If Ruben Amorim spent his Sunday in Lisbon tuning into events at Old Trafford, he will have witnessed a graphic illustration of the task awaiting him when he finally arrives as Manchester United manager.
United, under the temporary leadership of Ruud van Nistelrooy following Erik ten Hag’s sacking, were not short of effort in the 1-1 draw with Chelsea, but this grim evidence of an acute lack of quality and creation, bolted on to the vast millions wasted on poor recruitment, will have been a sobering experience for Amorim.
If he did not know the industrial scale of the job he has taken on, then Amorim will no longer be under any illusions.
This was not a bad United display, certainly not their worst in recent times, but all the perspiration expended could not cover up the shortage of inspiration that will be at his disposal.
United’s statistics say it all about their current status, measuring the distance Amorim will have to take his new charges to make them anything resembling a going Premier League concern.
They are currently 13th in the table with 12 points, United’s worst return after 10 games of a league campaign since 1986-87, when they had eight. That was the season the torch passed from Ron Atkinson to Sir Alex Ferguson. It eventually brought spectacular results, although it took the great Scot until 1990 to claim his first trophy in the shape of the FA Cup.
And United’s lack of punch is underscored by their meagre total of nine league goals, their fewest in a league campaign since 1973-74, when they also had nine. That was the season they were relegated to the former Second Division.
No-one is suggesting for one moment this is the fate awaiting them this time, but this is a very average United side getting very average results, hence the acquisition of the highly-regarded Amorim.
It was almost inevitable that United’s goal came via Bruno Fernandes’ penalty, given their lack of serious threat to Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez in the previous 70 minutes.
Marcus Rashford had struck the bar in the closing seconds of the first half, but Sanchez was untroubled until he injudiciously challenged Rasmus Hojlund as the United striker appeared to lose control of the ball while moving away from goal during a rare incursion into the danger zone.
The 21-year-old Dane, another who never lacks for effort, won the penalty with his only touch in the penalty area, having had none in the box in the first half. Rashford only had three touches in the box, while Garnacho – most wasteful of all – had nine touches.
This attacking trio have scored only four league goals between them this season. The expected goals here was 0.4 for Garnacho, 0.2 for Rashford and 0.0 for Hojlund, a reflection of their performances so far this season.
Hojlund has a shot conversion rate of 25% from four shots in the Premier League this season. Rashford’s ratio is 10% from 10 shots while Garnacho is 6.9% from 29 shots – including blocks.
United have scored only two first-half goals in the league this season, the joint fewest along with Crystal Palace, all figures that hint at the weaknesses Amorin must correct.
In contrast to the clear identity Chelsea have quickly acquired under Enzo Maresca, all patience and possession, United look like an unconvincing collection of individuals who are banking on moments to rescue them from mediocrity. It has not happened often.
Amorim will rightly take his time to measure the resources he has at his disposal, but few who faced Chelsea made a compelling case to push themselves to the forefront of the Portuguese coach’s plans.
Goalkeeper Andre Onana has developed into a successful signing amid the poor buys, while captain Fernandes is likely to start the course.
Amorim is renowned for his three-man defensive system but the candidates to take on this role are unclear.
Matthijs de Ligt is yet to convince following his move from Bayern Munich while Lisandro Martinez showed his lack of discipline with a wild late challenge on Cole Palmer, which saw him fortunate to escape a Video Assistant Review with only a yellow card. It was an awful challenge heavily laced with bad intent.
He may feel there is room for development in youngsters Hojlund and Garnacho but, in time, he will need to embark on a root and branch rebuild – which will once more come at a price to co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his Old Trafford hierarchy.
The dysfunction at the heart of United’s recruitment strategy played out in front of their very eyes in the performance of Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo, the game’s outstanding performer who deservedly scored their equaliser with a crisp volley from the edge of the area four minutes after Fernandes struck from the spot.
United passed up the opportunity to sign the 23-year-old when he was at Independiente del Valle in Ecuador. Brighton moved smartly to sign Caicedo for £4.5m in February 2021, where he excelled to such an extent that he became the Premier League’s most expensive player when he moved to Chelsea for £115m at the start of last season.
In this time, United have squandered cash, most notably the ludicrous £82m on Antony from Ajax, very much a Ten Hag production, while Joshua Zirkzee has yet to look like justifying the £36m the dismissed manager paid to Bologna to sign his fellow Dutchman last summer.
Amorim will also have to decide what to do with Van Nistelrooy. Clearly relishing his time in the spotlight, his wild celebration of United’s goal was one of the highlights of the day. A leap and run down the touchline before pumping his fists towards the fans in ecstasy.
Will Amorim want to keep a relic of the Ten Hag regime, albeit a United legend, or will he maintain his usual tight-knit group of backroom staff?
It is a thorny decision given Van Nistelrooy’s beloved status among United’s fans – but this is surely about a fresh start, the new broom arriving from Lisbon and sweeping clean.
It all adds to a mammoth task facing Amorim when he finally walks through the doors of United’s Carrington training headquarters in a little over a week’s time.
Amorim needs better players, better recruitment, plus time and patience. He will have been even more aware of it when he switched his television off on Sunday night.
It is a lot to ask for in Manchester United’s current reduced circumstances – as this performance proved.
