ignite United’s season, he has also been outshone by the Premier League’s three other Portuguese coaches.
Amorim has won four, lost five and drawn one of his 10 games in charge in all competitions and his stuttering side are 14th in the table having lost four of their last five league games.
His captain Bruno Fernandes was sent off for the third time this season in the 2-0 loss at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Thursday and they conceded direct from a corner for the second time in three matches.
Add the impasse with forward Marcus Rashford, who Amorim left out of his squad for the fourth successive match, and the problems are piled high for the 39-year-old.
Amorim’s failure to even get a ‘new manager bounce’ is in stark contrast to the situation at Wolves where compatriot Vitor Pereira has had two straight wins since replacing Gary O’Neil.
Pereira enjoyed a dream first home game on Thursday as his side beat 10-man United to climb out of the relegation zone.
Another Portuguese manager has also got the better of Amorim since he took over — Nottingham Forest’s Nuno Espirito Santo.
Forest’s 3-2 win against United was their first success at Old Trafford in almost 30 years and Espirito Santo has now led the Midlands club to third in the table — heights they have not seen since the days of the great Brian Clough.
While Forest are a point off second-placed Chelsea, United are closer to the drop zone than the top four and next host in-form Newcastle United and visit leaders Liverpool, plus Arsenal in the FA Cup, so things could get worse before they get better.
There is another Portuguese coach vastly outperforming Amorim too. Fulham’s Marco Silva on Thursday masterminded the club’s first win at Chelsea since 1979 — a 2-1 result that left them in eighth spot, one point behind fifth-placed Newcastle.
Unforgiving league
With United having paid an €11 million (RM51.3 million) release fee to bring Amorim to Old Trafford, there is no chance that his job is under threat.
But he will be aware that the Premier League can be an unforgiving environment, as Espirito Santo knows only too well after being sacked by Tottenham Hotspur three years ago.
The fact is the squad Amorim has inherited needs a major overhaul and he knows next summer will be a crucial transfer window if he is to build foundations for a new era of success.
Former United great and fellow countryman Cristiano Ronaldo believes Amorim will get it right, but needs to be backed.
“I said this one year and a half ago and I will continue to say it: the problem is not the coaches,” Ronaldo said yesterday at the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai where the Al Nassr forward was named Best Middle East Player of 2024.
“It’s like the aquarium and you have the fish inside and it’s sick, and you take him out and fix the problem. If you put it back in the aquarium it will be sick again. This is the problem of Manchester United. It is the same.” — Reuters
