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If wags would characterise Manchester United’s visit to Fulham on Sunday as the circus coming to west London, a more sober billing still casts Ruben Amorim as the ringmaster of a club in perpetual chaos, a manager charged with navigating a slew of problems rocking the stability required to revitalise England’s record 20-time champions.
In midweek the head coach was asked if the storm engulfing United may soon hit worse with “thunder and lightning”. The question followed last Sunday’s morale-sapping 3-1 reverse to Brighton, a seventh defeat of Amorim’s 16 games that had him branding his team as, possibly, United’s poorest ever vintage.
On Thursday came some shelter from the tempest, via a stoppage-time win (just a second at home since mid-December) over Rangers that has United as favourites to secure Europa League last-16 qualification. But in the Premier League Amorim and his beleaguered unit are mired in debilitating mode, having managed two victories in his 11 matches, and sit 13th, with a goal difference of minus five.
Then come the cornucopia of related “challenges”. Foremost is the lack of finance for transfers and the need to sell home-reared jewels such as Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo to generate funds. Bottom line: United have reached the final week of the window and are yet to make any fresh recruitments to aid Amorim.
After Rangers were downed, the Portuguese had to shrug off an inquiry about whether new signings, actually chosen by him, would help. The short answer is a loud “yes”. The longer one would reference how Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his Ineos brains-trust forced the 39-year-old to be parachuted in mid-season after warning that the No 1 job would not be there for him to take up in the summer – Amorim’s preferred (and prudent) choice.
What else? Well, when seriously struggling, you do not need to send your best forward into exile, as Marcus Rashford has been for the past six weeks. This problem seems self-inflicted by Amorim. Because unless a Ratcliffe tap on the shoulder informed of the need to offload the forward’s £365k-a-week salary, how bad do the “training reasons” have to be (Amorim’s stated reason) to exclude the 27-year-old from United’s past 10 outings?
The wider tale of the attack-line is worth a multi-part documentary series and would take in how this stretches nearly as long as the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.
Garnacho, a bright talent who would probably seriously prosper if man-managed smartly, is deemed winger non granta and may soon be off to strengthen Chelsea’s (or Napoli’s) ranks. This is a head-scratcher: United cannot score (27 in 22 league games), yet are willing to offload an effervescent defence-breaker? And who replaces the 20-year-old?
Antony, another wide man, is the £80m flop who struggles to finish or make an assist, and is heading on loan to Real Betis for the rest of the season, 84% of his circa £150k-a-week wage being sourced by the Spanish club. Next, Joshua Zirkzee, a placid No 9 with a paltry four goals in 32 appearances, and Rasmus Højlund, a pacier centre-forward but as toothless (seven strikes in 27 matches) who, a second season into his United career, is stuck.
In this forward-line gloom, the fleet-footed, quick-brained Amad Diallo is a beacon of light. Yet the Ivorian, too, suffers from Amorim being unable to send out a side that creates consistently: he has nine goals in 31 outings, hardly seismic numbers.
Rewind and this dysfunction also takes in Jadon Sancho, a £73m misfit on a season-long loan at Chelsea. Mason Greenwood, the striker once rated as United’s best player, who was sold to Marseille due to off-field reasons. Then, further back, is Anthony Martial, bought to replace Robin van Persie in summer 2015, who hung around for nine years, was often injured, and whose return of 90 goals in 317 games is emblematic of the stagnation Ratcliffe is supposed to end.
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The billionaire’s cost-cutting, as well, is going down with the rank-and-file like a 7-0 hiding at Liverpool. Ratcliffe’s autumn cull of 250 employees rocked morale and is no arbiter of job-security for the staff who remain.
The club’s largest single minority owner’s raising of the cheapest child (and adult) ticket to £66, plus a slashing of the rate paid to Bryan Robson and other club ambassadors, has him viewed by many internally as a scrooge-like leader whose penny-pinching is wiping away the swagger all aristocratic sides should carry.
Over at the transfer department, the ghost of Dan Ashworth haunts, despite being “one of the top sporting directors in the world”, the words of Ratcliffe, who after five months found he could not work with an employee who cost millions in compensation to prise from Newcastle. Ashworth is yet to be replaced: more money-saving from the 72-year-old, maybe?
All of the above drove the question, from this correspondent, featuring “thunder and lightning” put to Amorim on Wednesday. His response was: “We can have a lot of ideas thinking that it’s getting worse for that reason or another reason. Imagine we go to Fulham and we can win it.”
A fair point, especially after defeating Rangers. But, imagine, too, if the league form continues to plunge. Lose at Craven Cottage, then Crystal Palace turn you over before your own crowd at Old Trafford, to follow the home defeats to Brighton, Newcastle, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest. Then what for Amorim and his United project?
