Ruben Amorim had just fielded a question about not selecting Marcus Rashford and was listening to one about squad rotation when he was rudely interrupted. Not by a journalist, but by a drip coming from the ceiling of the Old Trafford press conference room.
There has been a lot of change at Manchester United in the last year since Sir Jim Ratcliffe purchased his stake in the club for £1.2 billion ($1.5bn). The training ground is being renovated, plans to build a brand new stadium have accelerated, £160m ($200bn) has been invested in new players, and more than 250 people have lost their jobs including Sir Alex Ferguson, Erik ten Hag and Dan Ashworth. And yet the team are still losing 3-0 at home to Bournemouth, Rashford’s attitude remains a huge talking point and there is a leak in the stadium every time it rains heavily.
Amorim left sunny Lisbon and an all conquering Sporting CP that he had built to join this dysfunctional club and now he has to miss Christmas for the first time to take his dishevelled team to Wolves on Boxing Day. He could be forgiven for regretting that decision now he realises the scale of the rebuilding job he faces. But he is not about to change course and nor should he.
Because even though it feels like United have not made any progress since swapping Ten Hag for Amorim, the Portuguese has a plan to revive the team. He must stick to it, and the club must back him along the way.