Ruben Amorim faces a huge summer, in which he simply must get his Manchester United team fit for purpose and fast.
The future of Manchester United looks bleak right now, having been beaten in the Europa League final by Tottenham, which led to a crash to reality.
Despite the knowledge that the campaign had been an absolute disaster, the European exploits took some of the shine from being 16th in the Premier League.
After the cup final loss, everything hit hard, and the true magnitude of how terrible this campaign has been hit home for many, with rightful outrage from supporters.
Despite the disaster his first six months in charge have been, Amorim’s position is not under threat this summer, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe already setting the target for next season.
Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
Sir Jim Ratcliffe sets a new target for Ruben Amorim to achieve in 2025-26
When Ineos first arrived at United, it had been suggested that they were looking to implement a specific style of play in the team and expected managers to follow it.
Jason Wilcox told Erik ten Hag he must follow the new United way, and this was expected to be attacking, possession-based football. However, now the goalposts have been set with Ratcliffe set to judge Amorim on league position and not style.
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This is according to Rich Fay and Manchester World, which has claimed that Ineos won’t be judging Amorim on the style his team plays next season, instead primarily wanting to see a rise up the table.
Ratcliffe is thought to be targeting a 6th-place finish in the 2025-26 season, which would be a big success compared to how terribly this campaign has gone.
It might even be a conservative goal.
Ruben Amorim will feel top six is possible for Manchester United
Right now, United look a million miles from challenging the top six, however, a lot can change in a matter of months with a full pre-season of players learning the system and also a handful of elite additions.
The team Amorim fields in early August will be vastly superior to the one currently being worked with, and this alone should be a boost, along with the system itself being more familiar and second nature to the players.
Amorim will know that signing a striker will go a long way in improving his team, considering it is goal scoring that has been the biggest problem with his team over the past few months.
Ineos will also be aware of this, and Amorim should be confident of hitting his target as the gap between United and the top six is not as big as it seems, as shown in performances against Chelsea, Forest, and Bournemouth lately.
Next season should be a big improvement, and it almost has to be.