Ruben Amorim's current league record:
Games - 10
Wins - 3
Draws - 2
Losses - 5
"We are maybe, the worst team in Manchester United history."
1. Poor start, again
We've conceded the first goal in ALL of our last five home league games. 3 have come within the first 5 minutes.
There is no energy from the start which helps nobody especially the crowd who pay good money to go to games and have to watch that shite. There has to be a reason for the people to want to come to games and not think that it's a waste of time.
Showing that energy from the start will make them feel that way and their energy and excitement will build which in turn, can give the players more of a lift.
This is why people say that starts to games are of utmost importance because it sets the tone.
As we don't start (at all) and opposition's do, it sets the tone in the wrong manner.
Teams that play against United start better and it sets the tone for them to go on and control and win the game while we play crap and display nothing to suggest that we are up for it.
The tempo is always slow, there is no urgency to the play, nobody takes the initiative and we create fuck all in attack.
United had just 1, yes 1 shot on target.
That was the penalty.
That pretty much sums us up going forward.
The team's lack of focus is something we've complained about for so long and is evident in so many ways.
I find that we tend to keep teams onside by not watching our defensive line and also find ourselves in an offside position a lot because we don't pay attention to their last man.
While the stats may suggest otherwise as there was 3 offsides apiece, just by watching how and where we are offside and how tight it is in playing them off is so amateur.
We are such a boring team to watch on top of not caring and being dominated by the opposition.
2. Struggling defensively
Amorim has been using five defenders most of the time he's been at United.
When you think about your side having more defenders than attackers, one automatically thinks that this is going to be a Mourinho masterclass and we're going to be hard to score against.
However, every time the opposition goes forward against us now, I feel like they can score as we look quite shaky at the back. This is without corners and balls coming into the box.
As mentioned, a couple of minutes is all it took for Brighton to take the lead making it difficult to execute the game plan set out by the manager thereafter.
United have also not kept a clean sheet in their last NINE games. We've only had the one in the league under Amorim and that was in the 4-0 win over Everton in his third game in charge.
Onana, yes that same Onana, was sitting pretty at the top of the clean sheets charts for a while.
3. Don't involve best players
United in recent weeks especially have not been getting the better players involved in the game.
And by better I mean Amad.
Just Amad.
No one else is doing anything at the moment.
Other than his 12 minute incredible hat-trick, he was hardly in the game against Southampton. Amad was definitely not seen much against Brighton either.
United's general slow tempo is a part of the reason why because we just tend to move the ball slowly and also don't have that quick thinking to try and get the ball to our most potent player.
Admittedly, opposition's have lernt that they need to double-up on Amad given how influential he is. But there are times when we can get the ball to him but just don't.
Amad is also very good in the high press and he was the one to initiate the action that led to the penalty. His high press on Brighton won the ball which went to Zirkzee who was fouled in the box. Bruno scores the penalty and we get back into the game. This all comes from the willingness to put the opposition under pressure, something that no one else seems to do or do as well in our team.
Even when Garnacho is on, we don't get the ball to him much either.
Our two best players in attack and two players who can make things happen out of thin air hardly get the ball. This is a game where we needed that spontaneity more than ever.
4. Overplaying players?
I think Amorim is.
But I also think, he has to.
This is probably the only slight on Amorim as I believe that he is seleting too many of the same players all the time.
I'm looking at the trio of Mazraoui, Mainoo and Ugarte in particular.
The Moroccan defender has played all 32 games this season and very rarely gets a break. Amorim and ten Hag before him used the defender as often as possible.
Looking at his last two performances, Mazraoui hasn't been quite at the level we've seen him at for most of the season. He was struggling against Southampton who gave him a torrid time and Brighton targeted him all game down the right.
Mitoma had a lot of joy against our right wing-back as he stole a run in behind him early in the game which led to that assist for the opening goal. The Japanese then caught the defender out on the back post for their 2nd.
I feel that the manager has seen this deficiency in Mazraoui's game and that's why he decided to swap his full-backs. I'm not sure what that is all about if I'm honest nor do I think it has worked.
Even Mainoo has been looking way to lackluster in midfield. He doesn't seem to have that energy for some reason and often leaves Ugarte by himself. He then has to do too much covering to a point where it becomes too much.
Speaking of the Uruguayan, Amorim said last week that he is fatigued. We can see that in his last two games.
The United boss has also substituted his starting midfield early in his last two matches with Bruno dropping deeper with Collyer coming on as well.
Swapping full-backs and substituting midfielders isn't a good sign.
The problem the manager has is that there is no one to replace these guys. All of them are worse even if they are fresh after not playing for a while.
Amorim has taken this team as far as he can.
5. Needs backing
This is where you have to look at the board and INEOS. We are passed the halfway mark for the month and United have done fuck all in terms on incomings and outgoings.
We did have the 'Here we go' for Antony to Real Betis but that isn't a sale nor is it big news. As we don't get any fee for him, this deal doesn't really help us in terms of the sell to buy policy.
Garnacho to Chelsea or Napoli is gatherting pace and seems increasingly likely that he will go and for around £60m and while that will be in keeping with that policy, we all know that this is NOT the right move as it goes against everything this club is about.
That fee is too less for him as well and we still have sooooooooooooooo much crap that needs removing before Garnacho.
However, as he is a valuable asset that clubs would like, this is the reason why United are looking to sell.
But whether the manager rates Garnacho and Antony or not, he still does not have the necessary players to get this United team cooking.
Some would say that this team isn't even in the pot yet to be cooked.
INEOS brought this manager in and so far, at the first attempt to get him what he needs, they've failed.
Amorim can do no more with what he has.
Background player image: Bruno Fernandes scores penalty in Man Utd's 3-1 loss to Brighton | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)