Ruben Amorim’s critical error has accelerated Man Utd to an unthinkable reality

The Red Devils have created history with six defeats in a month for the first time since 1930, but Richard Jolly outlines how they have found themselves in the grim reality of a relegation battle despite signing their designer manager

It normally takes two years for a Manchester United manager’s reign to descend into crisis. It has only taken two months for Ruben Amorim to reach that point.

A fifth defeat in six league games prompted the head coach who left Sporting CP second in the Champions League to warn that United are at risk of dropping into the Championship. This might be a relegation battle. “It is one of the worst moments in the history of our club, and we have to accept that,” he said.

“I think our club needs a shock.” This is what they are getting. This may be the worst kind of shock therapy. Erik ten Hag seemed to redefine rock bottom for United by finishing eighth last season, but it gets lower.

When United sacked the Dutchman, it was in part because they thought they might be able to qualify for the Champions League. But they were 14th then and 14th now. They could be 15th before they play again. They are 13 points from the top four, seven from the bottom three. They are in poorer form than most of the strugglers and stragglers.

Since Amorim arrived, only Leicester and Southampton have taken fewer points. But for the Amad Diallo-inspired comeback in the Manchester derby, it would be six straight league losses. Newcastle only won 2-0 at Old Trafford but it might have been many more. The gulf between teams who finished side by side in the table in the last two seasons is now wider than the gap between Casemiro and Eriksen.

Perhaps it falls upon Amorim to prick United’s bubble of delusion. He joined the club with “Project 150”, the stated aim of winning the league by 2028. Unless that league is the Football League, they won’t. Amorim walked away from the prospect of a league title, his third. When he was lured from Sporting, they had a 100 per cent record in the Portuguese league for one.

Now United have lost five Premier League matches in December alone. “It is a bit embarrassing to be Manchester United coach and lose a lot of games,” he admitted. If trading Sporting for United proves a mistake, it is far from the only one he has made in the last two months.

Amorim was full of confidence at the start of his tenure, as were Manchester United (Martin Rickett/PA)

Amorim is not trying to dodge the blame. “I am responsible,” he said. “I don’t like to arrive here and make excuses. I think people are tired of excuses in this club.” And yet it may not have been an exercise in false modesty. “It’s also my fault in this moment because I think the team is not improving,” he added. They are getting worse. “We don’t have a lot of time to train the base of the way we want to play,” he said.

But that, in turn, reflects on his attempt to remodel the team. He has introduced a system that leaves United undermanned in the middle of the pitch, which was glaringly apparent when the immobile Casemiro and Christian Eriksen were the central pair against Newcastle. He automatically plays with three centre-backs, but United have still conceded 11 goals in their last four games. He is wedded to 3-4-3. Who, in his squad, prefers it? Mason Mount does, but he is injured. Harry Maguire and Rasmus Hojlund might. But surely no one else. An obstinate refusal to compromise, to use players in their best positions, has made United still worse. Which, given how bad they were under Ten Hag, is an achievement of sorts.

“When you have a change of coach, especially in this type of club, it is because they were not winning. They play specifically in the system they were bought for and chose perfectly for that system. In that moment, they were losing. So [am I] going to change to that system that I don’t believe [in]? It doesn’t make sense.”

Joshua Zirkzee of Manchester United is taken off by manager Ruben Amorim (EPA)

Which convinced him, but it is more illogical to use a shape that doesn’t suit the players, which they weren’t bought for. And it hasn’t been a great few weeks for the division’s inflexible ideologues. Like Ange Postecoglou and Russell Martin, Amorim has persisted with a philosophy, rather than reacting to a reality. “I have to sell my idea, I don’t have another one,” he said.

But it is worth noting that his insistence on a back three was a deterrent for Manchester City and Liverpool. And they have at least some players who could flourish in the formation. There may not be a squad less equipped to play 3-4-3 than United.

Factor in errors in selection and too often Amorim’s United have had the wrong players and the wrong tactics. Some have been underused, Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford included. The Mancunian has not played a minute in United’s last four games and has not been in the squad for three of them. They have lost all four, failing to score in the three league matches.

Amorim has overseen a disastrous start to his life at Old Trafford (PA)

If there has been a need to rotate, to get to know the players, Amorim erred with his weakened team at Tottenham as United exited the Carabao Cup, when it might have been a route back into Europe. There probably won’t be one via the FA Cup, with United away at Arsenal, or the Premier League. But then, if Amorim’s grim warnings are correct, they have greater concerns. They thought they were hiring one of the best managers in Europe. They have now suffered six defeats in a month for the first time since 1930.

It is an indictment of Amorim. He has the smile and the style. He came with plenty of confidence but seems to have underestimated the Premier League and overestimated his ability to turn these players into his team. The job risks being too big for him. “We have a lot of problems,” he said. Relegation would be one few foresaw. A few weeks into the Amorim era, United have their designer manager and have made a complete mess.