When Ruben Amorim started the press conference at Old Trafford, the ceiling had leaked, and the water dropped in drops, making many people tired of the deterioration of the infrastructure here. To fix that, the 39-year-old strategist can pick up water with a small bucket or apply tape to prevent water leakage.
However, those are only immediate solutions. Further, Man United's roof is too dilapidated and old. To overcome that, it is a very long process, very labor-intensive, costly, not simply like sticking a piece of glue or boiling water. That is also the story of Man United.
Amorim's side have conceded 17 goals in their last nine games. For the first time in Premier League history, the "Red Devils" are in the bottom half of the rankings before Christmas. They are 9 points behind 4th place and have lost 4/6 of their most recent matches.
"At the moment, things are really difficult. The team lost 0-3 at home. The fans are very disappointed and tired of this," Amorim said at his post-match press conference.
Witnessing his students continuously making mistakes for Bournemouth to exploit and score, Amorim understands that things are not as simple as sticking a piece of glue to the ceiling, which leaks in the press room. There needs to be one, or even more long-term plans for this team.
Amorim said he felt worried and confused right when the team took the field. The Portuguese strategist was not restless and baseless, in the end, what happened on the pitch was right. The 3-4-3 formation is still "dirty like a chicken soup", the players run in the wrong direction. Not only that, the set-pieces are not well-used and the defense is also bad, everything is like a pile of playing paper torn and thrown to the ground for many pages right in front of Amorim.
Bournemouth are a tough opponent, as evidenced by the fact that they have previously defeated Arsenal, Man City and Tottenham, currently sitting proudly in 5th place in the rankings. However, Man United did not have many opportunities, even many but unfortunately missed them all. To be more precise, the "Red Devils" lost to themselves before losing 0-3 to Bournemouth.
One of the things Ruben Amorim did very well at Sporting was rotate players. However, that rotation has returned to the inconsistent results of the past time with Man United. The team is no longer at a high level but has to play too many arenas, so the 39-year-old strategist is forced to do so. The uneven quality of the squad has led to unsatisfactory results.
Man United have " proactively" dropped them out of the League Cup with a second team when meeting Tottenham. The upcoming match in the third round of the FA Cup is also predicted to be extremely difficult, if not quite impossible against Arsenal at the Emirates. If there were only the Premier League and Europa League, everything would be easier to calculate and the surprise with the Champions League ticket would still be intact.
The current results cannot reflect whether Amorim will fail or succeed in the upcoming long process. However, losing embarrassing matches like the recent one against Bournemouth could make the players' mentality unstable, and the patience of the owners will be shaken. Amorim wants to leave for a long time to help Man United become strong again, he will have to temporarily put aside those future strategies to solve the immediate problem and also to save the seat he is sitting in.
Before the match against Arsenal earlier this month, Ruben Amorim said, a storm will soon come to Man United. The time when it will land at Old Trafford is unknown, but the drizzle has begun to cover, just like the gloomy atmosphere at the "Theater of Dreams" after the defeat last Sunday night.
