What Ruben Amorim must do at Man United to bring ‘the good days’ back
Amorim delivered an apology to the United fans after the end of a dismal campaign and has a litany of problems to solve at Old Trafford this summer
Somewhere along the line, the lap of honour became a lap of appreciation. Yet Manchester United still felt like pioneers on Sunday, ending their season with a lap of apology. Ruben Amorim addressed the crowd in contrition following a calamity of a campaign. After spending much of his first few months at Old Trafford delivering doom-laden predictions and talking his team down, he at least provided a shift in tone. “Today, after this disaster season, I want to tell you the good days are coming,” he said.
It prompts a host of questions. When? How? Why? Really? And if none appear to have an easy answer, there is also a question of how Amorim would define “the good days”. Some would say United have not experienced them since Sir Alex Ferguson retired. Yet compared to their terrible 2024-25 – to borrow another adjective Amorim used – Erik ten Hag’s 2022-23 campaign, which brought a third-placed finish and a trophy, feels good. Even if it did not prove, as it then looked, a platform for further progress. Now, coming 15th means a 14th-place finish could qualify as improvement, if not good days.
There is a case for arguing that United were the worst team to stay up. They took 27 points from 27 games under Amorim, 10 of them against the relegated trio. In all competitions this season, they lost four times to the team that finished 17th, Tottenham. Under Amorim, they were beaten by those who finished 16th, 14th, 12th, 11th (in the FA Cup), 10th, ninth, eighth and seventh; the exceptions were Everton, in 13th, and United were desperately lucky to draw 2-2 at Goodison Park.
The counter-argument is that, as United’s final-day win over Aston Villa showed, some of their better displays came against the finer sides. They won a Manchester derby away from home, knocked Arsenal out of the FA Cup at the Emirates Stadium and held Liverpool at Anfield.
Yet the broader conclusion is that United struggled against Premier League opponents. They will be confined to facing them next season, with no heartwarming wins over Athletic Bilbao or Lyon.
Amorim could always look to the benefits of failing to reach the Champions League, of the added time on the training ground to work with a squad who seem no nearer to mastering a 3-4-3 formation, of the lesser workload on the ageing and injury-prone. Logically, he will need a smaller squad next season.
Equally, however, United’s budget will be smaller. Arguably, they would require about 10 additions – some to start, some as squad players – to fit Amorim, perhaps five for a manager who used a more suitable system. That feels unaffordable, especially for a club who often struggle to sell well: some compromises may be required, keeping some players who look like imperfect fits.
Andre Onana could be a case in point. Ideally, United could do with at least one striker and No 10, a pair of wing-backs, two central midfielders who are better on the ball than Manuel Ugarte and more energetic than Casemiro, perhaps a centre-back with the pace for a higher defensive line. A substandard goalkeeper could survive for another year.
There are greater priorities. If Matheus Cunha and Liam Delap are the chosen ones to address a chronic lack of goals, with the honourable exceptions of Amad Diallo and Bruno Fernandes, it is an indictment of Amorim that the trio who had seemed the club’s future have all regressed: Rasmus Hojlund has been drained of confidence, Alejandro Garnacho was dropped for a European final and has supposedly been told to find himself a new club, Kobbie Mainoo overshadowed as he was also overlooked. For different reasons, each may need a move. For PSR profits, United may want to sell the last two.
They need to find a way out of the cycle of constant change and the consistent need for it. “We’ve [had] a lot of changes as a club in this six months and changed so many things that a normal club could do in three years,” said Amorim. Yet is that an improvement? Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos are firing a further 200 employees; many of them could argue they are paying the price for footballing failures. Amorim can excoriate himself as much as anyone else, but judge him on results and performances and he is very lucky to remain employed.
The United fanbase have not turned on him, though Ratcliffe has joined the Glazers in becoming unpopular. Maybe Amorim had them in mind when he said: “Now we have to make a choice or we stay stuck in the past, because this season is in the past. We fight each other or we stick together and move forward.”
Yet he is the manager who seemed to pick a fight with Marcus Rashford – who now returns to Old Trafford – and may have another with Garnacho.
Instead, the player who may attract offers is the one United can least afford to sell: Fernandes. Amorim may need his captain to believe the good days are returning. Yet a glimpse around the Premier League shows better-run clubs, with superior sides and managers whose record in the division is far better than Amorim’s. Many of his peers have improved their teams. So far, he has made his worse.
Now United would have to make up 14 points simply to draw level with Bournemouth at ninth. They were 24 behind the Champions League spots. They have sunk so low, it might feel an achievement if they could come eighth next season, if they managed to sneak into the UEFA Conference League. They were one game from the Champions League and yet their exile from it threatens to become a lengthy affair.
“I have to deliver next year,” said Amorim. If he doesn’t, the danger is that United waste another season by ignoring the evidence of managerial shortcomings in the summer and persisting with him.
Because if, sooner or later, the good days must return to United, will it be next season and under Amorim?
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