Manchester United have a new sheriff in town, and it’s a good thing Ruben Amorim relishes the challenge of rebuilding this team because he sure has his work cut out for him after another disastrous run of games under Erik ten Hag.
The only surprise regarding Ten Hag’s dismissal as Manchester United manager is that it didn’t come several months sooner, but, now, INEOS have a promising new manager to lead their new era.
Amorim will have to wait several months in order to get an influx of talent in his image, as the feeling is that the former Sporting CP manager will want to transition into a highly attacking side with a back three, which will necessitate some new personnel.
However, he does have some quality pieces to work with at the start and can make use of them immediately in a 3-4-3 or 3-5-2, and those pieces include the summer signings, with the highly promising Leny Yoro set to make his regular season debut at the same time as Amorim will make his managerial debut.
But as was the case for his predecessors, Amorim’s tenure at Manchester United may be defined by his ability to get the most of established big-name players who haven’t been able to live up to their billing at Old Trafford.
The ship has likely sailed on Harry Maguire, for example, but Manchester United don’t really need anything from the veteran center back after bringing in Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt to join one of the league’s top players, Lisandro Martinez.
Manchester United, however, need more attacking juice from their current crop of players, since January reinforcements in the attack won’t be easy to come by. And if Man United want to go to Europe in 2025/26, they are going to need to get out of the bottom half of the Premier League table quickly.
Marcus Rashford immediately jumps out as the key man for Amorim to work with, and whether he chooses to start him on the left wing or as a striker next to Rasmus Hojlund or Joshua Zirkzee in a two-man front, he’s going to have to get the best version of the England international.
It doesn’t matter how he does it, because Rashford is an entirely results-oriented outcome here. Either he scores goals consistently and performs, or he doesn’t and Manchester United are worse for it.
But Man United have less to lose than Rashford. They already have their new manager and ownership group. Ten Hag was their rock bottom and the last straw after years of mediocrity.
Rashford, on the other hand, is playing for his career. Manchester United have given him one last shot to succeed in 2024/25, and if he can’t get the job done, there’s no reason why INEOS and Amorim will feel the need to be as loyal to the homegrown star.
Because “star” is no longer an operative word with Rashford. Each season he struggles to reach double-digit goals or be more than a passenger in build-up play is both a season of high wages wasted and another step Rashford gets closer to the Old Trafford exit door.
Yet Rashford isn’t the most disappointing Premier League star earning big money at Manchester United, because that distinction belongs to former Chelsea attacking midfielder Mason Mount, formerly a key player in a side that won the Champions League over giants Manchester City and Real Madrid.
Mount has been unable to stay healthy, get on the field, or be productive as a progressor or playmaker. The Mount signing had disaster written all over it, seeing as how Manchester United already had a superior playmaker in Bruno Fernandes.
Rashford can easily latch on somewhere else on reputation alone and on the grounds that forwards often get more second chances. Mount could be out of European football entirely if he doesn’t shape up this season for Man United.
Because if he can’t become a starting-caliber, Premier League No. 8 in 2025 under Ruben Amorim, there is nowhere else to go. Teams in the Premier League aren’t going to waste their time and money, and teams outside of England are certainly not going to bother with the risk.
If Mount can’t get on the pitch and create chances for his teammates in an actual midfield role, he could be the next Manchester United man headed for the Saudi Pro League after an abrupt decline following a splashy transfer to Old Trafford.
Amorim isn’t going to put Rashford or Mount ahead of anyone else. His main objective is to win, and these guys are holdovers from previous regimes. Amorim owes them nothing.
Rashford and Mount have to understand this, and this understanding needs to light a fire under both of them to get on the pitch, make every use of their opportunities, listen to Amorim, and fight for a spot in a squad that will have much more competition in it by this time next year.
