Ruben Amorim might not have been historically accurate when he labelled his Manchester United flops as “maybe the worst team” in the club’s history, but his astonishing claim did expose the extent of the problems facing the beleaguered boss.
United are languishing in 13th place in the Premier League and have endured a painful series of ignominious losses since Amorim arrived from Sporting Lisbon to replace the sacked Erik ten Hag in November.
Amorim responded to United’s dismal 3-1 home defeat against Brighton on Sunday by branding his players among the worst in the club’s illustrious history.
Already in disarray prior to Amorim’s appointment, United have stumbled from one calamity to another under the Portuguese coach, with only rare signs of optimism in their draw at Liverpool and FA Cup win over Arsenal with 10 men.
United have suffered six home league defeats this season, their most from their opening 12 matches since the 1893-94 campaign.
They have also lost 10 of their 22 league games this term, the earliest into a top-flight season that they have hit double figures for defeats since 1989-90.
Heralded as one of the brightest young coaches in the game after a successful spell with Sporting, Amorim is now beginning to understand exactly why United have gone 12 years since winning the most recent of their record 20 English titles.
The 39-year-old’s brutal assessment pulled back the curtain on the depth of United’s decline since legendary boss Alex Ferguson ended his golden era after that 2013 title triumph.
“Our players are really nervous in actions,” Amorim said. “When you go on the pitch you remember the last games here.
“If I feel it, the players feel it a lot. The only way is to continue to do the same and to win games, that’s the only way to fix this.”
Amorim is paying the price for United’s muddled recruitment policy in recent years.
Harry Maguire, Rasmus Hojlund, Antony, Casemiro, Andre Onana and Joshua Zirkzee have all failed to justify hefty transfer fees, leaving Amorim with an unbalanced squad that cannot meet his demand for a high-energy 3-4-3 formation.
British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe and his legion of advisors have hardly made a positive impression since the INEOS boss became United’s co-owner last year.
They dithered over Ten Hag’s future after last season’s surprise FA Cup final win against Manchester City, eventually opting to keep the Dutchman despite speaking to Thomas Tuchel about replacing him.
When Ten Hag struggled again this season, Ratcliffe axed him in October, only to then fire sporting director Dan Ashworth after just five months in the role.
Unable to turn the tide, Amorim’s blunt criticism of United could be seen as a message to Ratcliffe to spend on new signings before the January transfer window closes.
United’s current 13th place would equal their lowest finish since 1989-90, while their tally of 26 points from 22 games is eight fewer than at this stage of any previous season since 1992.
Last season, they finished eighth, which ranked as their worst final position since 1990.
Despite those damning numbers, United historians could make a case to disagree with Amorim’s “worst team” claim on a purely statistical level.
United have been relegated from the top-flight five times, a fate surely even Amorim’s woeful squad are unlikely to suffer as they sit 10 points above the drop zone.
Their most recent relegation came in 1973-74 when United legend Denis Law returned to Old Trafford with Manchester City to score the goal that rubber-stamped a fate already sealed by results elsewhere.
It was especially ironic that United hit their latest low point against Brighton on the day they paid tribute to Law, who passed away aged 84 on Friday.
Law, Bobby Charlton and George Best became known as United’s ‘Holy Trinity’ after spearheading their rise to European Cup glory in 1968 from the ashes of the Munich plane crash that killed eight members of Matt Busby’s team 10 years earlier.
Leading United to Champions League glory must seem a long way off for Amorim as he comes to terms with the size of the task facing him at Old Trafford.
