Perspective Needed as Manchester United Navigate a Difficult Phase
With injuries, AFCON absences and a thin squad biting hard, this is a moment for calm heads rather than emotional reactions as Manchester United try to stay competitive through a testing period.
A Call for Calm at the Turn of the Year
Here we are on the last day of 2026. Can we all make this year's New Year's resolution that we will manage our emotions better and not overreact after every disappointing Manchester United result?
Sadly, coming on to the site this morning, we are met with the same responses that we see after every draw or loss. People questioning the manager with absolutely no context, just venting, clearly unable to manage their emotions and letting their heart rule their head.
Noise, Narratives and Media Reaction
The media does not help, especially Gary Neville yapping about formation. The only thing he is really doing when he talks about what a manager should and should not do is highlighting why his own managerial career was so short.
A Rebuild Still in Its Early Stages
We are at the start of a whole squad rebuild. We probably have less than 40 percent of the players who will be a key part of our next title-winning team in the squad. We are a long, long way from being a team capable of maintaining a consistent push at the top end of the English Premier League.
When you then take out a raft of our most important players, then of course we will struggle to perform.
AFCON and Injuries Take Their Toll
We all agreed after the first few games that this period would be the most challenging for us, losing several key players to the AFCON. Unfortunately, this has been compounded by a raft of injuries to other key personnel in our first team.
We have lost Mbeumo, Amad and Mazraoui to the AFCON, the first two of which have been two of our top five most important players this season.
Add to that, we have lost our captain and still our best player in Bruno. The win against Newcastle was the first game we have won since he signed where Bruno did not start. We have lost our best two centre backs, based on form, this season in MdL and, a little surprisingly, Maguire. Both of them add the experience and leadership that our back line lacks in their absence.
We have also lost Mount, who had started to show the kind of form that convinced us to sign him for a hefty fee despite him only having a year left on his contract at Chelsea. We also did not have Mainoo available, who despite his lack of starts this season is still a quality young player.
When we are missing the quality and experience of players like MdL, Maguire and Mazraoui in defence, along with Bruno, Mainoo, Amad, Mount and Mbeumo in midfield and the forward line, then of course we will struggle to get results.
A Bench That Tells the Story
Our bench last night looked more like something you would expect to see in an early round League Cup game away to lower-league opposition than a league match.
Just look at it for a second.
J. Fletcher (18), T. Fletcher (18), Lacey (18), Chido (18), Mantato (17), Fredricson (20), Yoro (20), Malacia (26), and Bayindir (27).
Only three of the nine have actually made a league start for us, with only Yoro who can be considered somewhat of a regular starter. Five of them are teenagers, still legally required to be in education. That was the bench. That was the options the manager had to change things.
Tactical Reality and Limited Options
Neville was showing his ignorance when he questioned why the manager reverted to a 3-4-3 shape, despite the fact that we only had two senior midfielders available. Despite the fact that we did not have enough options to play with more forwards or attackers unless we gave players like Lacey or Mantato their debuts.
Even when everyone is available, we have a threadbare squad that lacks quality, let alone depth. Right now, the only quality we have has been ripped right out of it due to the AFCON and injuries.
If Amorim had all his players fit and available for the game yesterday, how many of that starting eleven would actually have started. I think five, maybe six. The problem is that the five or six that were not available to start are the best five or six players in our best eleven.
Short-Term Reality and the Bigger Picture
Right now, rather than trying to overanalyse the manager's team selection or tactics, we should instead just be content with not losing games and keeping close enough to the top four to be able to make a push for it once our best players are back and available.
I know that is not where we want to be, and we do not even have to be happy about it, but we cannot keep ripping into the club, the manager and the players when there is little to nothing anyone can do differently right now due to injuries and the loss of key players.
It is frustrating, but overall we are getting better and we are on the right path. We just need to be able to ride out the hard times to make it to the good.
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