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at last, Manchester United Mentioned their half-century. By 2025, they will be at 50 Premier League One point less than Fulham, far behind Brentford and Brighton, Everton and Crystal Palace, and 26 points less than Aston Villa. 50th objection Wolves That’s just a third of what has been a sorry season for the visitors.
United started the year in 14th place and ended it in 6th place. A year ago, they lost six games in a month for the first time since 1930. They have now lost just six games this season, although one of those came on penalties against Grimsby Town. From a certain perspective, this is progress. Although perhaps only through the prism of 2025’s near-artificial low, No. 15’s 42-point performance reflects Ruben Amorimof failure and choice.
Tuesday’s draw with Wolves Contains a twist on familiar themes. That United missed the chance to finish fifth is so often true that it’s almost easier to copy-paste it. This time, too, they missed the chance to move into fourth. The result can be a microcosm: the danger is that this season becomes a huge missed opportunity.
At a time when nine English clubs are feeling the pressure of Europa League commitments, and when they have done well in the continental competition and fifth place seems to carry the symbolic weight of a Champions League spot, this seems to be United’s chance.
After spending £230m in the summer, they should be fresher, better prepared and – generally given their spending in recent years – better resourced. While everyone else is battling fatigue, United have the lightest workload they can imagine.
However, when games come early, problems can arise. They played four league games in four consecutive days, two of which were against Wolves, all against teams in the bottom six, and only won one.
At the same time, none of their last 10 league games have come against teams who were in last season’s top four. United won just three games. They may squander seemingly promising positions. A last-ditch win against Newcastle on Boxing Day was admirable in itself, but United have tasted just one victory in five games at Old Trafford. In three of their last four games they have drawn after taking the lead (in fact, they led Bournemouth by three different scores). Before that, they lost to a 10-man Everton side who showed no intelligence and no clue.
This shows that it is difficult for them to become a popular team. Another persistent difficulty is supporting victory. A thrilling victory at Anfield in October was the centerpiece of a three-game winning streak; however apart from that, they have yet to score twice in a row in the Premier League under Amorim.
There’s a feeling as a team that just when they seem to be heading in the right direction, whether that’s winning their last game or moving on, they can lose their way. But the question is what did Amorim say to his players at half-time? Only Wolves have had a worse second-half record, while United have won just two games and none at Old Trafford while losing seven. Confusing substitutions (often involving centre-backs) are another reason why he struggles to turn games around.
Amorim can at least say he has made Manchester United more efficient. They are outscored only by the top two; those goals are often canceled out because no one outside the bottom six has a worse defensive record and United have kept just two clean sheets.
United have strengthened despite less than impressive returns from two summer signings. Matheus Cunha has scored just three league goals and Benjamin Cescó has scored two. Brian Mbemo and Sene Lamenz represent two of the summer’s trade successes, but United may regret conceding points when Altay Bayindil scored.
And it fits a theme. There are plenty of ways to make their 30 runs higher. If they were more consistent, more brutal, better in the backcourt, improved against low light, and performed better in the second half; of course, it might be simpler to say they were a better team.
And, for all the potential problems at Old Trafford, they should be better than this; not because of Sir Alex Ferguson’s United or the increasingly distant past, but given the time and resources Amorim has at his disposal. Instead, they have just 60 points, which would be their joint-third-lowest total in the Premier League era.
It could also change the mid-table standings, as United have had 10 home games so far and a team they have played twice against could end up with the lowest points total in Premier League history. They are still expected to qualify for the Europa League. But if they do, it might feel like a Champions League spot is already there, but United have repeatedly failed to seize the opportunity.