He won't turn the Reds around... Ruben Amorim

 It's time to be honest and say it like it is: I have lost faith in Ruben Amorim. 

Ruben Amorim

I like the guy - he's articulate, carries himself well, speaks sense, genuinely does seem to care and has strong charisma and charm.
That's all well and good, and would stand you in good stead in most other jobs. But the pressure cooker, goldfish bowl world of professional football management is not 'most other jobs'. Amorim is paid very handsomely to win football matches, and even win some of them well, but - right now - he is failing spectacularly to do so. 

He is clearly an intelligent man and coach, which makes the nature of some of his decisions all the more baffling. There is no evidence of progress, we're not building anything and there are no tangible signs of improvement to point at.  

Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko are promising and could prove to be the best trio of signings United have made in years: but even their bright starts to life at Old Trafford are threatening to become swallowed up by the banquet of ineptitude they find themselves at.

It can't be a question of giving Amorim time - time for what, exactly? You can back him on hypotheticals but very little hard evidence. I've used the Mikel Arteta argument (he finished 8th twice before he started to make an imprint on Arsenal) but, as most Gooners will tell you, even then there were the green shoots of a beautiful flower growing in the right direction. There were baby steps towards where they are now. I really wanted it to work, I wanted him to come good and, as the chant from the Stretford End says: 'turn the Reds around'. But I've seen enough: we're only going one way under this manager. 

I don't even mind not winning if, at least, you can see something to get you off your seat: some flair, some artistry, a bit of magic or even good old fashioned 'handbags'. But there is nothing. Absolutely nothing to keep your attention when watching United at the moment. 

We're not going to win every game 6-0; I don't think anyone expects that. But we do expect to have something to back, something to believe in. Something to make us believe what he told us: the good times are coming.Amorim's steadfast refusal to shy away from his contentious 3-4-2-1 formation is only part of the problem. 

Bruno Fernandes flailing as a no.8 in midfield; the continued selections of serial losers Diogo Dalot, Luke Shaw and Manuel Ugarte, the misuse of our best Academy graduate in years, constantly subbing one centre back for another, the omission of Leny Yoro. Amorim's charge sheet is lengthy and continues to grow. It's the same mistakes we've seen for the best part of a year. He is not learning from them or taking any responsibility. Nine wins in the equivalent of virtually a full Premier League 38-game season (and not one of them in succession) is abhorrent for any club let alone this one. 

People in any walk of life have to adapt to the world around them: you put a coat on when its raining, you might get a bus if your train is cancelled. You might be moved from a job in the office to a job on the shop floor, or in a warehouse. Yet you make the best of the situation in front of you; sometimes you have to think on your feet or even maybe take action you'd rather not. 

It's the same for football managers: you have to adapt to the squad you have and take its strength and weaknesses, its limitations and its variables, into account. You have to find the best solution to solve the problems: Amorim either can't or won't and is sacking himself as a result. 

Xabi Alonso took Leverkusen to an unbeaten league and cup double with his thrilling, swashbuckling 3-4-1-2 set up. Only Atalanta prevented Alonso's unfashionable Die Schwarzroten from doing a historic treble. That success earned Alonso a crack at the biggest job in world football at the Bernabeu, and since going there, he has gone from strength to strength. Alonso may have proved that a three-at-the-back formation can, and does, work. But, even in his short time in the Real Madrid hotseat, he has regularly changed and tweaked his tactical set-up playing just about anything from a 3-4-3 to a 4-3-3. You could argue that Real Madrid have such an embarrasment of riches the manager's blueprint shouldn't matter, and you could be right, but the point is Alonso has shown a willingness to adapt to his surroundings. 

The players Amorim has at his disposal have never been asked to play this way.  Too many of them are tasked with jobs they are simply not cut out for. I just cannot see how this is ever going to work and when its obvious something isn't working, and the person primarily responsible isn't going to change it, there can only be one result. 

Quite why INEOS looked at Amorim, a man wedded to a system United have never used, and thought it would work in England with these players, is beyond me. It is another question mark against their reign of terror in the corridor of power. 

He has gone from the most exciting young manager in Europe, a manager with the highest win rate in Sporting's history, to the one with United's lowest. Amongst ever-present Premier League sides since his arrival, United are bottom of the pile. 

Yet you know the craziest thing of all? Amorim doesn't even need to change his formation to improve this. All he has to do is put Fernandes further up as one of the 10s and drop Mainoo in alongside Casemiro and you would see an instant uptick. He could still play his beloved 3-4-2-1 but it would be more mobile, more disciplined and harder to beat. We would have a modicum of control with Mainoo, Fernandes would flourish in his natural position and we'd at least string a few results together. The answer is literally staring him in the face. 

United signed Serge Lammens in January: I understand not throwing him into high profile clashes with City and Chelsea as that's tough for any new players to come into. But surely a game at Brentford, a club known for their set piece prowess, would have been the ideal scenario for a debut? Bayindir is an accident waiting to happen and is worse than Andre Onana - United really did have the worst pair of keepers in the league. A far cry from the days of David de Gea and Sergio Romero. 

The sands of time are surely ticking with Amorim's United hurtling towards another season in the trenches.