MANCHESTER, England – Ruben Amorim wasn’t kidding when he said “the storm will come.” Marcus Rashfordset pieces, missed chances, conceding the first goal of matches: the Manchester United head coach can take his pick right now.
His biggest concern will be results. And after 18 months without a league defeat at home at the end of his reign at Sporting CP, he has now suffered two Premier League defeats in three weeks at Old Trafford. Following Nottingham Forest’s victory here in early December, AFC Bournemouth added to Amorim’s woes with a 3-0 win on Sunday.
It was perhaps more damaging than Forest’s defeat, with United still searching for a late equalizer against Nuno Espirito Santo’s side after staging something that looked like a comeback. But there was very little response against Bournemouth and the match ended with fans making the 4.5 hour journey from the south coast shouting “Olé” with every pass made.
When the final whistle blew, it was greeted with boos from the home fans while the traveling fans chanted: “Manchester United, it’s happened again.” It was in December last year that Bournemouth traveled to Old Trafford and won 3-0.
“I felt from the first minute that there was a lot of anxiety,” Amorim said after the match. “Everyone in the stadium is suffering. The fans, the players, everyone. It’s a difficult moment but we have to face it and prepare for the next match.
“It’s my responsibility to coach them. Of course we want to improve. Right now everything is so difficult, a club like Manchester United losing 3-0 at home. It’s really difficult for everyone. And of course, the fans are really disappointed and tired, you can feel it in the stadium.”
United started with the chance to claim back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time this season, having won at Manchester City a week ago. But if the spectacular comeback at the Etihad lifted the mood, Amorim and his players were brought back down to earth with a bang with consecutive defeats against Tottenham Hotspur and Bournemouth in the space of four days. Spurs scored twice from set pieces in their 4-3 Carabao Cup win on Thursday and it took Bournemouth less than 30 minutes to do the same here.
United will be unhappy with referee Craig Pawson’s decision to award a free kick for Tyrell Malaciathe challenge on Adam Smithbut there is little excuse for what happened next; Ryan Christie threw a cross into the box and Dean Huijsen I found myself in front Joshua Zirkzee pass in front André Onana.
This becomes a major problem for Amorim and his set-piece coach, Carlos Fernandes, to resolve. Bournemouth’s opener was the seventh goal United have conceded directly or immediately following a free kick in the last six matches. That’s up to 17 for the calendar year.
“We are working on it and we will improve,” Amorim said when asked about this damning statistic. “But we didn’t lose because of set pieces. We lose because we created more chances and we didn’t score and then at that moment everything is against us and they can score “Like against Tottenham, we are also creating chances. It’s a difficult moment.”
Huijsen’s header also meant United lost 1-0 for the sixth game in a row. The same thing happened to Tottenham, who then scored twice in eight minutes in the second half, going from 1-0 to 3-0 in the blink of an eye. It was the same against Bournemouth.
The visitors withstood a period of pressure from United late in the first half, during which Bruno Fernandes missed a number of good chances. But having done that, like Spurs, Bournemouth scored twice in a matter of minutes in the second half and a game in which United were still trailing 1-0 was suddenly out of reach.
As with set pieces, this is a problem that will not go away. Under Amorim, United conceded two in 20 minutes against Arsenal, two in seven minutes against Forest, two in eight minutes against Tottenham and two in three minutes against Bournemouth.
Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola said afterwards that the two quick goals made the scoreline look more comfortable than it was and gave special mention to the on-loan keeper’s performance. Kepa Arrizabalaga.
“It was flatter than it looks,” he said. “Kepa’s performance helped us win like this. Last season the game was much more open. This one was more mature.”
Iraola’s assessment will be little consolation for Amorim, who have lost four of their last six matches after replacing Erik ten Hag in November.
United will be in the bottom half of the table on Christmas Day for the first time since 1989 with tricky matches against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Newcastle United before the end of 2024.
As Amorim sat in the press conference room at Old Trafford, trying his best to dissect the defeat to Bournemouth, the roof started to leak. It sums up the growing list of problems facing the United manager as the reality of the job he has accepted begins to sink in. The storm is here.
