Man Utd head coach Ruben Amorim is under huge pressure to turn things around at Old Trafford.
Manchester United insist they remain in support of Ruben Amorim and will give him longer to prove his worth as their head coach. With each defeat, that strong backing looks stupid rather than stoic.
It was a lot easier to sack Erik ten Hag a year ago because he was not an Ineos appointment. Dan Ashworth was deemed the fall guy for the decision to keep the Dutchman after the FA Cup final win and United insisted they would learn from their mistakes. To sack Amorim now would be an utter embarrassment and a huge admission of failure.
That doesn't mean it isn't the right thing to do, though. While it might be argued that it is too early in the season to truly gauge where United are at, it can also be argued that time is still on their side to turn the season into one of success if they sort their issues out.
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Amorim isn't the only one to blame for the struggles on the pitch, but he is becoming a bigger problem by the week. The 40-year-old had a few convenient excuses last season in that he had inherited a team that wasn't suited to his style of play midway through a packed fixture campaign, when there was little time for them to work on their precise tactics in training. The deal was that he needed heavy backing in the transfer window and a full pre-season to truly influence his side. He had both of those this summer.
He has reiterated full faith in his philosophy and insisted it won't be changed. Instead of being adaptable, he is adamant his way will eventually work. The old phrase is that 'insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.'
United sources insist there are no talks with other managerial candidates and that nobody is being lined up to replace Amorim, though if they were to make a change, they would at the very least need a rough idea of who they would like to get in instead. Ironically, Amorim might have already pointed them in the rough direction.
Speaking ahead of the weekend defeat at Brentford, he heaped praise on summer signing Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo. They might not have justified such reverence after the match, but the United head coach made it clear his preference had been to sign Premier League-proven players in the summer to improve the physicality and athleticism of his United team.
"You can see that every player you want to be in the Premier League is really expensive," he said. "But if you look at our moments last year, you want to take the less risky move. It's really important to have top players in our team. If you look at Bryan and Cunha, they have done this for years. It was something we looked at, players in the Premier League."
By the same logic, United might be better off with a manager who is proven in the Premier League as well. Amorim worked wonders at Sporting, but success in Portugal does not equate to success in England. While inevitable comparisons with Jose Mourinho will be made of any Portuguese coach, Carlos Carvalhal and Bruno Lage are just as relevant when it comes to compatriots.
Every appointment comes with risk attached to it, though appointing a manager who already has a wealth of Premier League experience and has shown adaptability with their tactical approach would surely represent a safer pair of hands going forward.
It is understood the United squad are shocked by how quickly the season has unravelled after they had genuine positivity and optimism at the start of August. There are several factors at play, but so many of their problems are rooted in the system that doesn't suit the squad, and appears so easy for many opponents to unpick.
After so many false dawns, it is hard to suggest any candidate who would clearly do a better job than Amorim, though it is hard to argue any who would be able to make them much worse.
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