There is no denying that Manchester United have played significantly better under coach Ruben Amorim.
The ball rotation is faster, the deployment is more purposeful than in the period under his predecessor Erik ten Hag, when inconsistent decisions and strategic mistakes caused the club to fall behind for many years.
At least, fans have witnessed truly entertainment performances, worthy of the time and money they spend. That means Amorim has met the minimum requirements after 13 months in charge.
Last October, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, a co-owner of Man United, denied speculation about Amorim's future, saying he was willing to give the former Sporting CP coach 3 years to prove himself at Old Trafford. It was a reasonable decision based on initial signs of improvement.
However, for a big club like Man United, the result is still the only measure of the coach's fate. And as the season is moving into the midfield, the current numbers are still not convincing enough.
The "Red Devils" continued to improve their performance when they visited Aston Villa last weekend. However, they still suffered their fifth Premier League defeat, when they were overwhelmed by the brilliance of Morgan Rogers.
After 17 rounds, Amorim's team is 13 points behind Arsenal in the championship race and 3 points behind Liverpool in fifth place - most likely still the last place in the Champions League thanks to the UEFA coefficient of the Premier League.
The problem lies in instability. With only two wins in the last 8 matches, Man United has not shown the necessary foundation to ensure a place in the European arena. The psychological factor plays a certain role, but the core is still the quality of the squad that is not in depth enough. This is even more evident when Bryan Mbeumo, Amad Diallo and Noussair Mazraoui are all on duty at AFCON.
Amorim does not have the advantage in terms of personnel, so maintaining his position in the Champions League race is already a difficult task. The situation became more serious when Bruno Fernandes - captain and also the only player to maintain stability in form and fitness - suffered an injury in the match against Villa.
The loss of Fernandes could be a major turning point, enough to distract the entire season and put Ratcliffe under great pressure to review the Amorim project earlier than expected.
Another defeat could push Amorim to the brink of sacking, right before a series of matches that were considered necessary to win. Man United will face Wolves on December 30, before visiting Leeds United and Burnley for 8 days in turn.
In theory, this is a relatively favorable competition schedule. And it would be a big surprise if Man United continue to stumble against Wolves, especially when they just defeated the bottom team of the Premier League 4-1 at Molineux just two weeks ago.
However, the challenges ahead are not simple. Leeds are in good form and will certainly enter the match with excitement, while Burnley are always a tough opponent at Turf Moor.
In that context, Amorim did not have much time to hesitate. He needs to start looking for solutions in the transfer market right now. Because if we had waited until Fernandes' return, it could have been too late to save Amorim's project.
