Manchester United fell to a disappointing 3-0 defeat in the Manchester derby as the scrutiny continues to grow on Ruben Amorim after a summer of spending in the transfer window
Midway through the first-half, with Manchester United trailing, Ruben Amorim slapped his thighs in frustration over the failure of his players to carry out his instructions.
The image of Amorim as a tortured soul has been a recurring one over his 10 months in charge, with eight wins from 31 Premier League games yielding little joy for the United boss. It was a familiar story here, despite Amorim claiming ahead of the game that United were a “better team” than last season, his players reverting to type and again failing to deliver when it mattered.
United may have gone into the derby above City in the table for the first time in five years, but Pep Guardiola’s side, who suffered a poor start to the season with back-to-back league defeats, provided a sobering reminder of the enduring gulf in class between the teams with a ruthless demolition of their local rivals.
After nearly a year in charge, and having presided over a £236million spend in the summer transfer window, United fans are entitled to expect their team to be in a better place.
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But they continue to regress, despite their summer additions and Amorim’s bold rhetoric about clear signs of progress. Here, United were undone by basic mistakes that continue to cost them games, just as they did last season, when they limped to a 15th-place finish.
Failure to qualify for Europe, we were told by Amorim, was a blessing in disguise for United, because they were not ready for it and because it would give him and his coaching staff more time to work with the players on tactics, principles and patterns of play.
Five games into the new campaign and that take has been exposed, with United looking as dysfunctional and ragged as they did last season, committing the same errors and paying the same price by losing games.
For City’s first goal, Luke Shaw pulled out of a challenge on Jeremy Doku, allowing him to pick out Phil Foden, who was free to score with a header after United skipper Bruno Fernandes failed to track his run.
United’s players were also culpable for City’s second, Bryan Mbeumo conceding a needless throw-in, from which City scored, Doku finding Erling Haaland, who was able to run between Shaw and Matthijs De Ligt, before executing an exquisite chip over Altay Bayindir.
Even when United did threaten to score, such as in the 61st minute when Bryan Mbeumo sent a sublime volley arrowing towards the far corner of the net, they were thwarted, City’s new keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma tipping the ball away.
United may have offloaded players with a negative influence in Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, Jadon Sancho and Antony, but a deeper malaise remains within the squad, one for which Amorim will pay the price if he cannot turn the team’s fortunes around any time soon.
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