Manchester United left the pitch victorious and their fans departed the stadium with smiles of relief. Old Trafford a fortnight ago and, judged superficially, you could have looked around the bulging stands, taken in the scene on the grass and thought the red world seemed content following United 2-0 Sunderland.
After all, this was a third consecutive league game won at home, €76m striker Benjamin Sesko scored again (two in a row), and United had kept a first clean sheet of the season. Even the teeming rain of Storm Amy ceased before kick-off.
Overall the mood was approaching upbeat, Mason Mount declared the players’ collective will and that all are behind the manager – “100 per cent”. Then there was new goalkeeper Senne Lammens, who impressed many on his debut. And so many want to be impressed.
There were knowing roars of approval every time Lammens caught a cross. He made an important save in the last minutes, too. Some 48 hours later Peter Schmeichel was talking about it on BBC radio, as if everyone was in shock at a United keeper’s competence. Most ignored Lammens’ potential red card clip of Sunderland’s Bertrand Traore, including referee Stuart Atwell. Had Traore’s name been, for example, Mo Salah, it might have been different.
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The final whistle blew and United had risen into the top 10 (tenth) with their minus-2 goal difference.
Then Rúben Amorim spoke; it was a reminder to all that United’s weather remains changeable. We are not even one full year into Amorim’s time at Old Trafford – the first anniversary of his appointment is a fortnight away – yet the swirling, anguished tempest around the club feels old.
In this age of the spectacle, Amorim is interviewed almost as often as Trump. The fact United have been unable to win consecutive Premier League games so far under Amorim explains why these interviews often feature contorted frustration from the Portuguese, who has turned 40 and probably feels about 343.
He digested the news of support from Mount and his colleagues, welcomed it; but Amorim quickly made the point, correctly, deeds matter more than words. Suffragette Ruben said if the players were truly behind a manager they would say to themselves “I will kill myself to go in every transition” – ie run smart, but hard and relentlessly. Like Roy Keane.
“And not just at home.”
That last remark was telling. Under Amorim United have played 17 away games in the league. They have won three. They have drawn five. They have lost nine. They have lost twice at Brentford. They have conceded 29 goals at a rate of 1.7 per game. They have scored 18. It doesn’t add up to success or even a shorter-term aim of Amorim’s – momentum.
A club with any sort of ambition cannot progress when taking 14 points from a possible 51.
Of course it is incorrect to attribute this grand failing to Amorim alone. United’s recruitment has been erratic for years. At times he appears stressed and baffled by his inheritance, understandably.
The good news is Amorim was not fooled by United 2-0 Sunderland – a game that wore its mediocrity as brightly as his inappropriate skatepark tracksuit. Because it’s Liverpool at Anfield next.
“And not just at home.”
Yet in another red world, as Amorim unburdened himself, Liverpool were losing 2-1 at Chelsea. This was a third consecutive defeat for Arne Slot’s squad, all in the space of eight days. Having started the Premier League season with five straight wins, Liverpool had suddenly suffered two London punctures – at Selhurst Park and Stamford Bridge. The table shows Arsenal top. There was a loss at Galatasaray in the Champions League in between.
Given Liverpool tend not to lose three games in a swoop, the reaction was predictably extravagant. Slot needs to act, apparently. A man who took over a massive club from a previous legend in seamless and highly successful fashion – unlike elsewhere – is being questioned as if he is a novice.
It is probably best to let Slot decide how he accommodates those recruited in Liverpool’s financially powerful transfer window. He will certainly have the opportunity – beginning with United, Liverpool face seven games in 22 days before the November international break. If Liverpool have not found a pleasing rhythm by then, Slot could start to consider serious gear changes.
That may sound complacent – Slot has challenges across his defence, in midfield and in attack. Milos Kerkez retains his Bournemouth dynamism but a passing error there does not attract the attention of one at Anfield. Conor Bradley was exceptional for Northern Ireland against Slovakia, but he received another yellow card to add to the five in eight appearances for Liverpool. Those have interrupted his potential to be Trent Alexander-Arnold’s long-term successor.
Ahead of Bradley opponents are closing down Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister in a manner they did not last season. That small detail can alter the whole of Liverpool’s preferred style, where their game begins.
Slot is also trying to find the best way to integrate Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak into a forward line where Hugo Ekitike has begun well but where Luis Diaz is missed. Diaz brought skill, thrust and hard work. He also brought playing balance, a counter to Salah, whose lack of tracking back was mentioned by Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella.
Diaz was connected to the team and to the unit. That requires time and games.
Another player deeply connected, from kick-off or from the bench, was Diogo Jota. It is difficult to raise his name in purely football terms, but Jota is a loss as a player. The grief accompanying that loss is a much greater subject and it may not be until the end of the season or players’ autobiographies for us to fully understand what Jota’s death means to the squad and management. He is not forgotten, that we do know.
Addressing that is not the same as how, practically, Liverpool cope on Sunday should United go long-ball. Against Sunderland Lammens struck 50-yard passes from his area repeatedly – Sesko is 6ft 5in, a target. It did not always work but United got up the pitch against newly-promoted opposition. And won.
It hardly means United are instantly menacing members of a chasing pack, though.
“There is no momentum with our team,” wailed Amorim. “The frustration is not to see the same team at home and away.”
So it’s a red-faced derby, this one. But whereas Liverpool look in need of nuts-and-bolt maintenance, United may still need a new frame and perhaps a new rider. If Liverpool do not win, maybe they really do have problems.
