Despairing head coach is searching for answers to his team’s malaise and promises a rethink in the international break
Ruben Amorim apologised to fans after Manchester United’s stunning defeat on penalties to fourth-tier Grimsby in the Carabao Cup and was clear that a line needed to be drawn. “I think this is a little bit the limit,” he said. “Something has to change. In this moment, we need to focus on the weekend and then we have time to think.”
There are plenty of pointers.
Being cast-iron sure of your football vision is as vital for a head coach as being confident enough that the vision can be tweaked if results nosedive. Clearly Amorim has an undying faith in his 3-4-3 formation – but seemingly lacks the latter as he did lack the courage to watch the penalty shootout defeat at Grimsby, instead sitting hunched and feeble-looking in the dugout. Adjusting the stance regarding his football vision would be prudent. Wednesday’s Carabao Cup capitulation against Grimsby was the latest evidence of this.
It all casts the Portuguese as Manchester United’s Russell Martin: a hubristic No 1 who believes that having an unshakeable blueprint shows he is a man of principle. The logic is easy to follow – and misguided. While players need to be sure that their manager believes in the plan for them to buy into it wholesale. The caveat, though, is this: if they follow it 100% and it still blows up so badly that a paltry 27 points from 29 Premier League games are accrued on top of being bombed out of the League Cup by League Two opposition you have to change. So far the man from Lisbon is not for turning.
