traveling fans. At the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, only a handful of fans remained in the third tier of the away end, and the visiting supporters’ section gradually emptied out afterward—a scene that Man Utd fans have grown all too familiar with in the Manchester Derbies over the past 12 years. The media atmosphere Amorim is currently facing is not much different from what David Moyes, José Mourinho, Ralf Rangnick, and Erik ten Hag encountered back in their days.
Even if Amorim manages to hold on until next month’s match against Liverpool, the Reds (Liverpool’s nickname) have a tradition of immediately or eventually triggering the sacking of Man Utd managers. Moyes was sacked 37 days after a 0-3 loss to Liverpool; Louis van Gaal left his post 74 days after a 0-2 defeat; Mourinho was dismissed just two days after a 1-3 loss; Ole Gunnar Solskjær departed 28 days following a humiliating 0-5 thrashing; and Ten Hag handed in his resignation 57 days after a 0-3 defeat to Liverpool.
Man Utd’s elimination from the EFL Cup against Grimsby Town via penalty shootout felt like Amorim had crossed a point of no return. Although it was just a cup match and the defeat came in a penalty shootout, the impact of the humiliating result has not diminished—some players who started that game may never play for Man Utd again.
The effectiveness of Man Utd’s summer signings has been widely questioned. The team has decent "ingredients" (talent), but the entire system struggles to take shape due to its loose structure. It was Amorim’s choice to promote Altay Bayindir as the first-choice goalkeeper, yet Bayindir has conceded 26 goals in 15 appearances for Man Utd. Lammers, on the other hand, lacks experience and remains largely an unknown quantity—he was not even included in Belgium’s latest national team squad, which named four goalkeepers.
Benjamin Šeško showed enthusiasm against Man City but still failed to find the net. He has not scored in seven games for both club and country this season. In contrast, Rasmus Højlund, after leaving the chaos at Man Utd, has rediscovered his goalscoring form at both club and international level.
Luke Shaw’s time as a makeshift center-back may soon come to an end—like Amorim, Ten Hag also preferred using left-footed players at left center-back, but a more reliable option would obviously be to field a genuine center-back. Deploying Shaw at center-back in the Europa League final proved ineffective, and this arrangement is bound to cause problems sooner or later this season. Harry Maguire is a natural center-back and a stronger defender than Shaw, yet he has been demoted to the bench and only occasionally used to boost attacking output.
Now, the weakness of Man Utd’s midfield continues to have a negative impact. However, club sources stated that this position was never a priority for reinforcement this summer “due to the squad’s depth and the versatility of its players.”
Casemiro’s only impressive performances this year have been limited to the Europa League—yet Man Utd has no European qualification this season. Kobbie Mainoo has not started a league game since May, and despite a lackluster first-half performance against Grimsby, he still made the matchday squad for the Manchester Derby. Neither Bruno Fernandes nor Mason Mount is a defensive midfielder, and the latter has picked up an injury in the second league game of each of his three seasons at Man Utd, missing at least three weeks each time. Three teams have already scored against Man Utd by exploiting midfielders making late runs into the box, and Fernandes once again watched as Phil Foden headed home in the 18th minute.
Amorim emphasized again that unless the club replaces him, he will still insist on using his preferred 3-4-2-1 formation. Even if he suddenly switches to a four-defender system, Man Utd may not see an immediate improvement in performance.
