Premier League | “We have to survive”: United up against the wall to get out of a difficult situation

The trip to Molineux Stadium was a trap. A team awakened by the arrival of Vitor Pereira, who Amorim knows well, and a convincing success recorded last weekend against Leicester (0-3): this is what presented itself against the Red Devils. After a bland first period at best, insipid at worst, everything accelerated upon returning from the locker room. Bruno Fernandes unbolted and received a second warning following a big sole on his compatriot, Nelson Semedo. This new setback pushes them to 14th place, already seven points behind the European places.

When nothing is going well, nothing is going well for them. For the second time in a week, André Onana conceded a direct corner, this time by Matheus Cunha. He was still satisfied with the content produced by his players, who were outnumbered. “We tried until the end. I had the impression that we were closer to the draw than Wolves were to the second goal because we controlled certain aspects of the game”Amorim was satisfied. However, the penalty came in the dying seconds from Hwang Hee-Chan who made the score 2-0.

After the time of the field comes that of realizing the path that remains to be taken. Harry Maguire, part of this club, wanted to spare a thought for the staff. “It’s difficult for the manager and his staff, because it’s not like they come in after a manager with a similar style. (…) But that’s not an excuse“, pointed out the English defender. On the staff side, we are asking for time for the players to assimilate the new demands and especially a restructuring at club level. “At the moment we have to survive. I’m starting this job without having time to train, it’s hard to implement all the ideas with the sequence of matches”regretted the coach.

It’s hard to blame him, as the mission seems impossible and the equation insoluble. But Ruben Amorim awakened records almost a century old during his chaotic debut. With only four victories, in all competitions, and two in the league during his first ten outings on the Mancunian bench, the Portuguese technician is not doing well. To find such a poor record over the first ten matches, we have to go back to 1932 (!), at the time Walter Crickmer also had five defeats during his debut. But the responsibilities are shared, a resigning captain, players not involved and a complicated group life, it is not good to be on the Old Trafford side.

Ruben Amorim especially realized that this club is going in reverse and he launched an appeal to its leaders. “We have to work on a lot of things in our club, on the pitch, off the pitch”said the technician who left Sporting to get involved in a project which increasingly resembles a quagmire. Survival will have to continue for the Mancuniens since in the next matches Newcastle, Liverpool and Arsenal will stand, excuse me. Not sure that these teams are ideal for allowing players to assimilate their coach’s new ideas, but no choice. The competition continues, with or without them.