Man United’s relegation form proves Ruben Amorim is not the next great manager | OneFootball

Is it, Jason Wilcox may have wondered, how a director of football’s time finishes? With applause from around the ground and a picture of him on the big screen, surrounded by the multitude of trophies won in his tenure? But the man being lauded was Txiki Begiristain, who returned to Manchester City for a hug from his old ally Pep Guardiola and a tribute from his former club.

Perhaps, in his retirement in the Basque Country, Begiristain should expect a call from Sir Jim Ratcliffe, given the Manchester United co-owner’s fondness for hiring people with City on their CV. Ruben Amorim was an appointment with a difference: perhaps chosen in part because of a suspicion he might be lined up to succeed Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium. Instead, he came off second best to the Catalan in City’s 3-0 win. The eventual verdict on the season may still be that Guardiola’s best days are in the past; but this was another awful afternoon for Amorim. The idea that he is the next great manager has taken a battering in the last 10 months.

“The record says everything, I understand,” admitted Amorim. Because the issue is not merely one derby defeat, or even the familiarity of some of the flaws it contained. It is Amorim’s return over the course of his reign. United finished 15th last season. They are 14th now. But construct a table of the 17 clubs who have been the constants in his tenure and United are 17th and bottom, with 31 points from 31 games. “It is not a record you should have in Manchester United,” said Amorim. Take his results over a season and they could be called relegation form. As it is, United have made their worst start to a league campaign since 1992-93. They won the league then. They might not finish in the top half now.

Even those with a rudimentary grasp of maths can realise that 31 points from 31 matches works out as exactly one point per game. Which, in a different way, he could have accomplished if he had never won a game but drawn all 31; would he have been better off with that ridiculous form of invincibility? Instead, he has a side who are all too beatable. United have lost twice as many league matches as they have won under Amorim.

There are problems that predated Amorim, issues that are not his fault, things that, rather than solving, Ratcliffe and co have compounded with their own shortcomings. There is always more than is apparent in public. “There are a lot of things. You have no idea what happened during these months but I accept that,” added Amorim.

And yet his response to his wretched return remains the same: to carry on with his stubborn adherence to a formation that does not work. The genius of Amorim’s 3-4-3 system is that United always have too few players where they need them. In particular, they are outnumbered in the middle of the pitch. “City make a midfield four against a two,” noted Bruno Fernandes, one of the duo, arguing United need others to come into that area of the pitch. But too often, it is too open in midfield. Meanwhile, they can have five defenders but none of them are capable of stopping Erling Haaland. Even with those five back, no one tracks runners from midfield, a factor in Phil Foden’s opener.

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Ruben Amorim's record at Manchester United is the worst of any recent manager (Action Images via Reuters)

So Amorim, almost inevitably, insisted: “I am not going to change. When I want to change my philosophy, I will change. If not, you have to change the man.”

Changing the man has a certain logic. There were reasons to do it at the end of last season, instead of giving Amorim around £230m to spend and allowing him to exile those, such as Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho, who he does not want. Ratcliffe has changed many another man at Old Trafford but has so far been firmly behind Amorim.

He won’t be the first Ruben to be sacked by a northern club with the suffix United this season; Ruben Selles at Sheffield United claimed that particular honour. Nor, indeed, will he be the first manager United hired since Sir Alex Ferguson retired to be given his marching orders this season: three others – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Jose Mourinho and Erik ten Hag – were sacked in the space of a week.

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Amorim has refused to change his philosophy or system despite Man Utd's poor results (AFP via Getty Images)

Each had a better record with United than Amorim. Maybe he had a worse inheritance with United because of his predecessors. But after a preseason, a summer spend, this is his team now. City were stronger, more powerful, more ruthless.

City won the moments and the match. “We have to look at what we did well and it’s not enough,” added Fernandes. “We need to score goals and not concede.” Which, in itself, was damning. United score too few – only two from their own players this Premier League season and one of those was a penalty – and concede too many. Only West Ham, Nottingham Forest and Wolves have let in more this season. And if United’s goalkeeping troubles are a reason for that, Amorim’s answer was to sign Senne Lammens and then put him on the bench. It gave him a glimpse of what he is walking into.

“I am trying to be rational and I don’t lie to myself,” said Amorim. But the league table rarely lies and, over that 31-game table, no one is beneath Manchester United.