The clock is ticking for Ruben Amorim to prove his Man Utd vision is the right one

Manchester United have looked a different team so far this season, and yet somehow exactly the same as the team that finished 15th in the Premier League table last term. This was best exemplified by the 1-1 draw against Fulham which raised many of the same old worries for the Old Trafford outfit.

United started well at Craven Cottage. Ruben Amorim has placed a big emphasis on fitness over the summer and this increased energy and intensity led to Manchester United hassling and harrying Fulham in the opening 20 minutes of Sunday’s match. They were, for this period, the stronger side.

Once Fulham started to get a grip of the game, though, the dynamic flipped. United were somewhat fortunate to leave London with a point such was the extent to which they dropped out of the contest. The Cottagers were the ones pushing for a winner towards the end of the 90 minutes.

“In this moment, we need to think about the performance,” said Amorim in an attempt to contextualise what he and Manchester United’s concerned supporters watched against Fulham. “Of course I’m not crazy, I know what the feeling is of the players that play in the team that they have to win every match. 

“But I felt that in the past, I don’t feel a lack of urgency in this moment. What I felt is that we missed the penalty, we missed some chances and then we score and I have the feeling that now we have to defend this goal. That is not a lack of urgency, it may be urgency in the opposite side. We just need to focus on our movement and the way we have to play the game.”

Many supporters saw positives in the opening weekend defeat to Arsenal. It was certainly true that Manchester United did a lot to press and pressurise Mikel Arteta’s team, who were somewhat fortunate to escape Old Trafford with three points. United played a coherent game with a clear approach.

And yet Manchester United still failed to find the back of the net. They didn’t create many clearcut chances against Arsenal and it was a similar story against Fulham. While the visitors to Craven Cottage scored, it was an own goal off the back of Rodrigo Muniz from a corner kick. 

Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo have looked lively in their first two Premier League appearances, but there’s still a lack of cohesion in possession to United’s attacking play. Amorim’s team still looks like a collection of individuals rather than a group of players who are all on the same page.

United’s midfield is also a concern for Amorim. His team simply lacked the control and physicality to see out the match at Craven Cottage. Bruno Fernandes has been deployed in a deeper role to accommodate Cunha and Mbeumo further forward, but the Portuguese is ill-suited to this position.

Alongside Fernandes in the middle of the pitch, Casemiro is a shadow of his former self and no longer has the legs to cover as much ground as he needs to as one half of United’s double pivot. Manuel Ugarte is still struggling to find his feet while Amorim clearly doesn’t trust Kobbie Mainoo for one reason or another.

Amorim was largely given a free pass last season. He inherited a mess from Erik ten Hag and warned that things would get worse before they got better. Now, though, the clock is ticking for Amorim to prove that his vision of Manchester United’s future is the right one, and that he’s the right man for the job.

Manchester United want to challenge for major honours again, but they are a long way from that level right now. The hope at Old Trafford was that things would be different this season. So far, though, things feel very familiar. United still have to take meaningful steps forward.