January 4th 2025.
Ruben Amorim, the new manager of Manchester United, has not had the best start to his reign at the club. In fact, he openly admitted that the team's struggles have taken a toll on him in the past seven weeks. Despite initially experiencing a boost in morale and performance when he took over from Erik ten Hag in mid-November, the excitement quickly faded. As a result, United's upcoming match against Liverpool on Sunday will be their fourth consecutive defeat and their sixth loss in their last eight games. This downward spiral has caused them to drop to 14th place in the Premier League standings.
Amorim had forewarned about the challenges that lay ahead after their 4-0 win against Everton in early December. He had said, "The storm will come," and unfortunately, it has. In their last three league games, United has conceded seven goals and scored none. This has caused Amorim to feel the weight of the team's problems, just like his cross-city rival Pep Guardiola, who has admitted to having sleepless nights and struggling to eat during Manchester City's recent struggles. Amorim's family recently joined him in Manchester from Portugal, but even their presence has not lessened the pressure he feels.
"You can see in my face, you can compare it to the way when I arrive and now," Amorim said with a laugh. "Of course, there is a lot of pressure. For me, it's about pride and performance. It's harder when we don't perform well. When I arrived, I had already explained everything, and even when you guys were talking about the top four after the Everton game, I had mentioned that this was to be expected. But it's difficult to cope with all the problems, bad performances, and losses. It's really hard. It's supposed to be hard. The only thing that can help me is training with the players. And now that my family is here, it's a different situation, and that can also help me a lot."
United's poor performance was evident in their 2-0 loss to Newcastle earlier this week. In the first half, they were woeful and lucky that Newcastle did not score four or five goals. The absence of Manuel Ugarte and Bruno Fernandes, who were both suspended, left a void in the midfield, and the duo of Christian Eriksen and Casemiro were unable to keep up with the pace of the game. With their rivals' results going against them, the pressure is building, and United is now only seven points above the relegation zone at the halfway mark of the season.
Amorim acknowledged the anxiety and fear that the players are experiencing on the pitch. He said, "We have to cope with that. We need the leaders to step up and help the other guys. As the manager, I am the most responsible person here to improve the performances." The next match for United is against Liverpool at Anfield, and Amorim believes that Mohamed Salah will be eager to face a wounded United team.
"You can see the players are trying, sometimes too anxious, too afraid to play football because this is a difficult moment, and we will help the players to be better," Amorim added. He had warned about the storm that was coming in December, and now, he had to address the possibility of relegation. He believes that this may be the shock that the players need to turn things around. "I know it is a problem here to say that kind of thing, but I think in this moment, everybody at our club needs to understand that. Let's focus on the reality. We know we are Manchester United, and I'm not supposed to talk about these things, but I wanted to be very clear with the fans and the players. That is really important in this moment. Anything can happen, but we are focused on winning games and improving our performances, so that is not a concern for the future."
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