SEVEN ASIDES
Premier League
Man City 3, United 0
Do you remember Erik ten Hag’s terrible start? This is worse. After four league games in 2022-23, including the battering at Brentford, Ten Hag’s United had six points. After four league games in 2023-24, including two defeats in North London, they had six points. After four league games last year, including a 3-0 hammering by Liverpool at Old Trafford, they had six points yet again. After four league games this season, Ruben Amorim’s United have four points (W1 D1 L2). In the 27 games he was here for last season, they collected 27 points (W7 D6 L14). Say what you like about him, the man is consistent: you can rely on him to get a point a game.
At this rate, even after the slight improvement they showed against Arsenal and Burnley, United may well be heading for a relegation battle. In case that sounds alarmist, let’s have a look at the Opta predictions. They give United a 5.17pc chance of finishing 18th, a 4.08pc chance of finishing 19th, and a 2.59pc chance of delighting fans of every other club in England by finishing bottom. Tot those figures up and the risk of relegation is 11.84pc, or one in 8.45. United’s chance of finishing 17th is rated as 6.83pc, so the risk they are running of a relegation scrap is 18.67pc, or nearly one in five. If 17th sounds far-fetched for United, well, that’s where they are in the league table since Amorim arrived in mid-November. Worse than Wolves, worse than West Ham, marginally worse than Spurs, and 21 points adrift of Crystal Palace. It could be squeaky-bum time for the next eight months.
According to Samuel Luckhurst of the MEN, United’s top brass are still backing Amorim. Jim Ratcliffe may think he’s sticking with the man he appointed through thick and thin. In truth, he’s sticking with him through thin and thinner. You can believe in Amorim or you can believe in winning, but you can’t believe in both at once.
For the derby, Amorim posted three players out of position. There was Luke Shaw at left centre-back, Bruno Fernandes in the pivot and Amad starting as the left-sided No 10 for the first time. United’s best spell in the game, which was too little too late, came after Amad returned to the right. Every City goal had been a United mess and Shaw was part of each one, though his first set of blushes would have been spared if Fernandes had stayed close to Phil Foden, the way Joao Palhinha (say) would have done. Shaw should never have been asked to go up against Erling Haaland, who is about twice his size, is famous for being on fire in the autumn and was fresh from scoring five goals in one game for Norway. It’s only 16 months since Shaw was described by his then boss, Ten Hag, as the best left-back in the world. Just let him play there!
Putting players out of position isn’t just bad for those players. When you shove a square peg into a round hole, you insult any round pegs in the vicinity. Amorim was giving Kobbie Mainoo a clear message. ‘Yes, the guy you usually come on to replace [Mason Mount] is injured, but no, I still don’t want you. Yes, I’ve heard that you scored an FA Cup-winning goal against City, but no, I still don’t want you. Yes, I’m aware that we’ve managed only one league goal in open play this season, but no, I still don’t want you. Yes, I can see that picking you would free Bruno to return to the left-sided No 10, but no, I still don’t want you, because I’d rather have Amad there, in a role he has never occupied before.’ Amorim’s handling of Mainoo has gone from bad to utterly baffling. It makes the team worse. It threatens to break one of United’s brightest young things (though when he did take the field for the last half-hour, Mainoo kept calm and carried on, completing all of his 18 passes and at one point carving through City’s midfield as if it was United’s). It tests the patience of the fans, who have erred on the side of kindness so far. And it’s another nail in the coffin of Amorim’s tenure, because it’ll leave the squad with even less faith in him.
Someone somewhere may be thinking OK, smart arse, who would you have picked? For what it’s worth (4-3-2-1): Heaton; Mazraoui, De Ligt, Yoro, Shaw; Casemiro, Ugarte, Mainoo; Amad, Fernandes; Mbeumo. Pick your most experienced keeper, the one best able to boss the back line. Bolster the midfield by having an extra man in the middle, not at left-back. Bolster it even more by having Fernandes coming in off the left to help, as Alex Iwobi did for Fulham against United. Liberate Shaw to overlap on the left while Mazraoui, who’s less good at crossing, plays it safer on the right. In this line-up the only person even slightly out of position is the admirable Mbeumo, but that’s all right because he led the line for Brentford in 11 games last season (six from the kick-off, five after a rejig). If that didn’t work, you could bring Benjamin Sesko on at half-time. Amorim selected a bench with no firepower apart from Harry Maguire and Casemiro, who should have scored when left alone in the six-yard box.
Of course, as the Irishman allegedly said when asked for directions, you wouldn’t want to be starting from here. Amorim was so keen to be rid of Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Jadon Sancho that he left himself without a left-winger. Rashford and Garnacho both relish a derby and rise to the occasion, just as Foden does. United could have done with one of those two to start yesterday with the other coming on after an hour. Ten Hag picked both against City at Wembley and it was his finest hour. He befuddled Pep Guardiola by fielding a 4-2-2-2 formation, with Rashford staying wide on the left wing, Garnacho staying wide on the right, and the one sending the other a booming, back-spun switch to set up a glorious team goal for Mainoo – who cruised up from the pivot, showing the pace that Amorim says he lacks. Those were the days.
Tim de Lisle is the editor of United Writing and a sportswriter for The Guardian. He’s been supporting United since the time when they really were relegated. Longer highlights of this derby, if you can face them, are on the BBC iPlayer.