Ruben Amorim cannot afford a crushing defeat at Anfield on Sunday when Manchester United take on Liverpool, but it is the start of a game that could decide his future at Old Trafford.
Jeremy joined the Daily Star in 2010 as Manchester football correspondent and has been chief sports writer for over 10 years. He provides expert coverage of Manchester United and Manchester City, the entire Premier League and English football teams. Jeremy has covered Wimbledon, golf majors and the Olympics, as well as the soccer, rugby and cricket World Cups.
Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe believes it may take Ruben Amorim three years to prove himself as a manager. In fact, the Portuguese manager may be lucky to last another three weeks.
Between now and November 8, United will face a game that could have a huge impact on his future. And Amorim needs results. And that starts with Sunday’s trip to Anfield.
England have had six different prime ministers and United seven different managers since they last tasted victory at the home of their most hated rivals, Liverpool, in 2016. Now their current manager may not be able to bear a crushing defeat against Arne Slott’s reigning Premier League champions.
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Liverpool are a club that United always evaluate themselves against. They are United’s biggest and fiercest rivals. But when it comes to standards and trophies, they are the team United have always strived to match, better and, in the words of Sir Alex Ferguson, “knock the shit out of its perch”.
United are no closer to a league title at the moment than they were when Amorim arrived around 12 months ago. In fact, they’re probably even further afield.
Following their win over Sunderland before the international break, they head to Anfield to face Liverpool, who have lost three in a row and are licking their wounds for two weeks. They will give it their all to grab a morale-boosting victory.
Some United supporters may not be brave enough to miss this weekend’s trip to Merseyside. But for those who do, there will be a series of matches that could potentially defeat Amorim.
Brighton travel to Old Trafford next weekend – after picking up two wins over United last season – before Amorim’s side travel to Nottingham Forest, a team they are yet to win since Ange Postecoglou took over. No excuses there.
And then there’s the small matter of a trip to Postecoglou’s former team Tottenham to face a team rejuvenated by the arrival of Thomas Frank. Spurs have lost once this term under their new manager.
Last season they did twice as well against United in the league. Despite only winning 11 league games. Despite finishing 17th. And let’s not forget that they also won the Europa League final between them, qualifying for the Champions League at United’s expense.
Given the circumstances, Mr Ratcliffe’s support for Mr Amorim is commendable.
But his admiration for Sir Alex Ferguson, and how long it took him to establish himself as United’s manager, is also a reminder of the direction the club expects to take itself. Comparisons to Fergie, for better or worse, will forever haunt anyone in the great man’s shoes.
Amorim is not stupid. He knows that if he loses three of the next three games, Ratcliffe will ignore those comments and look for another new manager. Therefore, Amorim should also ignore those comments.
Amorim has fallen into a slump so far, failing to win consecutive league games and only winning 10 out of 34 league games.
He needs to improve these numbers quickly. A win at Anfield would be the perfect starting point.
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