Premier League: Change Now or Go!

Manchester United vs Burnley

Ok, so here is the reality: you can blame the manager, you can blame the players, you can blame the culture at the club and those at the very top – and let’s face it, this is a ‘blame game’ right now – but whichever way you look at it, for English football’s grandest club to lose to a side from the fourth tier at a rainswept Blundell Park on Wednesday night is painfully inexcusable.

Where do you stand?

To change manager (Ruben Amorim) takes the Premier League giants back to square one again – potentially another rebuild and another period of crude adaptation.

Yet to continue with him and his doomed hulk of a 3-4-3 system (which he appears wedded to) – despite the fact it doesn’t suit many of the players, leaves midfield overrun, defence exposed and desecrates the club tradition of flying wingers – is an expensive folly and only further demonstrates his stubborn and inflexible approach.

It gives me no pleasure to draw your attention to a piece I wrote for SBOTOP last Christmas when I described his approach as a ‘car crash’. Fast forward eight months and the Portuguese appears the last man on earth unable to clock that it isn’t working and is never going to consistently.

In fact, Amorim obstinately refuses to adapt.

So as Manchester United prepare to welcome Burnley to Old Trafford on Saturday, the message is a simple one: adapt and change or go.

 

Talking Points

If he is willing to acknowledge that his method of playing at Sporting Lisbon, with three central defenders, two wing-backs, two central midfielders, two number 10s and a central striker, will not succeed at the top level, then he is worth preserving with, for he is clearly an astute young manager.

But change he must for there is no tangible sign of progression under his stewardship so far.

Remember, in Portugal, he was operating in a league far less physically demanding than he has encountered in England, and where the competition, other than a couple of notable exceptions in Benfica and Porto, is typically limited.

Put simply, the stats don’t lie:

• Amorim has the worst record of any United manager in 50 years
• He has managed in more Premier League games (29) than he has won points (28)
• In domestic cup competitions, he has one win (Arsenal on penalties in the FA Cup) and three defeats (Tottenham and Grimsby in Carabao Cup, Fulham in FA Cup).

To be out of the League Cup before the transfer summer window has even closed is a damning indictment.

Unless he walks away himself, he will surely be given time. After all, United’s leadership team has much of its credibility tied up in him doing well. But Amorim needs to start acting like a leader in the dug-out so, when his players look across from the centre circle, they see a figure of defiance, standing there supporting them, not cowering.

What has further angered supporters such as me (although not all fans) is that during his eight months in charge, his man management of players – a number of whom were recently considered an integral part of a very bright future – are now on the verge of being pushed out the exit door.

For example, why has Rasmus Hojlund been jettisoned from the first three squads of the season when the team can barely score. The same principal applies to regular substitute Kobbie Mainoo, the teenager who scored the winner in last year’s FA Cup Final.

And then there’s Chelsea-bound Alejandro Garnacho who, admittedly, didn’t cover himself in glory in the wake of last season’s Europa League Final defeat but is one of the most promising young talents in the game today. After being scolded for his reaction t that game, he surely should then have been nurtured and brought into the fold rather than sidelined.

Show me a top manager who will treat ‘kids’ this way?

Disciplinarians are one thing but getting the best out of young talents and letting them learn from experience is very much another. To see a club famed for developing highly talented young players let them leave makes many supporters angry.

Of course, everything is always magnified at English football’s biggest institution.

There’s only one thing worse than being talked about so the cycle is constant with daily posts and toxic headlines to farm internet clicks which only increase the spotlight and pressure on the man at the top.

It’s time for calm heads and patience but only if there is flexibility from the top.

Without it, this will only ever end one way.

PS – Burnley are in town on Saturday!

The Clarets produced Premier League 2025 highlights and gained real early momentum at home against fellow newly promoted club Sunderland last weekend with a spirited showing which resulted in a deserved 2-0 home win.

Josh Cullen and Jaidon Anthony scored the goals in a display which underlined how important home form will be as they plan to stay in the top flight longer and avoid a repeat of their 2023-24 campaign in which promotion was followed by immediate relegation.

 

History

Two of the great names of English football, even if they have had very different modern day chapters.

I can recall covering an early season clash at Turf Moor at a time when the pressure was mounting for the Red Devils after two defeats in their first three games – not too dissimilar to now – when a Romelu Lukaku double sealed a 2-0 success against a Burnley team jaded by Europa League exertions.

The current Burnley side is a long way from dreaming of European football but can take heart from their last visit to Old Trafford 16 months ago when a late Zeki Amdouni penalty cancelled out Anthony’s opener just eight minutes earlier.

United had defeated Burnley at Turf Moor earlier in the campaign thanks to a sumptuous Bruno Fernandes volley.

It was in January 2020 that the Clarets last won against United and that was at Old Trafford too when a goal in each half from Chris Wood and Jay Rodriguez won the day.

It remains their only victory in meetings between the sides in the last 18 games in all competitions.

Overall, the record showcases two of the country’s great clubs with 67 United victories, 45 Burnley successes and 25 draws.

September 1892 was the inaugural meeting when United were then Newton Heath and the clash finished 1-1 at North Road, Manchester, with Robert Donaldson the home side’s marksman.

 

Betting Tip

The Premier League 2025 betting odds reflect the differing wealth of the two clubs.

Burnley are priced 1X2 7.20 and Asian Handicap +1.25 @ 2.12 which, even if that doesn’t tempt you, may prompt you to look at 1X2 draw @ 4.75 or a repeat of their last meeting with Correct Score 1-1 on offer @ 9.60.

United, by contrast, can be backed 1X2 @ 1.32 and Asian Handicap -1.75 @ 2.35.

Although I think there will be a few goals, and I have considered Total Goals 2-3 @ 2.04 and 4-6 @ 2.83, I have actually gone for a *** tip of Over 3.00 goals @ 2.17 on this occasion. Make of that what you will!

   

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