MANCHESTER UNITED… 0
TOTTENHAM… 1
The above line of advice could probably be appended to any facet of life. You’d hope that if the Ineos idiots are still in charge of the Old Trafford club going forward, they might belatedly begin to pay heed to it also.
In fairness, I actually couldn’t be too critical of them in terms of transfer dealings. In fact, their faith and patience with Harry Maguire, Casemiro and Mason Mount was vindicated as the season went on.
What’s more, viewed through a certain lens, Patrick Dorgu deserves acclaim as one of the signings of the season. So too Leny Yoro, while I would still be of the view that Kobbie Mainoo, Amad Diallo, Bruno Fernandes, Alejandro Garnacho, Lisandro Martinez and Joshua Zirkzee are players around whom an amalgam could be constructed.
However, where whoever is in charge at United could greatly improve their lot is by believing what they see in front of them rather than what they are told. Exhibit A: Ruben Amorim.
It actually feels somewhat disloyal pinpointing the Portuguese there, because, to a certain extent, he has done well to maintain a modicum of functionality in what journalist Kevin Palmer rightly labelled a circus going on around him.
No, if one was to be critical about anything concerning Amorim it would be how or why he ended up at Old Trafford in the first place.
Right, so he had, in fairness to him, done very well with the artists formerly known as Sporting Lisbon, but, with the greatest of due respect to all concerned, no more than Celtic or Bayern Munich or – at a push – PSG, they only have one team in serious opposition to them. League Of Ireland football, God bless it, is more competitive than some of those mentioned above.
Competing in the gnarly world of the Premier League and, more so, European football is more vinegar than gravy in comparison. Though as was hinted at above, a lot of the problems he’s dealing with are not of his own making. Off the field at least. On it, the same pitfalls which had hamstrung those before him and the entirety of his first season struck again on Wednesday night in Bilbao when they somehow managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory against an equally shambolic and bog standard Spurs side.
Thus in no uncertain terms leaving the Europa League title which could have salvaged a sliver of respectability from an abomination of a season behind them. As if to underline the point, it played out as a rinse and repeat of the entire campaign. A besieged defence battling manfully to protect their territory, an undervalued midfield doing overtime to get their kinfolk out of a hole and a front line that wouldn’t score if there were posts in the four corners of the field.
Mind you, if you really wanted to emphasise the point made earlier about going on what you see in front of you, consider that Ange Postecoglou has once again maintained his track record of winning a trophy in the second season in every management role he has held. Now, I don’t know if he was ever between jobs at a time United were between managers but, if he was and got overlooked, those doing the overlooking would want to have a long, hard look at themselves.
That said, having – in a slapdash manner – managed to splatter some veneer of respectability onto United’s season by reaching a European final, they would surely be as well to stick with Amorim rather than giving him gate and arriving back at square zero again with some Johnny-come-lately that somebody likes the sound of.
However, even if the sensible thing is done and the 38-year-old is left in the dugout to begin next season at least, the team will require drastic surgery if they are to be even remotely competitive in the Premier League. What’s also apparent, however, from examples like Newcastle United and Nottingham Forrest and Manchester City and Arsenal and Chelsea, is that having patience with Eddie Howe and Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta Nuno Espirito Santo and Enzo Maresca can pay off quicker and better than being trigger happy and throwing P45s around the place.
So, if we can fairly safely assume that Amorim will be in charge for the short to medium term, this is the United team I would love to see being considered the first choice XI:
Bayindr; Yorro, De Ligt, Maguire, Matinez, Dorgu; Amad, Mainoo, Cunha, Fernandes; Bowen. Other Desirable Signings – Emile Smith-Rowe; Emmi Martinez; Eberichi Eze; Jared Brantwaite;
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