Ruben Amorim: Manchester United to remain patient with head coach despite worst start to Premier League season in 33 years

Ruben Amorim: Manchester United to remain patient with head coach despite worst start to Premier League season in 33 years

Manchester United have made their worst start to a Premier League season in 33 years after Sunday’s 3-0 derby defeat to Man City; Ruben Amorim’s future is the subject of debate, but Man Utd have no plans to change their head coach; Man Utd face Chelsea on Saturday, live on Sky Sports

Ruben Amorim has promised he won’t change his footballing philosophy and his bosses at Manchester United have no plans to change the head coach.

The club has a long-term plan and while there is obvious and growing frustration with results, there will be no knee-jerk reaction or regular reassessment of the head coach’s future after every defeat – however loud the noise grows from outside.

Since Sir Alex Ferguson left 12 years ago, there have been two caretakers, and eight ‘substantive’ bosses. There is no desire to start afresh with a ninth.

That said, Amorim desperately needs a performance and a more positive result against Chelsea this weekend, live on Sky Sports, otherwise the clamour for his sacking will only grow.

With four points from their opening four games, United have endured their worst start to a Premier League season since 1992/93. They also went out of the Carabao Cup – one of only three competitions they had the chance to win in 2025-26 – against Grimsby Town of League Two.

This, after last season which saw their lowest ever Premier League points tally (42), and their most Premier League defeats (15).

It is painful to watch. Amorim acknowledges and understands the supporters are hurting, but he says he is suffering still more as he battles to turn things around.

He knows that his bosses are patient, and that they are realistic in their assessment that there are no quick fixes at Old Trafford. But there is also a recognition on all sides that currently things are far from good enough.

‘Man Utd feel they are losing out on fine margins’

A humbling defeat to your Manchester rivals is always going to smart, but Sky Sports News has been told there is widespread belief at Old Trafford that City’s performance – and United’s failings – did not merit a 3-0 scoreline.

There is no doubt Pep Guardiola’s team definitively deserved the victory, and there is dismay at the three goals United conceded – with Erling Haaland‘s second a particularly tough one to swallow after the visitors vacated their entire defensive half to allow the Norwegian striker to run through unchecked.

But there is pragmatism in the Old Trafford boardroom too recognising that, had Bryan Mbeumo‘s wondrous volley not been met with an equally wonderful Gianluigi Donnarumma save when the score was 2-0, or had Casemiro not missed a sitter at the back post later on in the game – there might have been a better gloss to the result.

Amorim and the United hierarchy feel they are losing out on the fine margins right now.

There are other mitigating circumstances too – the injuries to Mason Mount and Matheus Cunha are particularly damaging, especially because United’s squad doesn’t have the strength in depth of any of the other “Big Six” clubs right now.

It will take several transfer windows and clever recruitment before that is a reality. Mount and Cunha should both be back available soon.

Benjamin Sesko is still adapting to life in the Premier League, but there is optimism that he is beginning to feel more comfortable – albeit with very limited service. That was his first Premier League start for United on Sunday.

Amorim’s stubbornness over his playing system – with a defiant three centre backs – is very much a live debate. “When I want to change my philosophy, I will change,” the manager said on Sunday evening. “If not, you have to change the man.”

It is not the first time that he has effectively said “back me or sack me” in front of the media. But when Amorim was appointed in November last year, the United hierarchy knew what they were getting, and the specific way in which the Portuguese coach chooses to play.

Is Amorim overlooking Mainoo?

There remains a belief, beyond Amorim’s coaching staff, that the system can be a success.

But there is some consternation that, with United’s midfield struggling to hold its own so far this season, Amorim is repeatedly overlooking the talent of Kobbie Mainoo.

The midfielder looked bright when he came off the bench for the last 30 minutes against City, and that again has prompted many a United fan to ask why he is yet to start a Premier League game this season.

What is clear is that Amorim doesn’t think he is the finished article and that, at 20-years-old, he still needs to develop. The United boss is working hard and personally with Mainoo behind the scenes, but rightly or wrongly – Mainoo’s involvement will be managed. He is not currently in Amorim’s first-choice line-up.

For the Manchester United bosses, they feel little has changed after this weekend’s game against their bitter rivals. That is not to say they will wait for change indefinitely. Rather, they accept that correcting United’s malaise is a long-term project.

And there is little or no desire to rip up the current plan, change the man in charge of the football team, and start (again) from scratch.

Club legends are lining up to say enough is enough – Wayne Rooney, Roy Keane, Gary Neville and more among the voices saying the pressure on Amorim is mounting, and things have to improve quickly.

That is true. And no one knows it more acutely than Ruben Amorim himself.