Alan Shearer believes Manchester United’s second-half performance against Chelsea proved that they’re still playing for their manager – contrary to numerous reports.
The Red Devils’ turbulent start to the campaign has, unsurprisingly, led to speculation that Ruben Amorim is on the brink of suffering the same fate as the likes of Erik ten Hag and his other predecessors.
With such murmurings comes suggestions that the squad have lost faith in their head coach – to the point some may start downing tools in the hope changes are made in the dugout on the back of substandard performances.
Why United’s spirited showing will please Amroim
Yet, Saturday’s display at home to Chelsea looked like it may well have been a turning point for United, even if they were against 10 men for the majority of the first half.
Capitalising on having the extra man following Robert Sanchez’s sending off resulted in the Reds bagging two relatively early goals.
Then, when Casemiro was shown his second yellow and sent traipsing down the tunnel, United were able to cling onto their lead against a rampant and reenergised Chelsea side.
The visitors eventually halved the deficit with 10 minutes plus injury time left to play via Trevoh Chalobah, but were unable to take anything from their trip to M16. As such, Amorim recorded his second win of the term.
United are now level on points (seven) with Manchester City and just three points adrift of the top four. To say they’ve come up against three of the typical ‘big six’ in their opening five matches, that’s not really bad going.
Shearer’s take on United vs Chelsea – and what it meant for Amorim
“The manager, Amorim, is under huge pressure, and I thought his players did really well for him in the second half. I thought they dug deep. They rolled their sleeves up. Yeah, I think if he wanted to know whether they’re still with him or not, I think that sort of gave him the answer,” said Alan Shearer on Monday’s The Rest Is Football episode.
“That’ll give him a bit of relief, actually. A great three points for them, and they had to work very hard for it. But I think if he needed to know, then I think that performance will tell him that his players are still with him.”
