“A lot of it is mental. You can feel not just the players, also the fans, everybody’s so anxious. Everybody’s tired of this moment.” Ruben Amorim certainly looked a tired man at his press conference, which was briefly interrupted by a leak in the media room ceiling at Old Trafford, after Manchester United’s dismal 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth on Sunday.
That result left United in the bottom half of the Premier League table at Christmas for the first time ever, with Amorim’s revolution still yet to properly get off the ground. United are controlling games now – they bossed possession against Bournemouth and had 23 shots to the visitors’ 10- – but the Red Devils cannot build any momentum because of a lack of cutting-edge up front and constant mistakes at the back.
Amorim has recorded four losses, one draw and just four wins from his first nine games at the helm, which is obviously not good enough. United are out of the Carabao Cup and it will take a miracle for them to finish in the top four come May. But most of the blame must be laid at the players’ door, not Amorim’s.
There is a select group, in particular, that keeps letting the Portuguese tactician down. Some are simply not good enough for United, while others have become far too complacent, and they are all responsible for fuelling the anxiety Amorim can sense around Old Trafford. GOAL takes a look at United’s sluggish six: