Not His Players, Not His Players, Not His Players … The Hopeless Plight of Manchester United
I recently stumbled upon a podcast where Manchester United was the main point of discussion, understandably of course, this is Manchester United we are talking about after all. During the discussion, the main sentiment voiced by the United fan was that: “These are not Amorim’s players, he needs time” … I imagine you might have heard these words before, and you are not crazy if these words no longer enter your ears with an attached coating of logic and reason. They just don’t quite suffice anymore, especially in light of recent events at Old Trafford.
Firstly, and I’m not trying to sound facetious, but they are his players, they are Manchester United players, and Amorim is the Manchester United manager. In terms of needing time, well yes, who doesn’t, but there are some fallacies in just throwing out this statement as if it’s the inevitable gateway to success, as Tobi Peter dissected in Football’s False Prophets: The Cult of ‘Project’ Managers and the Death of Accountability, in his latest article on Breaking The Lines. I would like to expand on it a little.
Football’s False Prophets: The Cult of ‘Project’ Managers and the Death of Accountability
Since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson, and despite winning various trophies under managers since, United fans seem caught up in this cycle of waiting for the day that never comes. They obviously seek to be crowned Premier League champions once again, and if not, at least being a consistent force around the apex of the league and European competitions.
The way they routinely envision this happening is through a building process of around 2 or 3 years, enough time for an adept manager to get in his/her players and lay down their philosophy. It’s obviously not as black and white as this, but we get caught up in thinking it is upon the arrival of a new manager – everyone wants to sit back and be on a steady, upward trajectory.
When you think of the idea of a manager getting in his players, the thought escapes you that these could be players who have already peaked, or that could struggle to fit into the new country and culture. Or that could be deployed in a tactical philosophy that the football gods determine redundant by the time they are acquired.
Or quite simply, may not be good enough, with their acquisition motivated by bias emotional connection or misjudgment in their abilities. There are other mitigating circumstances that could make the formula of ‘time + his players = success’ an erroneous equation, at least in the degree of certainty it is voiced.
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I recall a debate I once had with a Manchester United fan, who passionately stated that Manchester United just need to stick with Ole (Gunnar Solskjær) and give him time, because nothing else has worked. I tried to put forward how it was not as simplistic as this, I said you need to be certain of the right man for the job before giving someone time and free license to do as they please, and even if you’re certain, you could still be wrong. You could end up years down the line with nothing but time wasted …
Take this current season of 2024/2025 for example, this was supposed to be “IT” for Erik ten Hag and Manchester United. “No excuses now, he has his players” were the words echoed by certain pundits. The leap into greatness was meant to happen, for he had successfully acquired a remarkable amount of players from his triumphant Ajax season of 18/19, which Ten Hag was no doubt impulsively hired from.
So, after around two and a half years of implementing his philosophy and squad building to perfection, we were about to see the real Ten Hag Manchester United. Ten Hag was sacked by November. By some grand mystery, the Ajax team of old that now donned the red shirts and white shorts, did not stroll onto Premier League pitches, flap their wings and fly into greatness.
André Onana was ridiculously error prone, Matthijs de Ligt looked a shadow his former self, Lisandro Martínez is blighted by doubts surrounding his physicality for the Premier League, whilst Noussair Mazraoui has been steady, and Antony … well, he suffered a crisis of confidence and failure to adapt to the culture, amongst other things. Additionally, Donny van de Beek, the heartbeat of that famed Ajax team alongside Frenkie de Jong, was at the club when Ten Hag arrived, but he couldn’t get a sniff of first team action.
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Project Ajax v2 mostly resulted in a 14th league position, the club’s worst start since 1989/1990, this is when Ten Hag was dismissed. Tactical issues had become too glaring, such as the infamous deep defensive-line but high forward-line press. Something which opposing teams continuously ran rampant with in central areas. Ten Hag’s questionable man management decisions also became too alarming, such as the Jadon Sancho isolation – similar to that of the Cristiano Ronaldo one.
Ten Hag was given the two things that can be out of the manager’s control – time and acquisition of preferential signings. But an awakening occurred in the United hierarchy that he is performing sub-par on arguably the two key skills of being a football manager – tactical nous and man management. It seemed in the end that “time” and having “his players” cannot override failures in the two aforementioned skills.
The lessons we should have learned from this obsession on the ideas of “time” and “his players” barely seem to have resonated. Although it certainly rings true in some instances, the way these two statements are presented in footballing discourse is often wrong, it is said in terms of absolutism. It was presented as if any manager would succeed if given time and his own players. Any of the small nuances and intricacies that can complicate these ideas are completely ignored.
Or even the simple idea of what happens if you give a manager time and everything he wants, but he still fails to deliver on other fronts. It all just got lost in ambiguity. It became an easy cop-out, anyone can say they will achieve something in time, but as Manchester United found out, this promise, no matter how true it could be, can not always permit the failures of the current situation.
Very recently, an article was posted on Sky Sports with a quote from Gary Neville: “Man United need three windows to make Amorim system work” … you’re not alone if you get hit by an unmistakable wave of Déjà Vu. Amorim might yet emphatically succeed, but let’s speculate for a minute.
Let’s say that Amorim has these three windows and successfully brings in 5/6 players from his once-dominant Sporting squad, or just generally players who are more aligned to his system. Having already reunited with former Sporting player Manuel Ugarte, he could very well link up with other former players like Viktor Gyökeres, Conrad Harder, Geovany Quenda, Morten Hjulmand, and so on.
But what happens if the meta footballing dynamics have changed since? His desired 3-4-3 system becomes obsolete. What if the players he signs are remnants of who they once were. This attempt at building forward with two eyes firmly locked on the past could result in what has already happened … again.
There was an eerie feeling of emptiness around Manchester United this season, especially during the final days of Ten Hag, but it has not really been alleviated since Amorim’s arrival. In part due to the fact that it just seems like the same road as before. Two and a half years ago, it was Ten Hag who needed “his” players, now it’s Amorim.
It was once dreams and aspirations of replicating Ajax, now it’s Sporting. You can change a few of the superficial details, but at its core … it’s the cyclical waiting game all over again, the journey on route to the day that never comes. For the last twelve years, Manchester United fans have continuously been led to believe they are close to reaching the promised land, only to find the promised land an empty desert on the horizon.
David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, José Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Ralf Rangnick, Erik ten Hag … despite modest achievements in their own rights, all mostly resulted in the same kind of deflation you would feel after getting scammed – hope, faith and then nothing. Amorim has somewhat reignited hope and faith at Old Trafford, but as things appear now, you struggle to envision what will make this appointment different from all the rest.
These weather-beaten Manchester United fans need a bit more sustenance in the present before they can get fully on board with another journey of feeble promises and endless patience. Their club is constantly stuck between echoes of the past, and promises of the future, whilst never seeming to exist in the present.
The current sentiment is that this season is a write-off, and just an opportunity for Amorim to get his ideas across for the future. Ideas which by that time will be lodged in the past, if not enough attention is shown to the footballing dynamics and demands of the here and now. Manchester United seem caught in this confusing trap of taking years to build a team that existed years into the past, waiting and waiting, building forward and forward, only to find you’ve been going backwards all along.
By: Daniel Sowerby / @ArticulateFball
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Justin Setterfield / Getty Images