It was supposed to be the season everything clicked. Ruben Amorim came into the 2025-26 campaign with a full preseason under his belt for the first time since arriving at Manchester United in November 2024. The summer transfer window brought in exciting new faces, including Bryan Mbeumo, Benjamin Sesko, and Matheus Cunha. There was genuine optimism. And then the season actually started. A Rough Start That Set the Tone The Red Devils opened the season on August 17 with a home match against Arsenal — and lost 1-0. It wasn't a disaster on its own, but it quickly became part of a pattern. United picked up just four points from their first four Premier League games, the worst start the club had seen since the 1992-93 season. The pressure started building almost immediately. Things got even more embarrassing on August 27 when United traveled to face League Two side Grimsby Town in the second round of the EFL Cup. Grimsby went up 2-0 at halftime, and while United managed to claw it back to 2-2, they were knocked out on penalties in a 12-11 shootout loss — one of the more humiliating results the club had seen in years. Amorim was even mocked in the media for pulling out a tactics board on the sideline during the match. By September 19, Amorim was already defending himself publicly after overseeing what was described as their worst league start in 33 years. Asked if he would consider changing his system, he famously responded, "not even the Pope" could make him change his 3-4-3 setup. That kind of stubbornness would become a recurring theme. A week later, United were beaten 3-1 at Brentford — their third league defeat in six games. A Brief Bright Spot October brought some relief. United picked up wins over Sunderland, Liverpool, and Brighton, with the victory at Anfield on October 20 being their first win there since 2016. That run of form was enough to earn Amorim the Premier League Manager of the Month award. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, United's minority owner, publicly backed his manager around this time, stating he deserved three years to prove himself. But anyone who has watched Manchester United for the past decade knows better than to get comfortable. December Wobbles and Dressing Room Tensions Form became inconsistent heading into the winter. United managed 2-2 draws at Nottingham Forest and Tottenham after surrendering early leads, and while those weren't losses, dropped points were beginning to hurt. A home loss to a ten-man Everton side killed whatever momentum had been building. Behind the scenes, things were getting tense. Reports emerged that Amorim had grown frustrated with the club's transfer approach, believing he wasn't given enough say in recruitment decisions. He wanted an experienced Premier League striker in the January window — Jean-Philippe Mateta was reportedly one of his targets — and reportedly felt the board wasn't backing him properly. When the club pursued Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth and Semenyo chose Manchester City instead, Amorim was reportedly told those funds wouldn't be redirected elsewhere. There were also reported issues with his relationship with Director of Football Jason Wilcox. The two had a scheduled meeting on a Friday to discuss tactics and the team's style of play, and sources described Amorim's response in that meeting as "very negative and emotional." He walked out of a planned broadcast interview shortly after, citing personal reasons. The Final Straw Amorim's final game came on January 4, 2026 — a 1-1 draw away at Leeds United. The result itself wasn't terrible; United were sitting sixth in the table with 31 points from 20 games, just three points off the Champions League places. But what happened at the post-match press conference changed everything. Amorim went off-script in a way that clearly stunned the club hierarchy. He told reporters that he had come to Manchester to be the "manager" of the club, not just the "head coach," pointedly took aim at the scouting department, and basically called out Wilcox in front of the media to "do his job." He was defiant about his future, saying he wasn't going to quit and would stay "until another guy is coming here to replace me." Given his position at the club, that kind of public ultimatum didn't go over well. The next morning, January 5, Manchester United confirmed Amorim's departure. The club's statement read that the leadership "reluctantly made the decision that it is the right time to make a change" to give the team "the best opportunity of the highest possible Premier League finish." Former United midfielder Darren Fletcher was named interim manager, making him the first Scot to manage the first team since 2014. The Numbers Don't Lie Setting aside the drama of his final 24 hours, the stats painted a pretty grim picture of Amorim's time at the club. Across his 14 months in charge — spanning both 2024-25 and the first half of 2025-26 — he won just 24 of 63 games in all competitions, a win rate of around 38%. In the Premier League specifically, he managed only 15 wins from 47 games — the lowest win rate of any permanent United manager in the Premier League era. He also holds the record for the most goals conceded per game (1.53) and the lowest clean sheet rate (around 15%) of any United manager in the Premier League era. His 3-4-3 system, which he refused to abandon for the vast majority of his time at the club, was widely seen as the core issue. He used a back three in 45 of his 47 Premier League matches, and while there were flashes of promise — that win at Anfield, some encouraging build-up play — the results were never consistent enough to justify the rigid approach. Final Thoughts Honestly, the Amorim saga feels like a familiar Manchester United story at this point. Bring in a highly rated manager, give him some backing, watch it slowly fall apart. This is now the seventh managerial change at the club since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, and each time the cycle repeats itself. The frustrating part is that United weren't in a terrible spot in the table when Amorim was sacked. Sixth place, within striking distance of the top four, with a full half-season still to play. You can argue there was still something to salvage. But the breakdown in communication, the public fallout with the hierarchy, and the overall sense that things weren't moving in the right direction were apparently enough for the club to pull the trigger. Now it's on to whoever comes next — again.