Ruben Amorim has to turn the ailing club around this season, after £200m on a new forward line, or he could be the next to pay the price
Guardian writers’ predicted position: 9th (NB: this is not necessarily Will Unwin’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)
Last season’s position: 15th
The big hope is that Manchester United hit rock bottom last season and things cannot get any worse. They are in effect starting again because ending up 15th in the Premier League resulted in many executives, fans and players waking up in a cold sweat. Expectations within the fanbase are impressively low, not knowing what to expect from a team that stumbled through an entire campaign.
There is no European distraction for Ruben Amorim, allowing him plenty of time on the training ground to get his ideas across. When the Portuguese head coach succeeded Erik ten Hag last November, his role was more firefighter than problem solver. He was allowed to evaluate the squad quickly and made his decision on who were and were not up for the battle that the club found themselves in. Those players have either left or are in the process of doing so, leaving behind those who possess the character, if not the technical expertise, that Amorim thinks can benefit his plans.
