Man Utd have three home games left in December and they present a big opportunity to pick up some points and climb the Premier League table.
Manchester United
The Old Trafford atmosphere has improved recently but United's results have gone backwards
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Ruben Amorim thought Manchester United had cracked it at Old Trafford. Four successive home wins in the Premier League was the best run of form there since the end of the 2022/23 season and hinted at brighter days ahead. Burnley, Chelsea, Sunderland and Brighton were seen off between the end of August and the end of October and a weight looked to be lifted.
The atmosphere was excellent in those matches and it did look like something was building at Old Trafford. Amorim certainly felt it. After the fourth of those wins, when Brighton were beaten 4-2, he spoke about the atmosphere after Bryan Mbeumo had scored to put United 3-0 up just after the hour mark.
"I think, after the third goal, the noise of the stadium was not normal. It was like a different moment," he said. "It was the first time that I felt that sound within the environment. So it was a very good moment for me. "Of course, we are focusing on the game but there are something things in this club, in this stadium, that you feel. And that was really strange. The sound of the stadium was incredible."
There was no reason to think that positivity would suddenly come to a halt. United went a month without playing at home, but when they returned against Everton, Amorim was confident of continuing that run of form. Before the match, he touched on how difficult it had been for United to play at Old Trafford in recent seasons and suggested he felt that those challenges might now be over.
“That is the best thing, because in the recent past it was hard to play at home," he said. "But nowadays you miss playing at home, that is a feeling we should have in our club. I’m really excited to be back playing at home and the players also. We need to continue winning at home.”
Only United didn't continue winning at home. Home fixtures against Everton and West Ham should have produced six points rather than one and the manner of the defeat to 10-man Everton was particularly galling. It felt like all that positivity built up at Old Trafford had been eroded in one dismal 90-minute display.
West Ham was little better. Amorim's side conceded a late equaliser but produced a flat attacking performance. While the atmosphere remains excellent at times, the players need to fulfil their end of the bargain, and the noise will never be sustained in games like that one.
Now, United are back to the drawing board at home. Their record stands at four wins, two defeats and a draw and it leaves them 13th in the Premier League home table. Last season, they had the 14th-best home record in the league, and the season before that, the eighth-best. It's nowhere near good enough for what United want to achieve.
Playing in the biggest club stadium in England should be an advantage that United can drive home, but the fear factor of Old Trafford has long since vanished. It is those wearing red who now find it tricky.
Just look at Bournemouth for evidence of that. The Cherries have won two successive league fixtures at Old Trafford, both 3-0, which would have once felt unimaginable.
Perhaps this month is an opportunity for the momentum to return. United have won only three of their last nine home games in the month of December but fixtures to finish the year against Bournemouth, Newcastle and Wolves should be seen as an opportunity.
Three wins are clearly achievable, and with Aston Villa away sandwiched between those first two fixtures, a couple of victories might well be needed. Improving their home form is vital if United are to return to the Champions League and the festive period is an ideal chance to bring the cheer back to Old Trafford.