Another few minutes of attacking futility in Sunday’s Manchester Derby and Manchester United would have suffered a third successive defeat. This would have been used to question the early progress – or lack thereof – being made by new manager Ruben Amorim. Questions would have been asked. Two late United goals, however, completely changed the narrative.
The scenes of celebration among the away supporters at the Etihad Stadium illustrated the importance of the victory. It was a statement result and a result that proved the power Amorim now holds. Manchester United are a team that is now firmly in the grasp of the Portuguese coach. He’s making his mark.
It wasn’t just the result itself that proved this, but the way the result was achieved. United might have struggled to create many clear goalscoring opportunities before Bruno Fernandes’ equaliser and Amad Diallo’s winner, but they had a structure. Defensively, they limited Manchester City to such an extent that Erling Haaland was barely a factor.
Amorim’s decision to omit Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho from his matchday squad also underlined the freedom he has to overhaul the culture at Old Trafford. Nobody can question the natural talent of the attacking pair, but Amorim has publicly aired concerns over their commitment levels.
“For me it’s important; the performance in training, the performance in games, the way you dress, the way you eat, the way you engage with your team-mates, the way you push your team-mates,” said Amorim when asked about his decision to leave Rashford and Garnacho at home for the visit to City.
“Everything is important. In our context, in the beginning of something, when we want to change a lot of things, when people in our clubs are losing their jobs, we have to make the standards really high. Today the team proved we can leave anyone out of the squad and manage to win if you play together.”
It would be unrealistic to expect Amorim to turn around Manchester United in an instant. The squad he inherited from Erik ten Hag is an unbalanced one with United particularly lacking in elite level attacking talent. Bruno Fernandes is the only consistent performer Amorim has in the final third of the pitch.
Wins like the one over Manchester City, though, will earn Amorim buy-in from his players – and the supporters. These are the emotional turning points that could push Manchester United in the right direction. Nobody expects United to produce complete performances at this stage, but elements are starting to come together.
“It is always important to win,” said Amorim after United’s thrilling comeback victory over City. “In this moment, every win is like an oxygen balloon. It helps us continue our job with happiness.” No titles were won or trophies lifted by Manchester United on Sunday, but the win over City could be the start of a new era.
United will have to play much better than they did against City on Sunday if they are to truly challenge for the biggest prizes under Amorim. The Old Trafford outfit aren’t the only opponent to have caused the defending Premier League champions problems in recent weeks with Manchester City on a run of just one win in their last 11 games.
While there have been some signs of improvement since the appointment of Amorim last month, Manchester United are still a long way from the standard being set by Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table. It will take United a long time to get back to their glory days. They’re nowhere near being title contenders.
There isn’t an area of United’s squad that doesn’t require strengthening. They lack a natural option on the left wing with Diogo Dalot currently filling in as a wing back when Amorim could use a player with a more refined final product in the final third. A two-way central midfield should also be on the shopping list.
Nonetheless, Amorim has made an impressive start to life at Manchester United even if the results haven’t always reflected this. The Old Trafford club hired the 39-year-old from Sporting CP to change all areas of an organisation that has spent the last decade jumping from one failure to the next. He’s already doing his best to achieve this.
