Ruben Amorim presents himself as the man of Manchester United’s downfall but the rot runs deeper | Manchester United

The had always thought it couldn’t happen now. It is simply not possible in modern football that a super club can be relegated. Manchester United may have gone down in 1974, but that won’t happen in 2025. Even when Ruben Amorim said United were in a relegation battle after Monday’s 2-0 defeat to Newcastle, he was keen to shock.

And that won’t happen now. United will not be relegated. They probably only need 15 points in the second half of the season to be safe and the financial structure of modern football means there are at least three teams worse than them. Still, it’s significant that Amorim can mention relegation without it seeming completely absurd, revealing that it’s worth doing the math, working out what kind of tally might be needed for United to survive. What has happened at United since Sir Alex Ferguson left feels like a thought experiment incarnate: what would it take for the most successful team in English history to disappear?

You couldn’t do it quickly. Impatience would have provoked indignation which would have caused the project of decline to fail. It would take a carefully managed process of drift, to allow five very different managers to put together a team of profound incoherence. You would have to waste huge amounts of money on aging players, players who were never good enough and players whose potential you have wildly overestimated, ensuring that respect for Profitability and Sustainability (PSR) means that there cannot be massive spending to solve the problem.

After years without a sporting director with overall powers to shape the club, you would approach the coup de grace creating a situation where there is suddenly an entire politburo, adding a whole new layer of intrigue and confusion. The final stroke of genius would be to appoint a confident ideologue, a highly sought-after manager with obvious abilities but who insists on playing a system that somehow, despite the chaotic and eclectic nature of the team, does not suitable for no player.

United became the club they would have been if Mel Brooks had written a dark satire about them – with the added bonus of Fall of the House of UsherConcrete metaphor in Old Trafford style, the collapsing roof is infested with mice.

Amorim is the scapegoat in all of this. It’s not his fault. He helped Sporting win the Portuguese league title for the first time in 19 years, a period during which the club had come close to bankruptcy, had the training ground invaded by ultras and attempted to terminate football contracts. several players. If he could turn things around, how difficult could United be? The impression on Monday, as he gesticulated in vain on the touchline with less than 10 minutes played and United already behind, their midfield gaping, was that he was starting to get a feel for it.

This is Russell Martin’s problem writ large. Amorim made a big play of his system. He wants to spend this season familiarizing players with that, figuring out who can thrive and who needs to be replaced. He will change United without it changing him; But already, he must be able to feel the abyss staring back at him.

Erik ten Hag was changed at half-time in his second match, with United trailing 4-0 at Brentford; in a sense, his whole career at United became damage limitation from that point on. If Amorim acts the same way, if he compromises after such initial dogmatism, what does that mean? Does this affect its credibility? Does he admit doubt? Does this mean that players, even unconsciously, are becoming a little less committed to the revolution, knowing that their leader is not quite the man of unwavering faith they thought?

But if it doesn’t change, what will happen? United lurches. Maybe Bruno Fernandes is getting back into shape. Perhaps Amad Diallo turns in more sparkling performances. Maybe André Onana makes a few saves and Rasmus Højlund scores a few goals. Maybe they will win the FA Cup again or qualify for Europe. But it is more likely that this is not the case. Either way, the absence of football in the Champions League weighs on their finances. The PSR system limits the expenses required by Amorim. Defeats, even when the context of the imposition of a new style is understood, erode confidence. Will United really be ready to take off next season?

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More importantly, does this mean this campaign is canceled? Months of watching players struggle in a system they aren’t suited to in the name of a better future? It may continue to entertain the rest of the world, but how are United fans supposed to react, especially at a time when ticket prices have risen and concessions abolished? Not only will your grandfather have to pay good money to get in, but when he gets there, he’ll witness what is effectively a glorified training session for tomorrow’s rejects. Perhaps Sir Jim Ratcliffe thinks retirees will enjoy the nostalgia of watching the worst United from their childhood. “Do you think this is bad, son? You should have been at the Palace in December 72…”

It’s easy to have sympathy for Amorim. Everything is against him. He tries to impose his ideas on a dysfunctional camp in the middle of a busy schedule. But at the same time, what did he think would happen when he combined Casemiro and Christian Eriksen in midfield against Newcastle? Sure enough, they were outplayed, just as they had been at Ipswich in Amorim’s first game in charge.

If this extended public crash course of 3-4-3 is to continue, it surely must do so with more energy in the middle. Likewise, although defensive solidity will be the main objective against Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, against lesser teams, ways will have to be found to free up the full-backs, whose pushes are necessary not only in themselves but also to unlock the side attackers.

But these are details. Diogo Dalot’s positioning isn’t the reason United just had their worst month since 1930. That’s what a decade of mismanagement is leading to, and it won’t be toppled by a fancy new formation single-handedly . It is no longer about simple solutions, form or coaching, but a long-term overhaul of everything within the club. And that could take years.