Manchester United came to London on Saturday in a bid to win back-to-back Premier League games for the first time under Ruben Amorim.
Instead, they lost 1-3 to Brentford at the GTech Community Stadium, and the hosts deserved all three points.
The result means the head coach has now won only nine times in 32 league games, and it is clear that he and his flawed system are simply not good enough.
And even more worryingly for the Red Devils, the ever-reliable Bruno Fernandes continues to struggle in the new season.
Bruno misses a penalty yet again
Against the Bees, the skipper ended up missing his penalty, the second time it has happened this season, and both times against teams from the capital.
Not only is he losing his normally impeccable penalty conversion rate, but his influence on games is also on the wane.
And that is partly due to the ex-Sporting CP boss’ insistence on playing his compatriot as part of a midfield pivot instead of further forward in his preferred attacking midfield role.
The club captain managed to complete 0 crosses, while successfully finding a teammate with a long ball only 45 percent of the time.
He failed to complete a single dribble, and ended the game with a passing accuracy rate of a mere 78 percent.
And off the ball, the Portugal international struggled to track back, and towards the end of the game, it almost looked like he had given up.
Amorim’s system doing him no favours
He ended the game with only 50 percent ground duels won, while not competing for a single aerial duel. The midfield maestro also lost possession 18 times.
Unfortunately, the skipper was handed the lowest rating of all United players by Sofascore (5.8).
With his mistakes on the rise, questions will be asked of United’s decision not to sell him in the summer when Saudi Pro League sides were ready to offer a record sum.
Bruno Fernandes still looks like United’s best player but Amorim’s system is doing him no favours, and if he continues to mess up at crucial junctures, INEOS might not fight to keep him for much longer.
Feature image Justin Setterfield via Getty Images
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Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
