25 matches, 8 victories, 5 draws and 12 defeats for a fifteenth place. The Manchester United season is for the moment a real nightmare and optimism never comes back very long. If the advance on the red zone and Ipswich Town (18th) remains important with a gap of 12 points, the English club is 31 points from leader Liverpool, 15 points from the Top 4 and the Rival Manchester City as well as 12 points of European places. Suffice to say that the situation is complicated for a club that has experienced 3 defeats in its last 4 championship matches against Brighton (3-1), Crystal Palace (2-0) and Tottenham (1-0), while offering Alternating content between mediocre and cataclysmic. After this last setback against the Spurs, Ruben Amorim had notably pointed out the absences and a lack of alchemy in the offensive sector.
“”We start with an idea. We wondered about the length of the week. We worked on our principles, but day after day, you lose players who change your approach to the game. I couldn't play in the same way with Joshua as with Amad. Losing matches and losing players is changing your approach every game. We have to focus on the next match and forget about the past. They will see me with the energy necessary to move forward and prepare for the next match. We grow up and we learn a lot. We just have to face and not flee is my feeling. Today, it's going to hurt, it's hard to lose as many matches, but we can change things in a week“, Thus said the Portuguese coach. And if the latter has always hammered that he was going to insist at all costs with his principles to make them assimilate to his team, this does not translate on the field. A failure currently for the former Sporting CP coach who already has 8 defeats and 2 draws in 14 Premier League games.
Less and less defended in England
And this process which is slow to take place is particularly pointed out on the side of the Perfide Albion. Old glory of Manchester United, Gary Neville did not fail to hit him: “There is nothing in the field, neither in the results nor in the performances, which tells me that we see a very good team. This Manchester United team is a very poor team, but even being poor, there are ways to be poor to make even a poor team appear. He (Ruben Amorim Editor's note) dug his own grave when he said at the very beginning: “I'm not going to change my mind”. Now he can no longer. In a way, this is a problem, because, with the 11 players they had on the field (against Tottenham), they had a better way to introduce them into a system that would have made them more comfortable . Now he can no longer change because of what he said before. The performance levels are far from sufficient and it will know it. The biggest concern is that the players have not yet shown in any of the 20 games where Ruben Amorim played with this system, apart from Liverpool outside, that there is entertainment and a level of performance.»»
Former Manchester City player, Micah Richard considered that the Portuguese coach was putting himself in difficulty with his declarations: “When he said that it was the worst team of United History, whatever the quotes he wants to use, what he does not understand, is that it is a title in the newspapers each week. But everything around him actually makes work more difficult for himself. He doesn't understand what he is doing because everything is chaos. It's chaos. You mentioned Sporting Lisbon, you can say what you want when you gain, and without lack respect for Sporting Lisbon, they are not at the same level as Manchester United. I have the impression that he must, I do not want to say focus on football, but stop giving people with greater stories than they should be.Another English consultant, former scorer Michael Owen was also frank in his criticism. If he admits to appreciate the approach of Ruben Amorim, he likes less the content and sent him a warning: “It was a quality without quality, with two medium teams, but it is a huge result for the Spurs. Things do not improve for Manchester United, and they don't look like a team at all. I like the manager, I like what he says and his behavior, but I don't like his team, and it's hard to see things improve.More and more disputed and in difficulty in terms of results, Ruben Amorim sees his situation complicating over the weeks and criticisms are increasingly harsh towards him.
