Ruben Amorim has not made the start at Manchester United that fans hoped he would.
Sunday’s 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace means Manchester United have slumped back down to 13th in the Premier League table.
With just 29 points on the board this season, the Red Devils are as close to relegation as they are to the top five spots.
Ruben Amorim was the first to warn of relegation, and he has struggled to get any consistency out of this squad – he is certainly not the first manager with that concern.
Amorim has now welcomed his first two signings to the club. Ayden Heaven joined United on Saturday and Patrick Dorgu’s £25m move was confirmed on Sunday just hours before kick-off at Old Trafford.
However, Amorim wanted a striker on deadline day, but that wish was denied with a deal for Mathys Tel collapsing.
Ineos told they must back Ruben Amorim
Ineos gave Amorim an ultimatum this season – join United now or never. The former Sporting boss preferred to wait until the end of the campaign, and it is clear to see why.
He has inherited a broken and unbalanced squad incapable of playing his style of football. That was always going to be the case, but Amorim was thrown into the deep end during a period of the season where games were every three or four days.
Despite United’s poor form under the new head coach, pundits Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer insist that he needs to be given time – at least until next season.
Speaking on The Rest is Football podcast, Shearer said:
“I think for the rest of the season, he has to be given time. He’s never going to get a free pass, but I do think it’s so bad there that you have to cut him some slack in what he wants to do and is trying to do.
“It is taking a lot longer than probably he and everyone thought but, I think that’s because the problems are so deep-rooted at the club that it’s not going to be a quick fix.
“He has to be given this transfer window, the rest of the season to try and do what he wants to do and then the window in the summer to have a clear run at next season to get his team basically.
“It’s been a problem there for a while and someone has to be given the amount of time to sort it out. They’ve invested in him and his beliefs, and I think that’s the right thing to do.”
“In an ideal world, you try to make the tweaks to win games but they’re just not good enough, they’re miles away from benign competitive, especially in the way he wants them to play,” Shearer continued.
Lineker agreed with his assessment, saying: “Yeah, they haven’t got the players across the board to do that.”
Ruben Amorim is making progress at Man United
Amorim’s first few months as United boss have been turbulent to say the least, but there have been some signs of progress.
United are improving defensively under Amorim and slowly but surely players are adapting to his 3-4-3 formation.
With more and more time on the training ground, players are starting to buy into Amorim’s style of play, but the sheer lack of quality up front is proving costly.
READ MORE: Ruben Amorim should hand a shock debut at Man Utd now, Palace game gave him strong evidence
Amorim picked out three positives against Palace but explained that his side’s poor finishing ended up costing much-needed points.
This season is essentially a write-off. United must aim for Europa League glory to try and at least salvage Champions League football.
But Amorim’s real test will come next season after the summer transfer window closes.
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