And we never learn 🙄.

Yes, so it has come to pass that “fans” and others are calling for Ruben Amorim to be sacked or at least that perhaps other managers may have done a better job.

What is this? Have we not learned from the past?

‍

Of course, at the moment, we are terrible. So terrible in fact that we are just 3 points ahead of West Ham who sit in 17th, the final spot above the drop zone. Taking into account the remaining fixtures for United the chances are we could end up in 17th.

On top of that, the football is crap, the players are untrustworthy and the way the club is run is…

I can’t even find the words to describe it.

‍

Amorim does deserve criticism because he is the manager but when looking at all of these factors (a lot of which are out of his control) it isn’t completely out of the question that things were going to go awfully.

Coming in mid-season also added to the pressure and while United were only 4 points off top four at that stage, we were in 13th and all of these factors were still prevalent.

It was a nigh on impossible job and to do it without a pre-season, without his own players, with players who are untrustworthy all whilst implementing a system that has never been seen at United was always going to take time.

That time seems to be running out for some supporters as the ‘Amorim out’ talk has already started. Understandably with the way we’re playing and where we are on the table it sort of warrants this sort of reaction.

However, as I said, a lot of things are out of the manager’s control. Even Sir Jim Ratcliffe said that he thinks "If I actually look at the squad which is available to Ruben, I think he is doing a really good job to be honest.” He’s right. Can any of us say that we should be expecting a hell of a lot better with the current group?

‍

They were slightly better before Amorim joined but slightly better isn’t anything to write home about. They were also playing for a coach in Erik ten Hag that they’d known for a few years and in a system that they’d known for even longer.

But we were still shite with very little progress and not much of an identity as nobody knew what type of team we were.

Admittedly things have gone quite terribly under Amorim but he is doing exactly what we wanted ten Hag to do and that is to stick to his principles. I know I’ve mentioned it several times but ten Hag abandoned his playing style after a couple of games and we never saw it again. He actually said that we won’t see Ajax football at United: “I can't play like Ajax because I have different players."

This was something that we all knew simply because the players weren’t good enough and the manager had to adapt to them rather than the other way around. This does expose these players to some extent but not enough to say that it was completely on them as to why we were failing.

ten Hag saw the club spend more than £600m on players that he wanted in his 2-and-a-half years at Old Trafford. The fact that he still then didn’t implement ‘ten Hag ball’ and we were still shit and didn’t see any identity, meant that this was now more on him than anyone else.

‍

What Amorim is doing with those same players is that he is sticking by his guns no matter what, something he said he’ll do until the end. This has also exposed these players waaaaayyyyy more than any other system as it has allowed us to see just how crap they truly are.

Most of them are actually incapable of playing ‘Amorim ball’ which is why the team is struggling gravely and are in the position they're in. For the first time in a while, a manager is trying to implement his style but he just doesn’t have the tools to do it. Hence why we want to sell a lot of these players and want the club to back the 40 year old.

‍

In spite of all this though, I believe that in the past couple of months, we’re starting to see this system come together with some of the players actually adapting to it. We’re seeing much better football with a better defense and more attacks. Before the Newcastle game, United had conceded just 9 in their previous nine games and scored 15 in that time. The previous nine had seen 13 goals scored and 11 conceded with a couple of clean sheets along the way. An improvement of sorts.

This is why the United boss was enraged after that 4-1 loss on Sunday. News came out that Amorim was “fuming” on Monday morning post that defeat and even went so far as to cancel a meet and greet with kids 👀. “Ruben’s message was clear, you have until the end of the season to fix up or you’re OUT” via SullyTalkz.

It’s understandable that this would happen given all the progress we’ve seen and for the players to then drop that clanger at St James’ Park but to cancel a meet and greet with kids shows the severity of the situation. However, there were images that surfaced of Amorim and Garnacho meeting with some children. Maybe they had a change of heart 🤷‍♂️.

‍

For those even talking about a system change, it makes no sense. Why did it work at Sporting? Simple, he had the players who were capable of playing in a 3-4-2-1 formation and understood what the manager wanted from them. We don't have that at United and is why we need an overhaul.

Ruben Amorim also had a similar type of first campaign in Lisbon before he went on to lift the Portuguese League title in his second season, the first time the club had done so in two decades. Maybe we should just give him what he needs as well as time?

‍

This is why I can't understand these "fans" who want the manager out. We've been down this road so many times before and it has gotten us nowhere. We sack them, bring a new man in, don't get the players he wants, don't remove those that need to be removed, they end up letting that manager down only for the coach to be sacked. These players remain and the cycle continues.

With Amorim, we have a manager who is finally doing what he wants and exposing these players even more than before in that they need to be moved on. His style is also very successful not just for him but for others who've used this formation and approach: Atalanta, Bayer Leverkusen, Chelsea under Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte.

It isn't the system or style.

This is where the club have to back him otherwise Amorim may as well leave now.

Amorim out 🤦‍♂️. I can't (but sort of can) believe it.

‍

Ruben Amorim: Image credit: Getty Images via Goal