HT Kick Off: Slip, sliding away

It was almost a yr agone that dog Ilett took a consecrate. The Manchester United devotee said he would not cut his hair till the team won five matches in a row. He is still waiting and by the looks of it, it is going to be a while before he can snip his locks into shape.

For sure, Manchester United can beat Chelsea on Saturday. Just like the FA Cup wins last year against Manchester City and Liverpool, they are capable of the odd upset. There is enough individual quality in the roster for that. But improvement of any kind, it will not be. Sunday’s chaotic collapse provided ample proof of that.

Narrowed down, proof came in the 18th minute when with 11 players in their defensive third, Manchester United could not prevent Phil Foden from scoring with a header. It was only the third time Foden had done that in the league.

This was Pep Guardiola’s first win in four attempts against Ruben Amorim, one that seemed inevitable once Erling Haaland got his first of the afternoon. United fans leaving from around the 80th minute; Jim Ratcliffe looking like he would rather be elsewhere and players promising to buck up after accepting what happened was not good enough, it feels like a routine now. This gloom will take some lifting.

In over 10 months since Amorim took charge, Manchester United have not won two successive Premier League matches. The Portuguese has aggregated 31 points in 31 matches including one win in five matches in all competitions this season which makes it United's worst start since 1992-93. Amorim has lost 20 of the 47 matches he has supervised. He has 14 points from 16 away league matches. And, there was the League Cup defeat to Grimsby Town (the fourth-tier side continue to punch above their weight, beating Sheffield United 1-0 on Tuesday).

Yet, the numbers are not enough to convince Amorim that a change in approach is required. The 3-4-3 formation is how Manchester United will play, he said after the derby defeat. “When I want to change my philosophy, I will change. If not, you have to change the man.”

It is a way of playing that has forced Bruno Fernandes deeper and that is not where he is at his best. He had zero touches in the penalty box on Sunday. Worse, Fernandes being unable to track a runner has led to goals being shipped against Fulham and City. But if Amorim sticks to what he has said, that is not changing. It also means Kobbie Mainoo is deemed not good enough to start and United frequently get overrun in midfield but if Amorim has a solution to it, the world has yet to see it.

United’s build-ups on Sunday were ponderous and not once did the deliveries in the box beat City’s defence. Whatever attempts United had were more from individual ability than collective effort. And it has been like this for a while now.

City came into the match far from their best, having lost twice in three league games. Though it was his calm pass that set Jeremy Doku on his way for the first goal, Rodri is not half the player he can be. United could press them successfully leading to City uncharacteristically losing possession. “We are still doing many good things but we still need to be more consistent than we have been,” Guardiola said before the match. But they made fewer errors, had players who showed better individual ability and in the end, made it look too easy.

So adrift are United that sacking Amorim could feel like a change for change’s sake. They have done that far too often since the stability of the Alex Ferguson years. Yet, if the drift continues, Amorim will become the latest manager to be gobbled up by a club that once won 13 Premier League titles. Whatever the level of football, here’s only one fallout of a string of poor results.

In the upper echelons of club football, 50% of managers/head coaches last less than one year. Gerardo Seoane at Borussia Moenchengladbach and Erik ten Hag at Bayer Leverkusen were sacked three games into this season.

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