Amorim has refused to tinker with his tactical beliefs since inheriting managerial reins in Manchester. He arrived in English football having enjoyed considerable success in his native Portugal with Sporting. The 40-year-old remains convinced that his 3-4-3 system will deliver results with United. That is despite finishing 15th in the Premier League last season and suffering defeat in the Europa League final.
The Red Devils have already crashed out of the Carabao Cup this season, at the hands of League Two side Grimsby, and picked up two wins through five top-flight fixtures. Questions continue to be asked of Amorim, but he is said to boast the full support of his board for now. That situation could shift, with it already being suggested that a familiar face – such as Michael Carrick or his fellow former United midfielder Darren Fletcher – could be asked to steady the ship as Amorim is shown to the door.
Pat Nevin, who played top-flight football in England for Chelsea and Everton, has told Escapist Magazine of potential movement in the dugout at Old Trafford: “Short term, I wouldn’t be surprised at [Carrick or Fletcher to replace Amorim] at all. That would be absolutely fine. And they might do well. They offered the caretaker role to Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer] first didn’t they. It takes the pressure off, you can have a good look around. And if he does well, we just keep him. That’s fine.
“You’ll get a bit of pressure in the press saying, ‘They don’t know what to do, they haven’t got a clue, they can’t get the right man, all that sort of stuff’. ‘ve been there before. I just blanked it. I don’t care. I’ve got a guy doing a good job here and I wouldn’t look for the other manager. And I’ll say to them ‘If you keep on doing well, you can get a job’. I’m not hiding anything from anyone here. I’m looking at every possible option. But what you have to do is give it a number of months in that situation. If it does happen and things go badly for him then you have to have a direction. You have to have a two, three, four, five year plan.
“Maybe that’s been United’s problem. They’ve tried, they’ve had plans. They’ve had two, three, four, five year plans that have all lasted a year. And that’s not good. Because the next person comes in and they change it, the next one changes it. That’s the only reason why they’re standing by Amorim just now. It’s because they know they didn’t spend time with the other ones, so we now end up with a Frankenstein team. All bought by different managers. None of it really fits together. And then you find out they got rid of some people they shouldn’t have gotten rid of like [Scott] McTominay.”
United did pick up three points in their last fixture, as they battled to a 2-1 win over Chelsea in a game that saw both sides reduced to 10 men. Nevin is not convinced that result will prove to be a turning point for the Red Devils.
The ex-Scotland international added: “Man United fought, chased, battled, they made enough good use of the extra man to go ahead. But after that Chelsea were there for the taking and it kind of fell away. The belief evaporated a wee bit. And then when they went down to 10 men, that was it. It was ‘hold what we’ve got’. And I actually thought after that, it was quite a dull game. It wasn’t a great game. After that, you have an expectation that goes to 10 v 10. The conditions are wild. It’s out there. It’s up to Chelsea to go and attack. And Man Utd have got some uncertainty about them. But it kind of fizzled.
“Then there was a big five or 10 minute period at the end which had the goal. But in short, have Chelsea suddenly become very, very special after that game? No, no. We’re still waiting to see if they have any chance of challenging. And Manchester United, have they suddenly turned the corner because they beat a 10 man Chelsea? No. Not the case either. I was walking back afterwards in the rain and I was listening to all the Man United fans and they don’t think that either. They’re not stupid. The biggest phrase that was used around me – and I thought it was very good – was ‘We needed that and we got a bit lucky because of the sending off’. I think that’s where most people are and I actually think the manager thinks that too.”
United will be back in action on Saturday when taking in a trip to Brentford. Brazilian midfielder Casemiro will be banned for that fixture, having been sent off against Chelsea, with Amorim being forced to shuffle his pack again as a result.
