Storming into the top 15
A dismal season at least ended with a win and a fitting finale for Christian Eriksen
FIVE ASIDES Premier League: United 2, Villa 0
Funny things can happen on the final day of the season. A team managed by Alex Ferguson can draw 5-5 at West Brom. A team with Altay Bayindir in goal can keep a clean sheet. A keeper as streetwise as Emi Martinez can make a stupid mistake. A ref can blow his whistle too soon and disallow a well-taken goal. And a team managed by Ruben Amorim can beat one managed by Unai Emery. So it was that a team heading for 17th place in the Premier League was able to storm into the top 15, and a dismal season ended with a consolation victory. It was only the second time Amorim’s United had won a home league game without conceding a goal (the first being the 4-0 win over Everton, way back in his honeymoon period). It was too little, too late, but at least it gave the crowd something to cheer.
Amorim again started all of the front seven from the Europa League final, perhaps trying to convince us that they had played well. And, to be fair, his faith was almost repaid as they came close to producing the performance they should have produced against Spurs. They passed fluently, linked up well, created chances – but couldn’t score. The goals came after a few changes, two of them enforced as the most defensive of United’s right wing-backs, Noussair Mazraoui, got injured and gave way to the somewhat more attacking Diogo Dalot, who in turn got injured and gave way to the genuinely attacking Amad.
Amad did the two things he had done at the Etihad in the best three minutes of Amorim’s time as a Premier League manager. He made all the difference late on by scoring a goal and winning a penalty (pen first against City, goal first here). Amad’s calm header, from a crafty cross by Bruno Fernandes, made sure that Marcus Rashford didn’t quite end up as United’s most productive player of the season. On goals-plus-assists per 90 minutes, not including penalties, Amad finished with 0.62, Rashford with 0.60 and Fernandes with 0.55. Not far behind were Garnacho (0.53) and Christian Eriksen (0.47). Joshua Zirkzee (0.36) and Rasmus Hojlund (0.33) were a distant sixth and seventh. Full list at fbref, if you can bear to look at it.
Amorim now has a point for every league game, 27 from 27. But he has still led United to their lowest ebb in the half-century since they were relegated. Of the ten permanent managers since then, he’s been by far the least successful, winning just a quarter of his league games. If he was a player, United would be looking to sell him. If they really are sticking with him, they need to make sure that this summer’s signings will work for the back four that his successor will return to as well as for Amorim’s back five, which has been a resounding flop in the Premier League. The one player drafted in to suit Amorim’s system, Patrick Dorgu, has played 1500 minutes without contributing a single goal or assist. He’s a willing runner who plays well around the halfway line, making interceptions, while looking like a liability in both boxes.
Old Trafford said goodbye to Victor Lindelof, Christian Eriksen and Jonny Evans. It was right and proper that the season ended with them all on the field. It would have been even better if Amorim had mentioned them in his speech, but at least he selected them. (He didn’t extend the same courtesy to Alejandro Garnacho, who, sadly, looks like leaving too. Amorim is clearly furious with him for speaking out about the way he was treated on Wednesday, but a boss who criticises his employees in public can’t complain if they respond in kind.) Lindelof made 284 appearances for United, Evans 240 and Eriksen 107. They have all been distinguished servants – Evans highly successful, Lindelof solidly dependable, Eriksen elegantly creative. Evans, the second time around, and Eriksen were both clever signings, costing very little, bringing class and wisdom, helping United win two trophies – which might have been three if Eriksen had got on the field last Wednesday. His passes against Villa had a touch of Teddy Sheringham about them, and when he scored from the spot, his team-mates’ delight was infectious. We may not see senior signings like this again for a while: the Ratcliffe regime prefers to buy under-21s, when United already have plenty of those. It’s just one of the things the new chiefs have to learn. While they do so, there may well be more pain for the fans. Anyway, thanks for reading and here’s to happier times.
Tim de Lisle is the editor of United Writing and a sportswriter for The Guardian. He’s been supporting United long enough to remember when they finished lower than 15th.