Ruben Amorim reaches his first anniversary as Manchester United’s head coach on a high after three straight Premier League wins propelled his team into the top six and eased fears over his future at Old Trafford.
Amorim knows the situation could turn sour again quickly and will not be getting carried away as United head to the City Ground to face struggling Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
But as the Portuguese chalks up his first year in arguably his strongest position since it was announced at the beginning of last November that he would leave Sporting Lisbon to take over at United, Daily Mail Sport looks at what’s improved and what hasn’t – and what Amorim needs to do in year two.
Results business
Any manager knows football is a results business, and Amorim is no different. He also knows that results simply haven’t been good enough over the past year.
He inherited an under-performing team from Erik ten Hag and made it worse, contributing to United’s poorest season in more than half a century. Amorim banked on the consolation of Europa League glory, but even that was snatched away from him.
Results simply haven’t been good enough over the course of Ruben Amorim’s tenure so far – he has the worst win rate of any permanent Manchester United boss since Sir Alex Ferguson
But United have improved of late with Amorim securing three Premier League wins in a row for the first time, against Sunderland, Liverpool and Brighton
He has a win rate of 40.4 per cent, lower than any permanent United manager since Sir Alex Ferguson retired and still some way behind Ten Hag on 54.7 per cent.
As last season’s problems carried over into the new campaign and the crisis threatened to engulf him, Amorim admitted before the game against Sunderland at the start of October that time was running out.
‘Nobody here is naive,’ he said. ‘We understand we need results to continue the project. We will reach a point that is impossible for everyone because this is a very big club with a lot of sponsors, with two owners. So it is hard. You can’t run away from the results.’
Fortunately, Amorim got the victory he needed, then his first back-to-back league wins by beating Liverpool at Anfield, and made it a hat-trick against Brighton last weekend.
It wasn’t just the results, but the manner of the wins that was so impressive. The two previous victories this season over Chelsea and Burnley were rather chaotic affairs, but United have been playing with a calmness and confidence that had been sorely missed.
They demonstrated the importance of getting an early goal and of not falling apart when things go against them.
Amorim would be the first to admit that he isn’t out of the woods yet, and another crisis could be just around the corner. But for the first time in 2025, it feels like he has a little breathing space at last.
Now he has to make winning a habit at United again, and show the rest of the Premier League that his team are a genuine force.
Summer signing Matheus Cunha, seen here celebrating his goal in the win over Brighton, has had a positive impact since making the move to Old Trafford
Amorim would be the first to admit that he isn’t out of the woods yet, but for the first time in 2025, it feels like he has a little breathing space at last
Culture club
Amorim isn’t the first manager to attempt to improve the standards at United. Ten Hag spoke of a ‘no good culture’ when he arrived, and only had so much success in fixing it.
The Dutchman had his issues with Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho, and his successor hasn’t been afraid to tackle some of United’s big names head-on either.
All three players were part of a bomb squad that were made to train separately to the rest of the first-team group in pre-season and then left off the summer tour to the US before being offloaded to other clubs.
The other two members were Antony and Tyrell Malacia, who has since been reintegrated into the squad.
Rashford and Garnacho were dropped for the Manchester derby in December over their attitude in training. Amorim later said he would rather play his 63-year-old goalkeeper coach Jorge Vital than pick Rashford again.
Garnacho was given a second chance but eventually banished by the United boss over comments he made about being benched for the Europa League final defeat by Tottenham in Bilbao.
Despite his cheery demeanour, Amorim has shown himself to be ruthless when needed. The players have also said he can come across as aloof and arrogant at times.
But he will hope that getting rid of the bomb squad was worth it, and United will have a more cohesive group and better culture going forward.
Amorim has attempted to improve the culture at United, with the exiled Marcus Rashford among the big names in his summer ‘bomb squad’
Alejandro Garnacho (left) was also axed after comments he made in the wake of United’s Europa League final defeat by Tottenham
System addict
Much of the narrative of Amorim’s first year in charge has centred around his undying devotion to a 3-4-2-1 system. The Portuguese isn’t for turning – even if the Pope told him to, as he put it.
It’s a bold move because United’s tradition has been built on exciting wingers. Recruiting Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha in the bespoke No 10 positions in his formation has also meant pushing captain Bruno Fernandes into a deeper role where he is less effective.
Add in the fact that Rasmus Hojlund was sacrificed to bring in Benjamin Sesko, and that the new formation has had a catastrophic effect on Kobbie Mainoo’s career, and the stakes could hardly be higher.
History will either judge Amorim as a genius or a stubborn coach who wouldn’t consider a Plan B. At least he has been more willing to tweak his system this season, using an extra defender or attacker to stop the midfield from being overrun, or going more direct with long balls to Sesko and his wide players.
It would appear Amorim is benefitting from a full pre-season with his players and being able to work with them at Carrington during the week without the distraction of European football.
Meanwhile, it will continue to frustrate him that the system is blamed when United lose, but barely mentioned when they win.
Bruno Fernandes (right) has suffered at times from his deeper role in Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 system, while the formation has had a damaging effect on the career of Kobbie Mainoo (left)
Mr Emotional
A feature of Amorim’s first 12 months at Old Trafford has been his outspoken comments. They’ve been a headline writer’s dream – less so for the club.
It began with his ‘a storm is coming’ prediction, which proved painfully accurate and continued with an admission that his team were maybe the worst in United’s history.
Having admitted to the media on tour in the summer that he can be too ‘romantic’ at times, Amorim claimed after the Carabao Cup defeat at Grimsby this season that sometimes he hates his players and wants to quit.
The United boss’ body language on the touchline has also been questioned and he can be just as emotional behind the scenes, damaging a television and cutting his hand in a post-match rant at the players following defeat by Brighton in January.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe also revealed that Amorim is not averse to telling him to ‘f*** off’ in their discussions.
The coach insists he won’t change his ways, so we can look forward to some more colourful moments as he embarks on his second year in charge.
The United boss’ body language on the touchline has been questioned and he can be just as emotional behind the scenes
A feature of Amorim’s first 12 months at Old Trafford has been his outspoken comments. They’ve been a headline writer’s dream – less so for the club
Backing of the board
After a turbulent period of change throughout the club following Ratcliffe’s investment, it feels as though there is more stability at United now.
Even after Amorim was appointed, director of football Dan Ashworth – one of the executives who welcomed him to Carrington when he arrived on a private jet from Lisbon in November – was sacked following only his fifth game in charge.
With Jason Wilcox stepping into Ashworth’s shoes to work alongside chief executive Omar Berrada at the head of the football operation based at the revamped training ground, there is a clear line of command and a consistent message that can only be of benefit to the manager.
The new hierarchy, from Ratcliffe all the way down, is heavily invested in Amorim and desperate for him succeed in a way that may otherwise have seen him sacked before his first anniversary in the job.
Although nobody – least of all Amorim himself – is buying the line from Ratcliffe that he has another two years to get it right, the 40-year-old at least knows he has the full backing of his bosses.
United’s new brains trust of (from left) Jason Wilcox, Omar Berrada and Sir Jim Ratcliffe
The new hierarchy, from Ratcliffe all the way down, is heavily invested in Amorim and desperate for him succeed
Wise buys
One key area where the new order at United got it largely right for Amorim was the summer transfer window.
Ratcliffe raised concerns over recruitment when he did his due diligence before investing £1.3billion in United. It was felt that the club were too slow to move in the transfer market and had ended up overpaying for poor signings.
The decision was made to prioritise players with Premier League experience and act more decisively, which led to Mbeumo and Cunha signing before the team went on tour to the US in July.
Mbeumo has arguably been United’s best player with four goals and one assist, linking up well with Amad Diallo on the right side. Cunha only got his first goal against Brighton last weekend, but he has displayed the kind of confidence and swagger shown by many of the truly great attacking players at Old Trafford.
United relaxed their Premier League preference to sign Senne Lammens ahead of Emi Martinez and Sesko ahead of Ollie Watkins, but both have impressed early on.
One area where United failed to recruit is midfield, and that is something they will have to put right in January or make their first order of business in the summer.
Despite missing out on £100million by failing to win the Europa League and thus qualify for the Champions League, the club are getting to grips with their finances after a savage cost-cutting drive under Ratcliffe, and Wilcox said this week that Amorim will have money to spend.
One of the major factors in Amorim’s favour is that United’s fans have never wavered in their support of him
United supporters have kept the faith through some very hard times – but will there be brighter days ahead in Amorim’s second year?
Fans’ favourite
Another factor in Amorim’s favour is that the fans have never wavered in their support of him.
There was widespread shock when United crashed out of the Carabao Cup against Grimsby Town in August, and rumblings of discontent when they lost 3-1 at Brentford in September, but any anger has always been directed towards the Glazers and Ratcliffe.
At times it has felt as though choosing Bonnie Tyler’s hit It’s a Heartache as the tune for their tribute song to Amorim was rather prophetic, but United supporters have kept the faith through some very hard times.
‘I don’t know how to explain why the fans like me in this moment, it’s hard to explain,’ he said in May. ‘I will try to prove myself to the fans, to the board, but I don’t have an explanation.’
