Ruben Amorim has suffered a tumultuous start to life as Manchester United’s new head coach with his side stuck in the bottom half of the table and facing a potential relegation battle unless results dramatically improve.
United’s latest setback came at home to Newcastle United on Monday night, with Eddie Howe’s side comfortably swatting aside Amorim’s men by two goals to nil at Old Trafford.
The Portuguese coach is adamant he will be sticking with his favoured system that doesn’t seem to be suiting the current crop of players at his disposal after three consecutive league defeats without scoring a goal.
As reported by The Mirror, former Premier League player, now pundit, Danny Murphy has given his view on Amorim’s start to life in Manchester and says despite his impressive off field demeanour, he got it badly wrong against Newcastle.
Systems aside, starting Christian Eriksen alongside Casemiro in the middle of the park drew major criticism from many quarters with the Magpies midfield running over the aging duo.
Murphy shared this view and labelled Amorim’s tactical decisions in the first 30 minutes of the game as “football suicide” and claims the contest was over before he rectified the obvious issues.
“I was at Old Trafford and could see the problem within a few minutes. By the time the Manchester United boss reacted, his team were 2-0 down and it was game over. It was football suicide and unless Amorim changes either his system or the personnel, performances and results aren’t going to change – particularly worrying as United are down in 14th,” he wrote.
Murphy continued by asking the million dollar question of ‘can Amorim’s methods which bought him so much success in Portugal work in the Premier League’, citing Antonio Conte’s Chelsea as the only positive example of a back three in the recent history of the division.
“We know Amorim’s 3-4-3 worked extremely well for him at Sporting Lisbon but the Premier League is a ruthless place.
Only one team has won the title here playing that way and Antonio Conte’s Chelsea were blessed in having outstanding holding midfielders Nemanja Matic and N’Golo Kante – who did the running of two players – and Eden Hazard, who made sure opponents were often more worried about him than going on the front foot themselves. United have none of those assets,” claims Murphy.
The former Liverpool man admits he has been “impressed” by Amorim during his early days at Old Trafford but sees the Newcastle debacle as a “significant black mark” against the head coach and warns United must improve in the coming weeks.
However, things don’t get much easier for Amorim and United who travel to arch rivals Liverpool on Sunday with Arne Slot’s side romping towards the Premier League crown.
United are heavy outsiders going into the game at Anfield. It feels highly unlikely Amorim’s men will leave Merseyside with anything positive at the end of the day, but fans will want to see more solidity and heart from the team who look devoid of any confidence at present.
Featured image Clive Brunskill via Getty Images
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Conner Botterill
Conner Botterill has been with The Peoples Person for two years. A keen match-going red with degrees in Sport and Journalism and Philosophy and Psychology, Conner still believes he has a chance of making United’s first team through his 5-a-side career.
