Manchester United’s narrative has done a 180-degree flip in a span of two games, which is what positive results against Liverpool and Arsenal away from home does.
Ruben Amorim can now attack the rest of the season with something to build upon, while the players can convince the Man Utd fans that the problem is consistency, not quality.
Amorim clearly inherited a broken club with a fragile mentality so the work he has done in just two months to promise a better future is remarkable.
Most importantly, he has already fixed United’s biggest weakness he inherited from Erik ten Hag in just those two months which will stand the club in good stead for the future.
Man Utd’s big weakness inherited by Ruben Amorim
By the end of Ten Hag’s United tenure, things had spiralled so out of control that it was easier to point out what few things they were doing right rather than the stuff they did wrong.
However, even among all those mistakes, there was an overarching weakness that persisted even when Ten Hag was guiding United through a successful debut season in 2022/23.
That weakness was extreme fragility against the conventional “top-six” sides away from Old Trafford, where United had become a sort of punching bag for the rivals.
Some of the worst results of United in these marquee games came when they traveled to Etihad Stadium, Emirates, Stadium, or Anfield.
Even disregarding the trainwreck half a campaign this year when he was in charge for less than five months, his record away at top six sides read 23 points in 20 games.
Heavy losses to Liverpool and Man City take the cake but the team never even remotely looked like competing, let alone winning against these teams.
In just two months at the club, Ruben Amorim has completely flipped the script.
Amorim fixes United’s weakness
In just two months at the club, with barely any proper training sessions, Amorim has taken United to four of the five away grounds, with Stamford Bridge the only remaining one.
In those games, they should have won at Tottenham, won at Arsenal (FA Cup) and Man City, and arguably could have won at Anfield.
More importantly, they didn’t play like underdogs in any of those games, taking the initiative and executing a clear game plan that will only improve with time on the training pitch.
Just like that, United’s Achilles heel for a long time has turned into a huge strength, filling players with the belief that they don’t have to be lambs for slaughter anytime they travel to a big-six ground.
Executing that sort of mentality shift in two months promises a brighter future for both, the club and the manager. United are finally hanging with the elite sides.
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