Ruben Amorim - Manchester United Head Coach | Thread locked during matches

[IncyWincySpider]

I think perhaps Erikson needs to play behind the striker for a few games to try and get some attacking patterns working that others will then be able to learn from.

Also we looked more of a threat with Amad as a wingback.

 

[TheReligion]

L

At the moment I don't get much pleasure out of watching United. You almost have to be a masochist to be able to find joy in the current form.
But I've been a football fan for so long that I can recognize comments like yours. Fans who think you have to be a certain way and think certain things to be a "true" supporter.
It's so tiring.

Could it really be imagined that there are United fans who do not think exactly like you? Maybe even fans who were never particularly comfortable with the hiring of Amorim from the start and thus perhaps have a shorter patience than yourself? Or is it completely impossible for you to imagine?

Imagine there’s no Rashford
It’s easy if you try
No other team below us
We’re going down, no more Sky

Imagine there’s no Amorim
It isn’t hard to do
No more 3-4-3
Any old wing backs will do

Imagine all the fanbase
Living for today
Ah-haaaaaaa

You may say that I’m dreamer
But I’m not the only one
So was poor Dan Ashworth
Now he’s gardening with his mum

 

[Pogue Mahone]

At the moment I don't get much pleasure out of watching United. You almost have to be a masochist to be able to find joy in the current form.
But I've been a football fan for so long that I can recognize comments like yours. Fans who think you have to be a certain way and think certain things to be a "true" supporter.
It's so tiring.

Could it really be imagined that there are United fans who do not think exactly like you? Maybe even fans who were never particularly comfortable with the hiring of Amorim from the start and thus perhaps have a shorter patience than yourself? Or is it completely impossible for you to imagine?

Well that explains everything.

On a side note, whether or not you wanted him hired is no excuse for impatience. That’s all about you wanting to to be proved right and nothing to do with whether he really is a good appointment or not. It’s completely irrational and something you should work on.

 

[Zlatan 7]

He finished 3rd with a lot of his new players too. The problem is more the system has changed and key cogs like a RWB and LWB are just not there, coupled with the fact that our organization for set pieces has become far worse under Amorim, something he needs to take ownership of.

It was also a daft club decision to go for youthful strikers with potential and not ready made ones.

It was a daft decision to let your hero fill the squad with dross I agree. And the longer he was here the worse it got

 

[VP89]

It was a daft decision to let your hero fill the squad with dross I agree. And the longer he was here the worse it got

Try to discuss sensibly

 

[Zlatan 7]

Try to discuss sensibly

How would that even be possible with you? You defended the last manager and excused him to the death. We beat Man City 2-1 with our new manager and you’re digging him out. Multiple posts from you with sly digs and I’m not the only one who’s noticed. It’s painfully obvious.

 

[VP89]

How would that even be possible with you? You defended the last manager and excused him to the death. We beat Man City 2-1 with our new manager and you’re digging him out. Multiple posts from you with sly digs and I’m not the only one who’s noticed. It’s painfully obvious.

I'm not digging anyone out. I said the win felt fortunate and the way we played was unsustainable. After getting a lot of stick for this sentiment, we went on to lose 3 games on the bounce vs Spurs, Bournemouth and Wolves.

Instead of actually looking at the post I make you are attacking the poster and contributing nothing to the debate, outside of trying to wind me up. This is a you problem.

Like defending Ten Hag, I've defended Amorim by saying he needs a lot of time and he'll get it right. But you have just cherry picked words in posts and created your own narrative to wind yourself up about it, which is poor form.

 

[Zlatan 7]

I'm not digging anyone out. I said the win felt fortunate and the way we played was unsustainable. We then lost 3 games on the bounce vs Spurs, Bournemouth and Wolves.

Instead of actually looking at the post I make you are attacking the poster and contributing nothing to the debate, outside of trying to wind me up. This is a you problem.

Like defending Ten Hag, I've defended Amorim by saying he needs a lot of time and he'll get it right. But you have just cherry picked words in posts and created your own narrative to wind yourself up about it, which is poor form.

You quoted me, and I agreed with you that the previous manger filled the team with garbage. It’s the worst first eleven and squad we’ve had. But now that’s being used as an excuse to pick fault with new manager by some ‘expecting more’ or ‘worse than before’ comments after just a month.

And the posts you make come across as certainly insincere after seeing posts in the last year from you regarding the last manager.

 

[VP89]

You quoted me, and I agreed with you that the previous manger filled the team with garbage. It’s the worst first eleven and squad we’ve had. But now that’s being used as an excuse to pick fault with new manager by some ‘expecting more’ or ‘worse than before’ comments after just a month.

And the posts you make come across as certainly insincere after seeing posts in the last year from you regarding the last manager.

No - I quoted you and you tried to wind me up by saying "my hero". I then asked you to debate sensibly and you said it was never possible.

You were never interested in reasonable discourse, you were just intent on attacking a poster.

As for posts coming across insincere, that again sounds like a you problem. I've said multiple times I have little doubt Amorim is the right guy. But that doesn't mean I won't call out bad games or unsustainable approaches to win games. I did the same under Ten Hag by the way.

Also bucketing players as solely a managers choice is just lazy logic. We know the club wanted to move toward strikers with potential for example, and that Ten Hag preferred experienced strikers. This is in the Athletic.

Theres little value going into every detail but its not just a personnel issue by way of signings. We are also changing system, and our set piece handling is a joke so far. This is a byproduct of the new coach who takes ownership of it. I don't know why you have an issue with it.

 

[Zlatan 7]

No - I quoted you and you tried to wind me up by saying "my hero". I then asked you to debate sensibly and you said it was never possible.

You were never interested in reasonable discourse, you were just intent on attacking a poster.

As for posts coming across insincere, that again sounds like a you problem. I've said multiple times I have little doubt Amorim is the right guy. But that doesn't mean I won't call out bad games or unsustainable approaches to win games. I did the same under Ten Hag by the way.

What is the unsustainable approach? We have looked far better than under the previous manager already, we’ve let in sloppy goals but to the eye and the stats that people enjoy, we are doing better. Wolves we didn’t look as good as we have done previously.

You are posting stuff like we’ve gone worse than the previous manager yet we’re only a month in. Have patience

 

[VP89]

What is the unsustainable approach? We have looked far better than under the previous manager already, we’ve let in sloppy goals but to the eye and the stats that people enjoy, we are doing better. Wolves we didn’t look as good as we have done previously.

You are posting stuff like we’ve gone worse than the previous manager yet we’re only a month in. Have patience

I have ample patience. You seem to think if anyone critiques games then they have no patience. I didnt say I've had enough or the system isnt right or the manager isnt right. Ive literally said the opposite.

And yes we are worse. We concede a lot more goals with less attacks and we look very dull going forward.

Its unsustainable to be poor in attack and defence. As a minimum when a more conservative system is deployed we expect our defence to show solidarity and us to deal with set pieces. Bread and butter stuff. Failure to address this means youl get beat more often, which is what is happening.

Having more of the ball is a byproduct of packing out the midfield and having 3 center backs. You still need to show organisation defensively and better form offensively, of which we do neither. We are worse, and the results show it. I dont think it's long before we get better but Im still going to call a spade a spade.

 

[Robbie Boy]

I get the impression there’s a number of people on here who are so keen to criticise the bloke they’re using a hypothetical future that hasn’t happened yet to have a go at him. How’s about we hold off on discussing a terrible run of results that goes on until the end of January until after all those bad results actually happen?!?

Oh and “zero excuses”? Come on now.

At the end of the day we’re judging Amorim on such a small sample size of games that it’s impossible to form any definitive conclusions, good or bad. Too many variables in terms of difficulty of fixtures, opposition performance, individual errors, (lack of) time on the training pitch etc etc etc It’s frustrating to have to cool our jets and just let a few more games happen before deciding if he’s good or shit. Especially when everyone wants to vent after a couple of disappointing results. But that’s what needs to happen. And if everyone would just chill the feck out meanwhile then the caf would be a much nicer place to hang out on.

Oh yes baby.

I remember so many on here saying that the next man needs time to implement a style, and move away from the shite served up by Jose, Ole and ETH.

A mere few games in and some are writing him off. The squad he has to work with is terrible. We might have gotten some better results playing shit-on-a-stick Ole ball, but ultimately, what's the point in that.

 

[DJ_21]

Really hope we stay patient with him. Sporting have already sacked his successor in a similar timeframe. Get rid of trash like Rashford and buy pure quality but not just quality players, we need to be signing quality people aswell who don’t have big egos. Team players are important

 

[Paul778]

What is the unsustainable approach? We have looked far better than under the previous manager already, we’ve let in sloppy goals but to the eye and the stats that people enjoy, we are doing better. Wolves we didn’t look as good as we have done previously.

You are posting stuff like we’ve gone worse than the previous manager yet we’re only a month in. Have patience

100%. The style of play has improved. We are more solid and have way better patterns of play. We just have no WBs or 10s who have the confidence to take on players when we have engineered an overload.

Dalot is particularly shocking at this.

Amorim has achieved a lot considering he has had games twice a week since arriving. After Newcastle and Liverpool there are no midweek games so hopefully he can get a bit achieved on the training ground.

 

[santeria13]

Why was my post in here deleted for pointing out the double standards of a certain poster who defended one manager to the end but loves jumping on this one after a few weeks? Can’t you just delete all his posts instead

The irony is a lot of the people with the hardest ETH out stance are now asking for patience, myself included because he's been dealt a very bad hand and come in the most difficult point of the season.

My main concern with ETH is that the longer he was here, the worse we looked as a team, which is the opposite effect that you would want from a coach. A good coach should make you look better over time. So, the hope with Amorim is that we gradually improve under him, which needs quality training sessions and transfer windows, both of which ETH had way more than enough of.

If I don't see any improvement halfway into next season after two transfer windows, a pre-season and a lot more time on the training pitch, that's when I'll worry. I just don't see how people expect a coach to come in and turn the team around completely whilst also transitioning to a completely different style of football. What's the point in using a pragmatic approach for now when that just halts our overall progress as a team?

It's absolute madness that a few of the people who were adamantly ETH in are also now showing impatience with the new manager. Absolutely baffling. I don't get it. Being 14th and playing absolutely torrid football for over 18 months after having 2 and almost a half season in charge with almost 600m to spend is not comparable in the slightest to a manager who's been here for 6 weeks with no signings aimed at his way of playing.

 

[Zlatan 7]

The irony is a lot of the people with the hardest ETH out stance are now asking for patience, myself included because he's been dealt a very bad hand and come in the most difficult point of the season.

My main concern with ETH is that the longer he was here, the worse we looked as a team, which is the opposite effect that you would want from a coach. A good coach should make you look better over time. So, the hope with Amorim is that we gradually improve under him, which needs quality training sessions and transfer windows, both of which ETH had way more than enough of.

If I don't see any improvement halfway into next season after two transfer windows, a pre-season and a lot more time on the training pitch, that's when I'll worry. I just don't see how people expect a coach to come in and turn the team around completely whilst also transitioning to a completely different style of football. What's the point in using a pragmatic approach for now when that just halts our overall progress as a team?

It's absolute madness that a few of the people who were adamantly ETH in are also now showing impatience with the new manager. Absolutely baffling. I don't get it. Being 14th and playing absolutely torrid football for over 18 months after having 2 and almost a half season in charge with almost 600m to spend is not comparable in the slightest to a manager who's been here for 6 weeks with us sitting in the same position.

There’s a difference wanting a manger out and criticising him after being here 2 years to one only being here 2 weeks and the patience that involves. Surely you see that.

Your last paragraph I totally agree with and what I find so amazing and hard to genuinely converse with

 

[VP89]

Why was my post in here deleted for pointing out the double standards of a certain poster who defended one manager to the end but loves jumping on this one after a few weeks? Can’t you just delete all his posts instead

Id 100% have double standards if I said Amorim out after being Ten Hag in for so long.

Lets just move on and try to discuss amicably.

 

[Tom Van Persie]

Well since that game Everton have won 4-0 against wolves, 0-0 against Arsenal and Chelsea and 1-1 against City.

Since that game some of the players have barely gotten another chance and our form have dipped.. Why not just play that starting eleven who played good and won the game comfortably? Isn't that on Amorin? Exclude the fluke City game and we have been really really bad

How was the City game a fluke?

 

[VP89]

There’s a difference wanting a manger out and criticising him after being here 2 years to one only being here 2 weeks and the patience that involves. Surely you see that.

Your last paragraph I totally agree with and what I find so amazing and hard to genuinely converse with

Theres only one critique Id really put at the doorstep of our coach and thats set pieces. This got noticeably worse after he joined, its not a mess he inherited.

The other stuff I have criticised is the general team performances, which I dont put at his doorstep becuase hes been here a short while, he needs his own players etc.

The problem is some people think no one can evaluate the team in any given game because it means you dont support the manager. I dont understand that.

 

[Fortitude]

They can be implemented during the season but it will be very slow because scheduling means that there isn't actually many full training sessions, most of the sessions are focused on passive recovery and installing gameplans that are within a tactical framework that was set during summer. And no in normal circumstances they are not really practicing new tactics or implementing new tactics during the season, a manager can decide to still do it but it will lead to significant inconsistency which is what we are seeing and what Liverpool or even Arsenal saw under Klopp and Arteta.

To give you a clear example, during preseason you have several hours per day that you can allocate to tactical drills with the entire squad during the season you maybe have 90 minutes per week or every two weeks and it is almost guaranteed that it won't be with the full squad. And those in season sessions do not include much actual field implementations unless you want to destroy your players conditioning.

There are two aspects of conditioning that makes it nearly impossible to switch quickly, the first one is the season planning, players are trained to physically peak at a certain period during the season and this process starts during preseason, the other thing is that the quicker you want the change to happen the more intense the training has to be which is a big source of fatigue, in the short term it leads to worse performances and injuries especially when you have to play competitive games twice a week.

Basically there is no shortcut on these things, you need time for both of these things and time isn't something that you have during the season, unless you really don't care about results.

Needs stickying.

 

[DRJosh]

For me the biggest question is if Amorim will stick to his tactical plan if we continue to lose and relegation becomes a distinct possibility. Where does one draw the line and paddle back if the (economic) implications of our decline become sizeable?

 

[BorisManUtd]

Well since that game Everton have won 4-0 against wolves, 0-0 against Arsenal and Chelsea and 1-1 against City.

Since that game some of the players have barely gotten another chance and our form have dipped.. Why not just play that starting eleven who played good and won the game comfortably? Isn't that on Amorin? Exclude the fluke City game and we have been really really bad

I actually think Everton result was fluke. Maybe we deserved to win but it wasn't a 4-0. City away was quite good in 2nd half and I'd say the same it if stayed 1-0 for City. Trouble is City have been poor for 2 months now so playing well against them doesn't mean that much atm.

It's obviously not ideal but I do hope we (as someone said on here) progress with time. Under every post-Fergie manager we got worse with time: van Gaal was worse in 15/16, Mourinho was worse in 18/19 than in his first two seasons, Ole was worse in 21/22 than previous seasons and ten Hag was worse this and last season than 22/23. It's a pattern that should change. Klopp in his 3rd full season won the CL and almost the league. Pep won the league. Arteta was in a title race in his 3rd and 4th season. It would be great if we can become a proper, top team by 26/27 season.

 

[The Serpent]

I just see this season as a grace period, Amorim can't be judged fairly until he gets his own players and has a full preseason. It's actually good that we're struggling right now as players are being exposed instead having a manager bounce covering up their deficiencies in the team

Its a difficult pill to swallow watching us get beat every other week, but there should absolutely be no pressure considering the former manager had already thrown our league season and hopes of top 4 before he was rightly sacked. The only expectation I have is for us to get to the Europa final and then hopefully win it so we can have Champions league qualification for next season.

Last season we finished 8th so I finishing 13th or 10th is not going to be that much different so I don't understand why people are losing their minds about our league form when Amorim didn't even want to come here mid season but his hand was forced due to the it's now or never ultimatum presented by Ineos add to the fact he hasn't even been able to train the players due to the fixture congestion.

I think the City win made some fans get ahead of themselves and thought we were back, but we are not going to be back until we clear the squad of the mediocrity and Amorim identifies his own players suited to his system.

 

[Hester_manc]

Well that explains everything.

On a side note, whether or not you wanted him hired is no excuse for impatience. That’s all about you wanting to to be proved right and nothing to do with whether he really is a good appointment or not. It’s completely irrational and something you should work on.

Do not twist my words or make conclusions about what I think, unless I have made something clear. I have not said any of these things and where you get your conclusions from is strange. I wish for the best and still hope that Amorim will turn United into a winning team again - I just have problems believing it and am sad that Amorim has not proved me wrong....so far.

 

[imonkmc]

The wingbacks doesn’t add anything to attack, ugarte adds defensively and winning ball back , problem is mainoo doesn’t add anything to attack, so heavily dependent on farnandez to come up with something.
Amad is good player but doesn’t cross the ball or make diagonal passes for forwards (very rare), garna is similar in that way and our strikers situation isn’t helpful.
The whole of this team in current form is very defensive and if they concede stupid goals well there’s only one way game ends.
I hope Amorim tries ugarte/Casemiro and Anthony on that left wingback. That way you don’t lose defensively but add something of potential attack on the left side.
If things get desperate as looking at our coming games are difficult than relegation spectre is taking a shape which test the fragile mentality this team has.

 

[dubplate warrior]

I mean, you might as well point to their current season instead of one that didn’t happen.

Apologies, got my facts wrong. They made top 4 by 3 points, but were far from convincing throughout. Remember Leicester and Everton battering them and real question marks over whether his style could work here.

I'm not saying Amorim will be the next Pep, but I do think that the modern game is inundated with coaches who are wedded to systems and styles of play. As a result you need very specific profiles, we don't have those profiles but unfortunately on top of that our players have poor athleticism, technique and IQ. Our squad can't adapt to new systems where you take the game to the opposition because the players are rubbish.

 

[SparcMac]

Apologies, got my facts wrong. They made top 4 by 3 points, but were far from convincing throughout. Remember Leicester and Everton battering them and real question marks over whether his style could work here.

I'm not saying Amorim will be the next Pep, but I do think that the modern game is inundated with coaches who are wedded to systems and styles of play. As a result you need very specific profiles, we don't have those profiles but unfortunately on top of that our players have poor athleticism, technique and IQ. Our squad can't adapt to new systems where you take the game to the opposition because the players are rubbish.

Yes they had likes of Zabaleta, Kolarov and Glichy trying to play Pep's fullbacks, all around 1000 years old and couldn't close down any counter attacks.

 

[NLunited]

The irony is a lot of the people with the hardest ETH out stance are now asking for patience, myself included because he's been dealt a very bad hand and come in the most difficult point of the season.

My main concern with ETH is that the longer he was here, the worse we looked as a team, which is the opposite effect that you would want from a coach. A good coach should make you look better over time. So, the hope with Amorim is that we gradually improve under him, which needs quality training sessions and transfer windows, both of which ETH had way more than enough of.

If I don't see any improvement halfway into next season after two transfer windows, a pre-season and a lot more time on the training pitch, that's when I'll worry. I just don't see how people expect a coach to come in and turn the team around completely whilst also transitioning to a completely different style of football. What's the point in using a pragmatic approach for now when that just halts our overall progress as a team?

It's absolute madness that a few of the people who were adamantly ETH in are also now showing impatience with the new manager. Absolutely baffling. I don't get it. Being 14th and playing absolutely torrid football for over 18 months after having 2 and almost a half season in charge with almost 600m to spend is not comparable in the slightest to a manager who's been here for 6 weeks with no signings aimed at his way of playing.

The most patient ETH posters are actually supportive of Amorim and asking for patience. Like myself.

That does not mean I‘m not going to address things that are going poorly. We are letting in goals and creating less.

I think Amorim has been left with a better squad than ETH, to state otherwise is silly. I‘d love for you lot to argue this point.

My reason for being patient with Ruben is that he came in at a bad time and doesn‘t have much time with the squad to train. But there is a limit to how much points can be dropped.

Pray that he starts getting performances out of the team.

 

[Denis79]

The most patient ETH posters are actually supportive of Amorim and asking for patience. Like myself.

That does not mean I‘m not going to address things that are going poorly. We are letting in goals and creating less.

I think Amorim has been left with a better squad than ETH, to state otherwise is silly. I‘d love for you lot to argue this point.

My reason for being patient with Ruben is that he came in at a bad time and doesn‘t have much time with the squad to train. But there is a limit to how much points can be dropped.

Pray that he starts getting performances out of the team.

Absolutely not, ETH built the worst squad we've had in a very long time. £600M spent to build a mid-table team.

 

[NLunited]

Absolutely not, ETH built the worst squad we've had in a very long time. £600M spent to build a mid-table team.

Ugarte, Yoro, De Ligt, Mazraoui, Højlund are upgrades on what we had/have. ZZ has quality no question as well.

The squad was worse before no question.

 

[santeria13]

The most patient ETH posters are actually supportive of Amorim and asking for patience. Like myself.

That does not mean I‘m not going to address things that are going poorly. We are letting in goals and creating less.

I think Amorim has been left with a better squad than ETH, to state otherwise is silly. I‘d love for you lot to argue this point.

My reason for being patient with Ruben is that he came in at a bad time and doesn‘t have much time with the squad to train. But there is a limit to how much points can be dropped.

Pray that he starts getting performances out of the team.

I completely disagree. Hojlund and Zirkzee combined couldn't lace a 38 year old Ronaldo's boots. Yes, he was out of form in that final season but he was phenomenal in the one before. Varane was a class above any defenders we have now. De Gea was a better goalkeeper than Onana. We are stronger in midfield and that's about it.

 

[santeria13]

Ugarte, Yoro, De Ligt, Mazraoui, Højlund are upgrades on what we had/have. ZZ has quality no question as well.

The squad was worse before no question.

Yoro, De Ligt were not upgrades on Varane in my opinion but that's debateable.

What's not debateable is saying that Hojlund/ZZ were an upgrade on Ronaldo. That is ludicrous.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I completely disagree. Hojlund and Zirkzee combined couldn't lace a 38 year old Ronaldo's boots. Yes, he was out of form in that final season but he was phenomenal in the one before. Varane was a class above any defenders we have now. De Gea was a better goalkeeper than Onana. We are stronger in midfield and that's about it.

Not to mention that ETH’s best season featured Rashford and Casemiro both playing out of their skin. If Amorim had the luxury of picking them in the form they were showing in that season he’d probably have won every match so far.

 

[NLunited]

I completely disagree. Hojlund and Zirkzee combined couldn't lace a 38 year old Ronaldo's boots. Yes, he was out of form in that final season but he was phenomenal in the one before. Varane was a class above any defenders we have now. De Gea was a better goalkeeper than Onana. We are stronger in midfield and that's about it.

Ronaldo was useless and an egomaniac, Varane good but declining. Højlund and ZZ are bought for potential.

De Gea had to go: he wasn‘t able to play out the back to the standards required. He also was declining spectacularly.

We have a fitter more technical, more complete squad now. It cannot be used as an excuse.

I also disagree with the idea we have no wingbacks: we have five who are fine. It is up to Amorim to get them to perform.

 

[Ayoba]

He needsd

The wingbacks doesn’t add anything to attack, ugarte adds defensively and winning ball back , problem is mainoo doesn’t add anything to attack, so heavily dependent on farnandez to come up with something.
Amad is good player but doesn’t cross the ball or make diagonal passes for forwards (very rare), garna is similar in that way and our strikers situation isn’t helpful.
The whole of this team in current form is very defensive and if they concede stupid goals well there’s only one way game ends.
I hope Amorim tries ugarte/Casemiro and Anthony on that left wingback. That way you don’t lose defensively but add something of potential attack on the left side.
If things get desperate as looking at our coming games are difficult than relegation spectre is taking a shape which test the fragile mentality this team has.

I agree with this, especially the bit about the wingbacks not adding anything to the attack.

He needs a houdini act against Newcastle, just something, anything, to get a win. ETH did it against liverpool when he lost his opening 2 games. I'm not for one second saying Amorim isnt the right man for the job, imo its far too early to tell, but, we cannot go on losing games every week.

 

[VP89]

Not to mention that ETH’s best season featured Rashford and Casemiro both playing out of their skin. If Amorim had the luxury of picking them in the form they were showing in that season he’d probably have won every match so far.

Casemiro hasnt really been favoured despite being decent next to Ugarte. Amorim probably took a view to get longer term players like Mainoo in the team instead and deal with the pain.

 

[erikcred]

I'm not saying Amorim will be the next Pep, but I do think that the modern game is inundated with coaches who are wedded to systems and styles of play. As a result you need very specific profiles, we don't have those profiles but unfortunately on top of that our players have poor athleticism, technique and IQ. Our squad can't adapt to new systems where you take the game to the opposition because the players are rubbish.

That's painfully true. Can't argue with that.

 

[Zlatan 7]

Ronaldo was useless and an egomaniac, Varane good but declining. Højlund and ZZ are bought for potential.

De Gea had to go: he wasn‘t able to play out the back to the standards required. He also was declining spectacularly.

We have a fitter more technical, more complete squad now. It cannot be used as an excuse.

I also disagree with the idea we have no wingbacks: we have five who are fine. It is up to Amorim to get them to perform.

Who are the five wingbacks?

Eth took over a squad that had finished 2nd and 3rd a season before.
He’s spent a fortune buying rubbish, possible potential or not. No way is this team better than what he took over

 

[NLunited]

Yoro, De Ligt were not upgrades on Varane in my opinion but that's debateable.

What's not debateable is saying that Hojlund/ZZ were an upgrade on Ronaldo. That is ludicrous.

Ronaldo was done at PL level, it is ludicrous to even debate that.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Casemiro hasnt really been favoured despite being decent next to Ugarte. Amorim probably took a view to get longer term players like Mainoo in the team instead and deal with the pain.

Casemiro’s a weird one. He has looked decent at times this season. But was so bad for so much of last season and he’s not getting any younger. So we definitely need to plan for a future without him.