"It's not 40...I'm 50!"

Those were the words of United manager Ruben Amorim just two months into the job! Ahead of his 40th birthday on January 27 the new MUFC boss stated that he had aged 10 years from November to January!

Wonder how old he feels now after a year at the helm 😅.

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To be honest, I don't entirely disagree with him. His time in charge has felt a lot longer than the 12 months he's actually been here. There's been so many ups, downs, potential sackings, humiliations, jubilations, and awards, that I wouldn't be surprised if he had aged 10 years!

What a ride it's been 🥵.

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We'll take a look at how things went from the start, through the league, the cups and how his side are slowly improving in what is a crunch 25/26 campaign.

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The Start

When Erik ten Hag was sacked in October of last year, it felt like a long goodbye as even after his mariculous FA Cup victory over Man City in 23/24, it appeared as if INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe were prepared to pull the trigger in spite of this great and important achievement.

The Dutchman then lasted a few more months before that inevitable sack. Ratcliffe later admitted that keeping him was a mistake:

“Those decisions were errors. There were some mitigating circumstances, but they were errors. I accept that and apologise." - Sir Jim Ratcliffe on keeping Erik ten Hag and appointing Dan Ashworth as Sporting Director.

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Yikes 😬.

Nobody can say that they didn't back ten Hag either after giving him £200m+ to spend in the summer of 2024 but it obviously didn't work out as we all wished and he had to be moved on.

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Who to replace him then?

There were a few candidates being lined up with almost all of them pretty shite, in my opinion: Thomas Frank, Sebastian Hoeness, Edin Terzic and even Gareth Southgate 🤮. Given the history between Sir Dave Brailsford - Director of Sport at INEOS - and Southgate, we all feared that soon, the former England manager will be in the dugout at Old Trafford.

Thank goodness that didn't happen 🙌 and even through all of this, the frontrunner for ten Hag's replacement was Ruben Amorim.

He was also the manager whom most of the fan base wanted after seeing what he did at Sporting Lisbon. He took them from down in the dumps to title winners in his second season which was their first league triumph in 20 years.

More than this, it was the football that got us all truly excited as some of the play we saw from that Sporting side was pure sauce 🔥.

In the end, it was United CEO Omar Berrada (according to reports [ESPN and The Telegraph]) who pushed for the appointment of Amorim. He was also heavily linked with replacing both Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool or Pep Guardiola at Man City. It seemed for all the money he was going to the Emptyhad given the fact that the Sporting Director Hugo Viana took over from Txiki Begiristain. People put two and two together and thought Amorim was a shoe-in to become the next City boss with Guardiola's contract expiring at the end of the 23/24 season.

In one of his early interviews upon becoming United manager, Amorim said that "I wanted that one, Manchester [United]." This won him many favours at the start of what has now become a pretty notorious reign, so far.

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When he first joined, we all saw that famous 'Amorim smile' as he shook hands with the United board upon arriving at Carrington. To see your new manager so happy put a smile on our faces as well.

I suppose that is what he was going to do anyway but compared to ten Hag, he was as stern as ever when we first glimpsed him entering Selhurst Park to watch United's final game of the 21/22 season.

Quite a difference indeed.

While all these smiles and handshakes were great, I did have some reservations because I had these same excited and confident feelings about the former Dutch manager as well only for that to go the way it did. I didn't want to get too ecstatic about the appointment of this new hipster manager who was considered one of the best up-and-comers in the game.

It was the same with ten Hag.

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The Job

When Amorim took over, United had just suffered a 2-1 defeat at West Ham in what turned out to be Erik ten Hag's final match in charge.

United were 14th in the table after nine games with 11 points, 6 behind 5th-placed Chelsea in that final Champions League qualification spot. The club had a record of three wins, two draws, four losses and a goal difference of -3.

A hell of a lot of work for Amorim needed to be done as the aim of last season was to make it into the 25/26 Champions League. United had a couple of paths into Europe's elite club competition as we were in the Europa League as well giving us a second option. There was also the chance to lift a trophy.

And then...

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Premier League

His reign began with a trip to Ipswich. Not the hardest but not the easiest opponent either. However, just 2 minutes in and Marcus Rashford scored the first goal of the Amorim era.

We were going to win the league 🤷‍♂️.

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The rest of that match though, didn't go according to plan as the football was all over the place with players struggling to get to grips with Amorim's 3-4-3 formation which was always going to be the case. United ended up drawing 1-1 and that was kind of a warning for what was to come.

Inconsistent results and performances followed with a stellar 4-0 thumping of Everton being quickly forgotten after back-to-back defeats against Arsenal and Forest.

Despite that 4-0 score line, Amorim was not getting carried away (even if some of the fans were) with what he saw as he was somewhat unimpressed by his team's showing:

"The result was good but we were pragmatic. It was not pretty, I think, but we were pragmatic. We did our job, which is to win, but you can feel we have a long way to go."

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Something even more incredible happened after this as United went and unexpectedly won at the Etihad as two late goals by Bruno and Amad gave Amorim a victory that many felt could be the kick starter to his time as manager.

However, the next three games resembled more of what we've seen over the last year compared to that derby triumph.

United then lost all of the next three games to Bournemouth, Wolves and Newcastle (two of which were at Old Trafford) all without scoring.

This was when the true reservations about Amorim began particularly towards his highly-criticized system.

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Similarly to the derby though, he somehow managed to get his players to pick themselves up as the first match of the turn of the year was a trip to Anfield. We drew 2-2 in what was and still is one of our best performances under the Portuguese.

He and skipper Fernandes came our after the match stating that they were "angry" at this performance. They couldn't believe how we could lose three on the bounce to sides we should be beating only to rock up to the great enemy and pull of a match like that.

They were right.

These type of inconsistencies continued throughout the campaign as the odd good result was surrounded by regular disappointing ones en route to that awful 15th-placed finish.

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Amorim broke quite a few unwanted record in his first seven months in charge:

• Lowest win percentage of any permanent manager since Sir Alex Ferguson retired (31.6%)
• Most losses in a single season (18)
• Lowest-ever finish (15th)
• Fewest points (42)
• Fewest goals (44)
• Fewest wins (11)

Blud seemed to be hellbent on breaking every unwanted record in sight 😬.

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Cups

Amorim's only game in the Carabao Cup was a 4-3 loss to Spurs in what was a chaotic match in which both backup 'keepers (Fraser Forster and Altay Bayindir) stole the headlines for being shite.

Losing to Tottenham was something United had to become accustomed to because that wasn't the first defeat suffered against the cocks, nor would it be the last.

Being dumped out of that competition was a bitter pill to swallow because it's a decent chance at silverware. Look at what it did for other managers and could've given Amorim a bit of a reprieve from the constant negativity he was faced with.

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As for the FA Cup, we were the defending champions and to start our defense, we had to go to the side who has won the competition more than anyone else: Arsenal.

This was a game in which Bayindir did a complete 180 and made a name for himself as he went from zero to hero on the other side of North London.

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He made a couple of superb saves to keep us in the game which ended up going to penalties. Once more, he made a stop from the spot kicks and United advanced 5-3 winners.

A fortunate Maguire header gave us the win over Leicester in the next round. The Former Fox was offside but with no VAR, the goal stood.

But this type of football could only get you so far before luck runs out. That came in the match against Fulham as United had to endure another penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw.

Onana couldn't recreate the heorics of the now injured Bayindir and United crashed out 4-3 on penalties.

Two cups gone.

Exiting these two cups were seen as bitter blows for the new United manager. However, it wasn't the end of the world because he was still new in the job and there was much work that needed to be done.

Although admittedly, these were great opportunities for Amorim to perhaps rotate the squad, see who is best suited for his style and implement that system even further with the extra game time.

That wasn't to be and with the league looking like a bust, the only way for us to get into Europe at all would be to lift the Europa League and boy, was that a ride!

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Europa League

This was a whole other level.

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Even the start to this tournament saw Amorim in a nail-biter as he watched his United side narrowly beat Bodo/Glimt 3-2 in what was his second game in charge.

Despite the closeness of the result, the manager felt that this victory over the Norwegians was a better performance than that 4-0 hiding of Everton:

"Thursday [against Bodø/Glimt] it was 3-2, but I think we deserved more. Today was 4-0 – but I think Everton deserved [more]. So let’s focus on the performance.”

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The rest of the competition was relatively smooth-sailing with the odd close encounter but nothing to be too concerned about. Getting through to the latter stages of the competition was exactly what the manager needed after a pretty tough run of it domestically.

And then, Lyon.

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In France, thanks to an Onana cock up (of course) Rayan Cherki pounced on the goalkeeper's spillage to score a tap-in late on resulting in a 2-2 draw in a match that we should've won. Despite the disappointment of conceding so late, that result wasn't the end of the world. United still had a good chance.

The return leg at Old Trafford however, was something.

What followed was perhaps the most ridiculous game of football we've seen in recent times.

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A topsy-turvy affair that had everything: goals, leads taken and thrown away, penalties, a red card, and a late all-timer of a header curtesy of one Harry Maguire.

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ABSOLUTE SCENES!

This incredible 5-4 (7-6) result was vital to Amorim and United. Being out of both domestic cups and the league being done and dusted given our position, all hopes rested on the Europa League. Going out at the quarterfinal stage would've all but ended our season.

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Into the semifinal and Athletic Club were seen as the favourites for the tournament. Heading to the San Mames, this didn't faze us at all. United took the momentum from that win over Lyon into this game and comfortably beat the Spaniards 3-0 in the stadium that would host the final.

The second leg at Old Trafford was a non-affair as United ran out 4-1 winners on the night and 7-1 winners on aggregate against a side that many said should we beat them, we'd have one hand on the trophy.

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Remember how I told you Spurs have our number though?

Well, it turns out, it was them who we were to face in this all-English final. It was a chance for us to get the sweetest revenge on a club that really has been our bogey team in recent years.

Having already been knocked out of the Carabao Cup to them and being beaten home and away in the league, surely it wasn't to be a fourth straight defeat to a side that was once a guaranteed win for United?

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With our position in the PL all but confirmed (around 15th), no European football through the league, and no trophies via the cups, it was all on this one match that I dubbed the most important game in our recent history.

Clearly, the players and manager didn't see it this way as in such a pivotal game for us all, United did the unthinkable and didn't even show up.

When looking at that performance at Anfield that made Amorim angry, it at least showed then when in comes to the big games, United can perform. We saw something similar in that penalty shootout win over Arsenal a week later in the FA Cup.

Yet in this final of all finals, we crashed and burned quick, fast and in a hurry to a point where Spurs were shit themselves yet a truly awful goal to concede was all it took to be our undoing.

Perhaps, in a strange way, it was the perfect goal to concede and the perfect performance from a side so many have had reservations about.

United lose 1-0 in what was the worst final of any sort I've ever seen.

No trophy, no European football and a 15th -placed finish in the league.

If it didn't feel like the worst season of all time before this final, this ending all but confirmed it.

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This was a big loss for Amorim himself because in it, we saw far too many things that we didn't like. Even though it wasn't his squad to begin with and there were many challenging stipulations, all of us expected a much better showing than what we saw even more so after that epic against Lyon and the destruction of the favourties for the competition.

Only we can go from that to this 🤦.

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Ruben Amorim

The manager. Ah.

You know, it's so difficult with people like him because you have to distinguish between the person and the professional and as a human being, Amorim seems like a top, top guy. He just has something about him, you know?

Always smiling, always trying to be positive, yet he has this trait that I absolutely love!

Honesty.

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I find that too often whenever managers speak, they say things that don't necessarily make sense or things that we don't necessarily agree with to a point where you doubt his ability as a manager.

With Amorim, it's actually the opposite: he can come across as too honest!

But I prefer this than talking shite.

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In his pressers and countless (countless) interviews - he's just done another one this week [Stan Sport] - he says it like it is. You may not always agree with him but you can appreciate that honesty and not shirking away from the truth.

It's quite refreshing.

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There's also a real passion with Ruben. I love that when he talks to the media, you can see that emotion going through him so much so that he can talk about being sacked (on multiple occasions) due to how terrible things were going at those moments.

That was actually something I didn't like because bro, why you keep talking about potentially being sacked or leaving without compensation so often? If it was going to happen, it would've happened because last season...

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When you see your manager have the same emotions and feelings as you do it makes you feel as if he's one of us. Erik ten Hag felt more robotic in his entire demeanour. There's nothing wrong with that because that is who he is but we just didn't have that same connection to him as we do Amorim.

One of the advantages of Amorim as a manager is that he was a player not so long ago so he can understand from a player's perspective how they might be feeling much better compared to a coach who's been out of the game for many years.

He could probably still do a job in midfield. I'm sure many would rather see him come on instead of Ugarte 👀.

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In his press conferences, Amorim can also be quite feisty as he likes to give some back to the media. There's been lots of talk about his system, inconsistent performances, league position, not scoring enough, conceding too many.

But there is also a side of him that sticks to his players just as he does with his system.

Look at how he backs Bayindir when a certain journalist asked him about why he selected the Turk over third-choice Tom Heaton in the defeat to Arsenal in which Bayindir was heavily at fault for the concession of Arsenal's goal that won them the game:

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This is the type of stuff we love to see. Backing the player regardless of whether they made an error or not. My manager ✊.

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Something else I admire is the fact that he's stuck to his principles. That now infamous system is as he says, NOT THE PROBLEM, but rather the inconsistency with which the team plays.

Amorim also stated that when we win, the system isn't questioned but when we lose, that becomes the main topic of why we suffered defeat.

This was an issue I had with ten Hag in that we never really saw Ajax ball at United and while he did say that a part of that was down to not having the same players, we still never really saw him truly try and implement a brand of football that was seen as one of the world's best at the time.

He instead adapted to the players and in the end, the football was crap (we had no identity) and it led to his sacking.

Amorim from day one, insisted that he will stick to his principles no matter what. One of his best quotes came early on in his time as manager:

"We have to risk it a little bit [now] and in the next year we will be better [otherwise] next year at the same stage we will be here with the same problems."

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This is what he said after his first game and he's stuck to it ever since.

A year later, have we seen improvements? Perhaps a little but I like the fact that he's sticking to who he is as a manager regardless of whether the progress is sufficient or not.

At the end of that horrendous 24/25 season, Amorim then delivered an honest (of course) and galvanizing speech to the fans after the 2-0 win over Villa on the final day of the season.

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"The good days are coming."

Still makes you believe even now.

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I know he didn't start the season as manager but having been there for majority of the time, you would've expected much more than what we got. Some of those records broken...🙃.

But there is just something about this manager that I don't think we've had with others. I find it hard to truly explain but the best I can do is say that he feels more like one of us compared to previous bosses.

I believe that that has caused him to still have many who back him despite last season. It is a good trait to be a sort of 'man of the people'.

Quite the first campaign, wasn't it?

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This Season

Amorim's first full season in charge began with a lot of hope, optimism and of course, pressure. Immense pressure.

With no European football and pretty much playing one game a week, much needed to improve not least the style of football and position in the league although after having finished 15th last season, surely we could improve upon that, right 😅?

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Well, we're only 12 games into this campaign but there has been progress.

Here are 5 Things Learned from the season so far.

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Until the win over Sunderland just before the previous international break, United were as inconsistent as ever.

A disappointing result but uplifting and encouraging performance against Arsenal on opening day was followed by a drab draw at Fulham. A tight win over Burnley gave us our first 3 points of the season but a harrowing 3-0 derby defeat truly put us in our place.

We then beat Chelsea (narrowly) had our worst performance of the season at Brentford in a 3-1 loss and then went on this incredible five-game unbeaten run. This run has seen Amorim finally get that heavy monkey off his back of not winning back-to-back PL games which came at Anfield of all places. That has been the highlight of the season with that late Maguire header. We then made it three wins in a row with an entertaining 4-2 thriller against Brighton - another side who's given us much trouble over recent years - and these last two matches have seen us throw away a first half lead only to rescue a point right at the death.

This undefeated streak resulted in Amorim winning Premier League manager of the month for October showing just how quick things can turn around.

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There's been an improvement in goals scored but we still have an issue with how many we've conceded.

All four signings of Cunha, Mbeumo, Sesko and Lammens have been more hits than misses with Mbeumo in particular being a standout. He won PL player of the month for October with Amorim showing great faith in his signing as he is one of the first names on the team sheet due to his outstanding performances.

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League record so far:

Games - 11

Wins - 5

Draws - 3

Losses - 3

Scored - 19

Conceded - 18

Points - 18

Position - 7th

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In contrast to last season at this stage, United were 13th, with four wins, just 12 scored and 15 points.

Not too much of a difference but a difference all the same.

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But there is one BIG elephant in the room that no matter what happens this season (unless we win the league), will always taint Amorim's first full campaign.

Grimsby.

I need not tell you what happened in that match but the aftermath felt like it was the beginning of the end.

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For United to be deservedly dumped out of the Carabao Cup at a stage that was so early the competition proper didn't even start, was as embarrassing as anything. Amorim looked like a man lost in his post-match presser saying that "sometimes I want to quit."

Understandable given how poor his side were on the night.

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That took away a trophy and also the chance to rotate his squad. We're now at a point where we play one game a week and the manager has no reason to switch things up too much to a point where there are several players who are being wasted on the bench.

This loss just adds to the already extreme pressure.

Thanks to this recent run though, this grim night at Grimsby is a distant memory. Let's keep that memory disappearing even further.

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Final Thoughts and Rating

This past year has gone well, let's say not exactly as we thought.

While we may not have thought we would lift the title, finishing in our lowest-ever position in the league with our lowest-ever points tally with fewest goals scored and all the rest, going trophy-less and not qualifying for Europe was perhaps less likely than winning PL title no 21.

However, you have to take into consideration that joining mid-season with a side that wasn't yours, a completely new style of play, no real backing in January and a new (ish) ownership who were only getting to grips with the club themselves, would've made things super difficult for any manager let alone one who is as young as Amorim.

This is not to mention that the club is in turmoil from top to bottom and as we know at United, it is the manager who takes all the heat. Adding this to Amorim's already full plate would've made a tough job nigh on impossible.

Then of course, there is having to please the fans with free-flowing, entertaining football that gets us wins and closer to where a club like ours should be.

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Sometimes, I feel that especially during those early months, Amorim may have regretted his decision to join United, or at least when he did.

Luckily, he stayed because I do like him. I think there is a lot to improve as he does have his favourites (ahem, Dalot 👀), doesn't really use the academy players and can be quite stubborn but there is more to like about him than not.

However, this year has been very strange. I don't really know how else to put it.

Overall rating - 4.5/10.

Pretty low I know but if we're being really honest, it hasn't been good brev. To break so many unwanted records and go trophy-less means a very disappointing score. The extra .5 only came as a result of how this season has gone.

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Quite a lot has happened to a point where it feels more like 10 years than one, but what have you made of Ruben Amorim's first year in charge?

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Ruben Amorim at Old Trafford for the first time as Man Utd manager | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)

Ruben Amorim applauds Old Trafford crowd | Image credit: Getty Images via Goal

Ruben Amorim walks past the Europa League trophy after Man Utd's 1-0 loss to Spurs | Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images via United In Focus