The buildup to the next season has firmly taken shape after the Premier League released the fixture list for the 2025/26 season, and it poses a new dilemma regarding Ruben Amorim.
Man Utd’s Premier League fixtures in 2025/26 couldn’t have been tougher as Ruben Amorim faces a trial by fire straight away.
There are many narratives around the fixture list, but the biggest one is the tough start, which will see them play three of the conventional “top-six” within the first five games.
The fixture list poses a big dilemma for Ineos regarding Ruben Amorim. Their straightforward decision just became more complicated.
Ruben Amorim, Manager of Manchester United, looks on prior to the Premier League match between Brentford FC and Manchester United FC
Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
The Ruben Amorim dilemma for Ineos at Man Utd
When Amorim promised happier days at Old Trafford soon, it was easy to take him at face value, if only for the fact that it was difficult for the days to get any worse.
However, the expectation from Amorim next season can’t simply be to finish higher than 15th. Omar Berrada has made lofty Pep Guardiola comparisons, but they’re arguably at the other extreme end of the spectrum.
What Man Utd fans will want to see from the team next season is a semblance of identity, fight, and the building blocks for a squad that can eventually contend.
Before the fixtures were announced, it was a non-negotiable, even Amorim said so, that United cannot start the next season the way they finished 2024/25.
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He said numerous times that he would be in trouble if United did so, and it was easy to see why. However, the fixture list poses a new dilemma for Ineos.
How much weight do they put in the fixtures against Chelsea, Man City, and Arsenal, with Liverpool and Spurs to come soon after, if they want to judge Amorim after 10 games?
On one hand, if United come through that run with their morale intact and some good results, the talk of a new era will take precedence.
However, the opposite is just not as true anymore.
A complicated call on Amorim
It was easy before the fixtures to say that Amorim would be under extreme pressure if the team didn’t start the next season well.
Now, the start itself is so tough that a straight decision for Ineos has just become complicated.
It might benefit Amorim to an extent because he has everything to gain from those fixtures, with an added mitigating factor of the opponent’s strength in case it doesn’t work out.
For Ineos, however, the decision to stick or twist based on how United begin their season has become way more complicated.
Do they pull the trigger on Amorim if, say, United are winless against the top teams after 10 games? The thinking could be that the new manager can get a soft landing against more accommodating opposition.
Or do they let him ride out the wave, thinking that a team in early stages of development should be given more leeway?
That decision would have been straightforward had Amorim fumbled an easy start to the season. Now? Now so much.