Ruben Amorim | 2025-26

Rista said:
Except it's not out of context at all? I mean, positivity is fine but if you are going to tell fans to "do better" at least don't misconstruct what RA said yourself. People keep saying he meant about injuries or training when he really did not.
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And neither was it about whatever people in here (immediately) was moaning about... "oh my gawd! We are going to lose every match aren't we!? He means we are going to be shit!?"

No with context we can easily see, he means it's good to have a team that's together and have a good spirit, that when we "suffer"(which someone else who speaks this mans native language, interpreted as talking about injuries...) that the team gets through it.

So yeah, I know negativity is the first thing people in here go to. I get it, last season was miserable, I was angry and disappointed plenty of times. But isn't it better to try and believe? No not blindly.... but have some sort of hope, try and see the positives, instead of immediately continue to spew out towards the toxicity in this thread(and forum in general towards our club).
 
Just seen the tweet by Simon Stone quoting Amorim on transfers. Surely he can’t be happy with the squad as is?

We finished 15th and added 2 players, both 10s. We lost Eriksen in CM and already lacked options there. Hojlund and Zirkzee can’t score. Onana is one of the worst keepers in the league. We lost Evans at CB as well, whilst Martinez and Shaw have constant long term injuries. Maguire and De Ligt had spells out as well. With 3 CB required we could easily have issues there.

It’s just not good enough and shows the lack of planning by people above Amorim. Had one solution for striker in Delap and once he chose Chelsea they had nothing. I mentioned Jonathan David before the summer and was shouted down for it. He was available on a free! Maybe he’s not the perfect fit but it’s better to get a new striker than no one at all. The club has to start being savvy. Once again we’ve made obvious signings that any fan could suggest. Is there really no one in France, Italy, Spain that has good stats falling under the radar?
 
If the plan is really to play Bruno in a 2 then I can't but draw comparisons to the Summer of Ten Hags second season when he wanted to play Cas as a lone DM with Bruno and Mount as 2 no 10's. Everyone could see that had no chance of working.
 
CasaStreets said:
Why do you expect us to get top 6? We finished 15th last season and were 8th the season before with an expected league place of 14th, conceding 20+ shots every week for months.

I don't think people have really wrapped their heads around this yet. We have been, both statistically and with the eye test, the 14/15th best team in the league for a full two years. The 8th place finish was a huge fluke and extremely flattering.

On a large body of evidence over the last two years, 14/15th is precisely where we should have been and so that's what happened last season.

I am optimistic that bringing in 2 of the league's best attackers will improve us more than our peers in the bottom half of the table. At a stretch, we might even be able to fumble our way into an EL place.

But we have an entire midfield to rebuild (Bruno has no role in a midfield 2), no goalscoring striker, no proven LWB option, and a particularly uninspiring GK.

So, for me, thinking that 'the manager doing their job' will suddenly move us from multiple years of being solidly bottom-half statistically into the top 6 is wishful thinking and unrealistic.

Personally I would be OK with an 8th place finish this season - if the eye test and stats actually support that outcome! I know it might not sound like it, but performances that actually deserve 8th place would certainly feel like a massive improvement on where we've been for the last two years and reflect significant progress.

And with Sancho and Casemiro finishing their contracts, we'll free up huge wages to take an aggressive transfer posture next summer to hopefully build on some momentum.
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Agree with this. I said before last season that you'll struggle to find many examples at all of teams performing consistently like a bottom half side and then being top 4 level the next. And now we've got 2 years of evidence that this team is bottom half quality.

On the plus side we've actually improved the first XI this summer which we didn't do last summer. And should expect some improvement from the younger players. Around 8th would be decent progress.

Agree on the Sancho and Casemiro contracts too. Millstones around the clubs neck that we'll finally be free of next summer.
 
Bobski said:
If the plan is really to play Bruno in a 2 then I can't but draw comparisons to the Summer of Ten Hags second season when he wanted to play Cas as a lone DM with Bruno and Mount as 2 no 10's. Everyone could see that had no chance of working.
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Not really the same when you're playing 3 at the back and wing backs though is it?
 
JBG said:
And neither was it about whatever people in here (immediately) was moaning about... "oh my gawd! We are going to lose every match aren't we!? He means we are going to be shit!?"

No with context we can easily see, he means it's good to have a team that's together and have a good spirit, that when we "suffer"(which someone else who speaks this mans native language, interpreted as talking about injuries...) that the team gets through it.

So yeah, I know negativity is the first thing people in here go to. I get it, last season was miserable, I was angry and disappointed plenty of times. But isn't it better to try and believe? No not blindly.... but have some sort of hope, try and see the positives, instead of immediately continue to spew out towards the toxicity in this thread(and forum in general towards our club).
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You are turning those comments into something they are not. People are sick of being told we are going to suffer so it is only natural they are frustrated and don't want to keep hearing it. Pointing this out is not "toxicity". Especially when you are trying to convince them something entirely different was said.

pocco said:
I keep saying this but our own fans are part of the problem these days. There seems to be a portion of our fanbase that thrives on negativity, and it just perpetuates the problems we have. They get played like absolute fiddles by the media - no critical thinking over what they are reading, just buy into it hook, line and sinker.
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We finished 15th and future has never looked bleaker. We had fans take petitions to keep an underperforming manager and now you are telling me United fans are "part of the problem" because of the negativity. Alright.
 
Bobski said:
If the plan is really to play Bruno in a 2 then I can't but draw comparisons to the Summer of Ten Hags second season when he wanted to play Cas as a lone DM with Bruno and Mount as 2 no 10's. Everyone could see that had no chance of working.
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I'm convinced once we hire managers they all either turn insane or want to be fired. How anyone thinks it could work is ridiculous
 
CasaStreets said:
Why do you expect us to get top 6? We finished 15th last season and were 8th the season before with an expected league place of 14th, conceding 20+ shots every week for months.

I don't think people have really wrapped their heads around this yet. We have been, both statistically and with the eye test, the 14/15th best team in the league for a full two years. The 8th place finish was a huge fluke and extremely flattering.

On a large body of evidence over the last two years, 14/15th is precisely where we should have been and so that's what happened last season.

I am optimistic that bringing in 2 of the league's best attackers will improve us more than our peers in the bottom half of the table. At a stretch, we might even be able to fumble our way into an EL place.

But we have an entire midfield to rebuild (Bruno has no role in a midfield 2), no goalscoring striker, no proven LWB option, and a particularly uninspiring GK.

So, for me, thinking that 'the manager doing their job' will suddenly move us from multiple years of being solidly bottom-half statistically into the top 6 is wishful thinking and unrealistic.

Personally I would be OK with an 8th place finish this season - if the eye test and stats actually support that outcome! I know it might not sound like it, but performances that actually deserve 8th place would certainly feel like a massive improvement on where we've been for the last two years and reflect significant progress.

And with Sancho and Casemiro finishing their contracts, we'll free up huge wages to take an aggressive transfer posture next summer to hopefully build on some momentum.
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If Forest can be in contention for top 6 so can we. A lot is made of that 8th finish and how we really should have been been 14th. Were our underlying metrics bad because the players suddenly turned into bottom table quality or because we persisted with batshit crazy tactics and had tons of injuries? There really isn't that much between 14th and 7th in terms of quality. 100% doable in one season.
 
Rista said:
You are turning those comments into something they are not. People are sick of being told we are going to suffer so it is only natural they are frustrated and don't want to keep hearing it. Pointing this out is not "toxicity". Especially when you are trying to convince them something entirely different was said.


We finished 15th and future has never looked bleaker. We had fans take petitions to keep an underperforming manager and now you are telling me United fans are "part of the problem" because of the negativity. Alright.
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From what I can see, it’s the fans that remind us on a daily basis how devastatingly shit our manager and team are that are the most wound up about it. If they’re so sick of negativity, then why do they dish it out every day?
 
Posh Red said:
From what I can see, it’s the fans that remind us on a daily basis how devastatingly shit our manager and team are that are the most wound up about it. If they’re so sick of negativity, then why do they dish it out every day?
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Surely there is a difference between a fan and people from the club coming out with it. One is frustration, the other sets expectations. With Ten Hag it was constant gaslighting telling us how everything is going fine and was part of the plan after every bad performance and every bad result. We had the same discussions about "negativity" back then.
 
Rista said:
Surely there is a difference between a fan and people from the club coming out with it. One is frustration, the other sets expectations. With Ten Hag it was constant gaslighting telling us how everything is going fine and was part of the plan after every bad performance and every bad result. We had the same discussions about "negativity" back then.
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It’s fecking bizarre. Fans picking out one sentence from an entire press conference to wind themselves up with. I’ve watched it and he’s not even being negative at all. He sounds very positive about the new season.
 
Rista said:
You are turning those comments into something they are not. People are sick of being told we are going to suffer so it is only natural they are frustrated and don't want to keep hearing it. Pointing this out is not "toxicity". Especially when you are trying to convince them something entirely different was said.


We finished 15th and future has never looked bleaker. We had fans take petitions to keep an underperforming manager and now you are telling me United fans are "part of the problem" because of the negativity. Alright.
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Yeah they are, because they get baited easily by stupid stories and out of context quotes. Journalists love our fans, like printing money putting a bad news story out about our club.
 
Rista said:
If Forest can be in contention for top 6 so can we. A lot is made of that 8th finish and how we really should have been been 14th. Were our underlying metrics bad because the players suddenly turned into bottom table quality or because we persisted with batshit crazy tactics and had tons of injuries? There really isn't that much between 14th and 7th in terms of quality. 100% doable in one season.
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Forest underlying numbers were worse than ours last season. It was a fluke like our 8th place. They'll highly likely be nowhere near top 6 this season.
 
Leftback99 said:
Forest underlying numbers were worse than ours last season. It was a fluke like our 8th place. They'll highly likely be nowhere near top 6 this season.
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Forest have adopted underdog tactics, a bit like a second rate version of the Leicester team that won the league. Kill on the counter and with pace in behind etc. Nothing wrong with it for a club like Forest but it’s not sustainable if you want to stay at the top in my opinion. Already clubs started to get wise to it and tried to deal with their threat whilst still playing their usual game.
 
romufc said:
It does, but interestingly, go back and have a look at spending, we spend more when we finish outside CL places.

What I am arguing against is... posters putting Amorim as a reason why we are broke.

Considering we spent £72m and 300k on Sancho with 0 return
80m Anthony with 0 return
72m Rasmus and 0 return
Giving Rashford 325k a week and he's missing since.
Signing Onana for 50m who isn't good enough.

Amorim has definitely been really bad over the last 7 months but saying he is why we cant afford players this summer is quite a bit agenda driven don't you think?

I think the mis management of our club in the last 12 years has about 95% blame for our finances.
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Literally no one is saying this :lol: . It really is odd how you twist or exaggerate everything.

Perhaps take a break.
 
If we're easy to play against and teams still cut us through easily in the next 3 pre-season games, the Mbeumo and Cunha hype ain't going to last with Amorim

let's see today or tomorrow...didn't know it's a 00:00 kickoff feck
 
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Posh Red said:
From what I can see, it’s the fans that remind us on a daily basis how devastatingly shit our manager and team are that are the most wound up about it. If they’re so sick of negativity, then why do they dish it out every day?
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Because our team isn't actually as bad as the results which have been produced so far under Amorim, or even Ten Hag before him. The manager's responsibility is to maximise what he can get out of the team and this gimmick of telling everyone we're going to suffer is a cop out which dampens expectations in the interests of self preservation. It paints a dishonest picture that he doesn't have to take as much accountability for the situation we're in.

There are still clear faults with our team, but some of the biggest ones are down to how the manager has chosen to set up. There are plenty on here who are adamant Amorim's failures are only a reflection of the poor attacking players he inherited. I think his choices to actively neglect the midfield are just as much of a factor, if not more. Either way, the fact that he's brought in two players who got 49 goal contributions between them in the Premier League last season for big money should mean expectations lift and he shouldn't be using the suffering line to excuse himself any longer.

If we really are going to suffer next season, that's on the manager for not doing his job properly.
 
Ali Dia said:
I think we finish top 6 without any other deals in if the manager finally does his job and starts getting performances. if we continue last seasons form and poor play I can't see him lasting beyond Halloween.
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It would be a great season by Amorim to get top 6 without a striker
 
After getting Mbeumo and Cunha I think if we did sell Bruno and he wanted to go we could have easily replaced him with Ederson or Baleba and still have been able to have enough funds to address the GK situation.
 
Fooza said:
If we're easy to play against and teams still cut us through easily in the next 3 pre-season games, the Mbeumo and Cunha hype ain't going to last with Amorim

let's see today or tomorrow...didn't know it's a 00:00 kickoff feck
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For fan sentiment to turn these pre season games need to show something more than the Leeds game which was a complete rehash of last seasons games by and large, I know people say pre season doesn't mean anything and largely it doesnt but oddly I think it means something for the fan base to get fully behind the manager or at least to see what is going to change if it's more of the same I don't think anyone is going to change their minds on the manager going into the season or at least be optimistic game one
 
pocco said:
Yeah they are, because they get baited easily by stupid stories and out of context quotes. Journalists love our fans, like printing money putting a bad news story out about our club.
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In what way do these fans who supposedly get baited by stupid stories contribute to the problem? In order for that to be even a thing they'd have to be worse than fans of other teams. And the only reason you could possibly claim that is due to sheer amount of engagement, because we have lots of fans. Fans who are on the whole the most forgiving fanbase in the world when it comes to managers specifically.
 
Bruno in a midfield 2 absolutely works, especially with an energetic player like Ugarte next to him. It's up to Amorim though to coach Bruno in a way, so that he avoids making silly unforced errors like in the Europa League final and plays positionally more disciplined alongside his midfield partner. If Amorim can't do that, he should have shoved Bruno out the door at the start of the summer and gotten a player in return with the correct profile.

On top of that; to have control of the game with any 3-4-3 type of formation you need your centrebacks to actually push up to the halfway line, when you are in possession. That way you squeeze the space and won't allow the kind of giant midfield voids we often witnessed. No player, bar a prime Kante perhaps, will be able to cover the amount of ground required to keep the team save on the turnover otherwise. We are still so often too far back and as long as we keep doing that, you can pretty much sign any midfielder available in the market and they will be made to look equally as pedestrian.

Amorim will get nowhere with this team, if he doesn't fix these spacing issues. I don't know why he hasn't gotten to grips with it yet, while mentioning it constantly in interviews. Maybe more time on the training pitch this preseason will see a lot of improvement in this regard and we should probably already be able to tell so in the upcoming friendlies against premier league teams. He's got the players. I think Yoro, Heaven, Mazraoui and even Shaw, with De Ligt in more of a sweeping role, should be able to push up as high as anyone. The question is, if his instructions actually get through to them all the way. If not, he's the wrong guy. Plain and simple.
 
His setup doesn’t work in the PL. He’s too stubborn to change so he’ll be sacked in 2-3 months.
 
He is just talking sense. We finished 15th last season, we're not going to be magically challenging. We will suffer in games, there's absolutely no doubt about that. In fact, even teams that will challenge will also suffer. In a long season, there's many ups and downs.
 
Rista said:
In what way do these fans who supposedly get baited by stupid stories contribute to the problem? In order for that to be even a thing they'd have to be worse than fans of other teams. And the only reason you could possibly claim that is due to sheer amount of engagement, because we have lots of fans. Fans who are on the whole the most forgiving fanbase in the world when it comes to managers specifically.
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They consistently get baited, read any thread over the last 12 months and you’ll see it. They got baited by some quotes just earlier on that were taken out of context. Go on social media and you’ll see nothing but negative shit from our supposed own fans. They say they want a cultural reset or to clear out the deadwood, and then they kick off when we start moving on problem players. They slag the club off every time Rashford or Antony kicks a ball elsewhere on loan, as though the fact they can still play football means it was a mistake to move them on.

Why do you think the media keep putting out negative stories where they twist things to look worse? Because they know our fans eat it up. It’s a self fulfilling prophecy at this stage.

Match going fans are very patient, probably too patient with managers. But if you read the view of our online (mostly non match going fans) it’s a lot different. And the positive stuff gets dismissed quickly. I posted that the stadium was a sign of ambition from INEOS, and some numpty responded that it was fake and the club were just gaslighting us with fake plans.
 
I actually like him calling things out, I respected ETH as a human but he definitely defended the team too much, I can understand protecting the team but it got to the point where it looked ridiculous.

The team needs to work harder otherwise no amount of clever tactics or quality will make any difference...
 
Wing Attack Plan R said:
Really surprised you haven’t been promoted into the Mains with insight like yours.
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Well there is no insight, that's my point. Its a bland nothing statement from a guy who wants to feed the content machine what it needs as quickly as possible so he can get back to working with his players.

If you're looking for insight into the online fandom, I'd say the reaction to it is yet more evidence that for a disproportionately vocal section of the fanbase, criticism of Amorim has moved beyond reasonable scepticism of his plans and his ability to enact them (which is where most people are), to this place where they're seeking constant confirmation of the position they've taken - that being that Amorim is shit, is formation is shit etc. I think a lot of them are terminally online, the constant ribbing and ridicule we receive online is making them feel sad, and so they've adopted this anti-Amorim stance to protect themselves with the consolation that 'at least I was right', if it does fail. So lets look for any evidence, even a nothing quote in a press conference, taken out of confidence, to make themselves feel better, cause at least they were right all along. In fact this thread, which could be discussion about what the manager is doing to transform this team in what is the most exciting period of change the club has been through since Fergie went, has for the most part been a constant repetition of the same people saying over and over again that they think hes not good enough. It obscures interesting conversation about the things that are happening - you know, the actual football - and makes the forum a less enjoyable place to be.

There's your insight. Can I be part of you club now?
 
pocco said:
I keep saying this but our own fans are part of the problem these days. There seems to be a portion of our fanbase that thrives on negativity, and it just perpetuates the problems we have. They get played like absolute fiddles by the media - no critical thinking over what they are reading, just buy into it hook, line and sinker.
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It’s even wider than football. So much of social media is exactly this - rage baiting, engagement baiting nonsense. Billionaires owning the media platforms that just spew hatred and the minions just lapping it up. Immigration, lgbt stuff, whatever. Anything that distracts from the 1%. Divide and conquer. Rinse and repeat.

But that’s all for another thread.
 
DSG said:
Shades of gray? Pep is possession fanatic, Klopp is geggenpressing. They didn’t suddenly become counter attacking etc. if you want to say Bielsa is more of a purist than Pep, then fine, but he’s very possession focused.

Vastly different? Please tell me what was vastly different from what they were doing previously?
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If you could easily confuse the playing style of Klopp's 19/20 league winning team for his Dortmund league winning team, then you've not watched either of them.
 
LordSpud said:
Reading between the lines I think the suffering thing is a plea from him to the fans to keep backing him, he thought he would have men bought into the club (more than 2) as well as men out. The club have failed miserably.
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Nice getting in the excuses quick and early. Club has allowed him to completely sideline 5 players, not even take them on the tour and bought two players for around 130m.

How about, you know, expecting him to do his job? Maybe coach the players he already has and improve them ?

He will get the backing from fans if he shows an improvement in performances. Not the turgid football we saw last season.
 
Houdini said:
Yes, thats where we are. This season will be about "its better than last yeat". Even if we end up aarount 10th (which is realistic), they will sell it as a success. The state of this club.
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Except it will be a success from where we are, 10th would be an improvement.

You really think we’re going to be top 4 next year?

Need to realise what the current “state of this club” is
 
saik said:
Nice getting in the excuses quick and early. Club has allowed him to completely sideline 5 players, not even take them on the tour and bought two players for around 130m.

How about, you know, expecting him to do his job? Maybe coach the players he already has and improve them ?

He will get the backing from fans if he shows an improvement in performances. Not the turgid football we saw last season.
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That could turn out to be a very bad choice by the end of the window if we end up keeping some of them in the squad and needing them at some point.
 
Leftback99 said:
Forest underlying numbers were worse than ours last season. It was a fluke like our 8th place. They'll highly likely be nowhere near top 6 this season.
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I’m not sure why you keep insisting that we somehow deserved to finish 15th instead of 8th. If we deserved to finish 15th, we probably would have. As it was, even the 8th we dropped into quite late if I recall correctly. We were fighting for better European qualification just weeks before 8th was confirmed.

Just because we were not a great team, that’s the thing about being in a league. We showed that as bad as we were, those in and around is were not better. They were bad too. If you are a poor team and there are 19 worse, you will be Champions.

Amorim crashed the car spectacularly last season. 15th is totally unacceptable and it is utter nonsense to suggest that the level we were at under him is the level we have been for two whole years.
 
UnitedSofa said:
Except it will be a success from where we are, 10th would be an improvement.

You really think we’re going to be top 4 next year?

Need to realise what the current “state of this club” is
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With the way the fixtures have landed, I don't think we'll be in the top 4 after two games.
 
LordSpud said:
Reading between the lines I think the suffering thing is a plea from him to the fans to keep backing him
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The fan fiction is absolutely insane. How in earth you can come up with this is astounding.

You really think Amorim has say there snd thought “YEAH! If they ask me this, I’m going to say that, the fans will LOVE IT!”

This is amazing. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

LordSpud said:
he thought he would have men bought into the club (more than 2) as well as men out. The club have failed miserably.
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Failed miserably yet there’s like around 5 weeks left of the window…. Riiiiight
 
sp_cgb said:
Bruno in a midfield 2 absolutely works, especially with an energetic player like Ugarte next to him. It's up to Amorim though to coach Bruno in a way, so that he avoids making silly unforced errors like in the Europa League final and plays positionally more disciplined alongside his midfield partner. If Amorim can't do that, he should have shoved Bruno out the door at the start of the summer and gotten a player in return with the correct profile.

On top of that; to have control of the game with any 3-4-3 type of formation you need your centrebacks to actually push up to the halfway line, when you are in possession. That way you squeeze the space and won't allow the kind of giant midfield voids we often witnessed. No player, bar a prime Kante perhaps, will be able to cover the amount of ground required to keep the team save on the turnover otherwise. We are still so often too far back and as long as we keep doing that, you can pretty much sign any midfielder available in the market and they will be made to look equally as pedestrian.

Amorim will get nowhere with this team, if he doesn't fix these spacing issues. I don't know why he hasn't gotten to grips with it yet, while mentioning it constantly in interviews. Maybe more time on the training pitch this preseason will see a lot of improvement in this regard and we should probably already be able to tell so in the upcoming friendlies against premier league teams. He's got the players. I think Yoro, Heaven, Mazraoui and even Shaw, with De Ligt in more of a sweeping role, should be able to push up as high as anyone. The question is, if his instructions actually get through to them all the way. If not, he's the wrong guy. Plain and simple.
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I don't think Ugarte is the right player player. In fact, I think Ugarte almost needs the same player next to him that Bruno would. They would work in a 3 but not a 2.

Ugarte is great at going and getting the ball back, but that will leave you wide open with Bruno up the pitch.
 
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