With a dire domestic record, a UEL loss would leave Ruben Amorim in real danger

Cast your minds back to November 2024 when the Manchester United hierarchy had realised they'd made yet another mistake in allowing Erik ten Hag to continue, and then decided to relieve him of his duties.

At that point in time Ruben Amorim was seen as United's saviour. A young, hungry and up-and-coming coach with great ideas and a marvellous track record. A track record that saw him leave Sporting with a stunning 88.2% win record in the 17 games he had taken charge of this season before moving to Old Trafford.

Ruben Amorim, then of Sporting, celebrates victory with his players after the Champions League match against Manchester City on November 5, 2024Jose Manuel Alvarez Rey/NurPhoto / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia

Prior to the 2024/25 campaign, Amorim's lowest win percentage with the Portuguese giants was 54.5% from 11 games (2019/20), but once he had created the squad he wanted and got them playing in a certain way, a 70% win rate (2022/23, 28 wins from 40 games - still pretty good) was his worst showing.

Amorim was supposed to be Manchester United's saviour

Sir Jim Radcliffe and his board would therefore have everyone believe that here was the man to, finally, take on the mantle from Sir Alex Ferguson. To succeed where all of David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ralf Rangnick and Ten Hag had failed.

And yet here we are, almost six and a half months since his first game with the Red Devils and either United have someone in charge that's masquerading as Amorim, the Portuguese just doesn't have what it takes to manage a really top club or, as has been said so many times before, the players at the club just aren't up to it.

Ruben Amorim on the problems at Manchester UnitedOpta by Stats Perform

Whilst there can certainly be an argument that any manager and his style isn't the right fit for a particular club, United's predicament is quite unique.

All of the aforementioned managers have enjoyed success elsewhere, and in Amorim, Van Gaal, Mourinho and Ten Hag's case that's either been with a league or cup win as a minimum.

Therefore, it's lazy to label anyone who takes the job in the United dugout as 'not good enough.'

United have lost 13 of 25 Premier League games under Amorim

What is quite remarkable in Amorim's case, however, is just how poorly his United side have performed, at least domestically.

With one game left of the Premier League season, the Red Devils sit in 16th position and are just one point and one place above their Europa League final opponents, Tottenham.

Manchester United's Lisandro Martinez cuts a dejected figure at full time after losing 3-0 to Bournemouth at Old TraffordČTK / imago sportfotodienst / IMAGO

In the 25 English top-flight games that he has overseen, just six of those have been won. Another six have been drawn with 13 lost.

That stat and an associated win percentage of just 24% would be bad enough, but when you also consider that United have always scored goals and yet they've managed just 30 in those 25 games, it really does bring into sharp focus some of the problems the manager has.

40 goals have also been conceded in the league during that time, so it's clear that the issues aren't solely with those playing staff in attacking positions. 

A different story in Europe

To give even further perspective on how far United have fallen domestically, three of their league wins in 24/25 came against all three relegated sides - Ipswich, Southampton and Leicester. Fulham, Everton and an out-of-sorts Manchester City, who themselves have endured an awful campaign by their standards, were the others.

In Europe though, it's been a totally different story.

Harry Maguire celebrates his goal to make it 5-4 during the Europa League quarter-final second leg against LyonČTK / AP / Andrew Yates

10 games played under Amorim in the Europa League have produced eight wins and two draws. 28 goals have been scored and 15 conceded, both metrics a better return than in Erik ten Hag's 15 games in the competition for United.

The win percentage in that competition for the Portuguese (United only) is a healthy 80% which is much more aligned to his time at Sporting and might suggest that a more European way of playing is one which evidently suits this manager.

Though he has some very experienced players who should be doing much better on a more regular basis, there's no escaping that the Premier League is a more physically demanding and, perhaps, less technical league than what Amorim has been used to.

His insistence therefore in continuing to play in a certain way has to be admired; however, there comes a point when one has to take stock and admit when something isn't working.

Lose the Europa League final and it could be curtains for Amorim

Ahead of the Europa League final, the 40-year-old has hinted that that moment is fast approaching.

"Everybody here has to think seriously about a lot of things," he was quoted as saying.

"Everybody is thinking about the (Europa League) final. The final is not the issue. We have bigger things to think about.

"I'm talking about myself and the culture in the club and the culture in the team. We need to change that. It's a decisive moment in the history of the club.

"We need to be really strong in the summer and to be brave because we will not have a next season like this. If we start like this, if the feeling is still here, we should give the space to different people."

Ruben Amorim deep in thought during the 1-0 loss against ChelseaMark Pain / Alamy / Profimedia

Were United to fail in their quest to be Kings of Europe, that could accelerate the process for a new manager, though all that will do is essentially keep bringing the club back to square one. United's woes can't simply be laid at each and every new manager's door. 

There is an inherent need now for there to be a more forensic look at exactly what needs to change, and a full and frank discussion on why it is that good players can't seem to get their act together at one of football's most storied institutions.

Jason PettigroveFlashscore