In the last 5 years, Manchester United has never won 5 back to back Premier League matches even once.
But somehow, the media convinced fans that it was Ruben Amorim’s system that was making them not win 5 back to back Premier League matches.
In the last 13 years, since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, Manchester United has only won 5 back to back Premier League matches 5 times. Yeah, 5 times in 13 years.
Twice under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer:
- March 7, 2021 - April 18, 2021
- Dec 22, 2018 - Jan 19, 2019
Once under Mourinho:
- Dec 11, 2016 - Jan 2, 2017
Twice under Van Gaal:
- Nov 8, 2014 - Dec 14, 2014
- Feb 28, 2015 - Apr 18, 2015
If Man Utd beat West Ham, it will be only the 6th time that we have won 5 back to back Premier League matches in 13 years. But Amorim’s stubbornness was the problem.
They spent all the time demanding standards that a club hasn’t had for 13 years in just 18 months.
That’s the agenda I spent 18 months defending Ruben Amorim from and I’d spend a lot more defending.
It’s not even that alone.
Look at the way they made it look like being 6th mid-season in his first full season was a bad thing.
You’d think the club had spent the last 13 years being 1st or at least top 4 in January.
But no. Since Ferguson retired, in 13 years, Man Utd has been top 4 mid-season only 4 times.
January 2015, January 2018, January 2021 and January 2023.
In those 4 times, only Van Gaal and Erik Ten Hag did it in their first full season.
Mourinho did it in his second full season in January 2018. Ole did it in his second full season in January 2021.
But somehow, Amorim being 6th mid-season in his first full season was too bad for a club that had let 10 players go and replaced them with 4 players in the middle of a new system integration with 8 players missing (5 injured and 3 away at AFCON).
You wonder where this talk of this standard is coming from? Agenda, misinformation, ignorance and hate.
There was nothing that frustrated me more than the whole talk about “He’s too stubborn.”
Too stubborn because he didn’t listen to you, a football fan without any footballing certification trying to tell him who to play?
Too stubborn because he didn’t listen to failed managers trying to tell him how to win?
The media landscape in England is filled with failed managers. It’s like failing an exam and then opening a school to teach those who have passed how to pass a higher exam. And when they shun you, fans say they were stubborn for shunning you.
Amorim did not lose his job because of bad results. He lost to a well coordinated media attack against him.
The PR and media space in football is so aggressive that football agents actively pay and sponsor media attacks against clubs, players and managers to get them out and get their own people in.
A manager should be stubborn. Should believe in his ideas enough to stick with it. An idea that has you Top 6 on Jan 1st in your first full season despite having 8 players out — 5 injured, 3 out to AFCON — isn't a bad idea at all, no matter what anyone tells you.
Yes, we know. Amorim finished 15th in the half season he took over. Lowest in club history. We know.
But then he let 10 players go and signed 4 players and was 6th mid-season. Those 4 players are the backbone of what is being built now.
Those players got the club to 6th despite injuries and AFCON. They made us the team with the best attacking stats in the league.
Only our defence was struggling because we had Maguire, Deligt and Martinez returning from injury. Had to play Leny Yoro and other young players whose inexperience cost us at the back.
But I know you all like quick fixes over long-term patient builds.
Quick fixes have never worked in this club and we’ve seen them over the years.
Unfortunately, fans prefer to be able to say things like “5 back to back wins” over a patient long-term approach that guarantees they won’t be back on the market looking for another manager in the next 3 years.
I wish Man Utd well, and I’ll never wish the club bad just because a manager I absolutely believed was on the right track was fired, but I’ve seen too many quick fixes in this club to know how it all ends.