Kolkata: Since every Manchester United fixture feels like the chronicle of a defeat foretold, about the only surprise on Monday night was Newcastle not being able to win by a bigger margin. Exactly how bad things are could be gauged by head coach Ruben Amorim refusing to rule out relegation after the 0-2 defeat.
Manchester United have not been demoted since 1973-74 but with the 13-time Premier League champions hitting the kind of lows they have not in decades, the possibility cannot be ignored, even though Amorim may have meant it as a wake-up call. This was their third successive defeat at home, a first since 1979. Not since September 1930 have they lost six matches in one month like they have now.
“It’s a little bit embarrassing to be United coach and to lose a lot of games. But we have to cope with that,” Amorim said.
Manchester United ended 2024 in 14th place, their worst since 1989, on 22 points. That is seven points off the drop zone and less than half of what leaders Liverpool, who have a match in hand and whom Manchester United meet on Sunday, have halfway through the season.
To secure Amorim’s services, the club paid €10m to Sporting. A coach who has gone 34 matches unbeaten, won the league twice in Portugal and had tamed Manchester City, was worth that. Amorim, 39, now has five defeats in his first eight league matches, which is the worst start at Manchester United in 103 years. He has lost six of his 11 matches in charge.
“He came in as a young manager and knew it was going to be a big job, but it is far bigger than he could have imagined,” Gary Neville, the former Manchester United defender, said on Sky Sports.
And the man Amorim replaced was the first Manchester United manager since 1921 to lose his first two games in charge. From David Moyes through Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Erik ten Hag and now Amorim, Manchester United’s ability to give big guns a bad name has remained constant since Alex Ferguson left in 2013. Former coach Ralf Rangnick had said the club needed open-heart surgery. “People are tired of excuses in this club,” said Amorim.
The Portuguese accepted that the team has not improved on his watch. “It is a little bit lost in this moment.” The point was also made by Harry Maguire before Monday’s match. The transition from Ten Hag to Amorim is going to be tough, Maguire had said. Proof came early on when Maguire and Lisandro Martinez failed to stop Aleksander Isak strolling in and heading Newcastle ahead.
With ease Newcastle had been able to beat the resistance of Christian Eriksen and Casemiro before Bruno Guimaraes swept the ball wide. Inside four minutes, Newcastle had exposed Manchester United’s tactical and mental fragility.
Guimaraes dispossessing Eriksen and sending Isak on his way was another example of how easily the home team can be overrun in midfield in the absence of Bruno Fernandes, who was suspended. It was a trend that continued even after Kobbie Mainoo replaced Joshua Zirkzee in the 33rd minute. By then, Martinez had failed to prevent Joelinton from making it 2-0, Sandro Tonali – the kind of midfielder Manchester United have lacked since the days of Michael Carrick – had hit the framework, Anthony Gordon and Isak had come close.
If any proof was still needed that Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 formation is not sitting well with his team, this was it. Amorim said he knew that. Problem is, as he pointed out after the match, the formation for which these players were bought had not worked as well.
Ten Hag had come to Manchester wanting to form a team around Frenkie de Jong and ended up resorting to a high-press, low block. A doughnut formation, it was called. Amorim has said he is not going to be reactive. “I have to sell my idea,” he said. “I don’t have another one.”
Early in the season, Newcastle conceded first against Bournemouth, Fulham, Wolves, Manchester City and Chelsea. “We gave ourselves mountains to climb,” manager Eddie Howe told BBC. Vulnerable at set-pieces, it is on Amorim and his staff to find a way to prevent Manchester United letting in the match’s first goal.
On way to five successive wins and a first at Old Trafford after 2013, Newcastle have sorted that out. “Confidence is the ultimate thing that makes the difference. The players are playing in their best positions and look happy,” said Howe.
For that to happen under Amorim, players will first have to be sold, and it could be difficult to find buyers for Eriksen, Casemiro, Zirkzee and Antony. Maybe even Marcus Rashford though his return to the bench could be a sign of rapprochement. If so, it could be the only happy ending at the club for some time now.
