The defeat to Nottingham Forest showed how big a job manager Ruben Amorim has to take on at Manchester United.
Nottingham Forest travel to Old Trafford after losing 3 of their last 4 matches. However, they came away with their first win at Old Trafford in 30 years.
Co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe said Man United had become "the norm". Some of the defenses in the 2-3 loss to coach Nuno Espirito Santo's team were extremely bad.
"We knew it was going to be a tough journey. Man United is a great club, where the pressure is always huge. When you lose a game, there is a sense of disappointment everywhere. That's understandable and I felt that disappointment from the atmosphere on the pitch right after the first goal.
We need to improve in many aspects, but we must maintain the chosen path and continue working every day. I have experienced a similar situation at Sporting Lisbon and know that if I work hard, everything will change" - the Portuguese strategist said.
Amorim spent much of his first three weeks at Man United talking about his tactics. However, the formation and tactical system will not mean anything if the players make elementary mistakes.
The first mistake against Nottingham came from Lisandro Martinez right at the start of the match. The Argentine could not accompany Nikola Milenkovic. This was the third goal conceded from a set piece in just four days for the Red Devils.
After Man United equalized thanks to Rasmus Hojlund, the next two mistakes came from Bruno Fernandes and Andre Onana in less than 2 minutes in the second half.
Fernandes' header for Leny Yoro was easily cleared by a Nottingham player, before the ball was passed to Morgan Gibbs-White. This player's shot from the edge of the penalty area was not too dangerous, but somehow still got past Onana. It was a mistake by the Cameroonian goalkeeper, reminiscent of many similar unforgettable situations last season.
That was not the end of the disaster and Nottingham's third goal clearly showed the misery of Man United. This was a series of mistakes by the home team's defense, when Diogo Dalot landed on the ball superficially, while Yoro could not compete on the ball, thereby helping Chris Wood head the ball into the far corner. Martinez then watched the ball hit the edge of the post and into the net.
Amorim said earlier this week that "a storm is coming". And in heavy rain in Manchester, Nottingham proved the Portuguese tactician's prediction correct.
The storm may not be over for Man United. They have a Europa League game against Viktoria Plzen in midweek, followed by Amorim's first Manchester derby at the Etihad.
The Red Devils then have tough games against Tottenham, Newcastle, Liverpool and Arsenal before the end of January.
The defeat to Nottingham left Man United 13th in the rankings with only 19 points. This is their lowest tally after 15 games since the 1986-87 season.
Amorim clearly grasped the scale of the task of reviving Man United before Nottingham cruelly showed it to everyone.
