Is Man Utd Showing Signs of Improvement With Ruben Amorim?
Manchester United have made a slow beginning to the campaign, ramping up scrutiny on manager Ruben Amorim, having secured just 25.8% in Premier League games in charge.
The club have only two victories from their past 13 league fixtures and produced a further disappointing performance in the recent 3-0 loss to local rivals Manchester City.
In spite of growing external concern around Amorim, exacerbated by the Manchester defeat, club hierarchy remain fully behind the 44-year-old boss.
And, club sources maintain that in key statistics, United are doing better than the previous year despite sitting 14th place.
This comes after their poorest opening to a league campaign since the early 90s, with only a handful of points from their opening quartet of games.
Underlying Statistics Show a Modest Improvement
Some of their performance stats in fact indicate a modest upturn in the last half-year, but this has often been offset by problems in both boxes.
Since the start of March, the team have scored significantly less goals than might be expected based on the calibre of opportunities they generate.
This expected goals figure, excluding penalties, paints a picture of inefficient finishing, whereas they have conceded over three additional goals than expected—numbers indicative of unreliable goalkeeping.
Performance vs Outcomes: A Worrying Gap
Amorim’s challenge is that their underlying progress is not translating to actual results.
From 1 March, United have recorded a fairly respectable non-penalty expected goal difference, with just teams performing better.
Yet, the team have gathered only 13 points in that spell—the joint-lowest total of any current Premier League side, shared with West Ham.
Subtle Signs of Progress, But Time is Running Out
So while there may be some early signs suggest Amorim is beginning to turn the tide, a more tangible upturn is drastically required if the Portuguese wants to earn more time at the helm.
At present, the club remains in a phase of change, with stats and results painting contrasting stories.
