How does Ruben Amorim’s Man Utd record after 10 games compare to all managers since Ferguson

Ruben Amorim is no stranger to difficult starts.

After losing his first two games in charge of Casa Piea in Portugal’s fourth division, the freshly retired midfielder has publicly stated that he will quit if he suffers a third successive upset. They duly won 4-0.

Amorim hasn’t given himself any ultimatums yet – maybe he should – but he has admitted that he will bounce back five defeats from ten matches is a big concern. The last brave soul to embrace the poisoned chalice that is today’s Manchester United follows in the footsteps of five managers who ultimately failed to succeed the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson.

Here’s how Amorim’s record compares to his predecessors.

It all started so well. Amorim’s reign was 80 seconds old when Marcus Rashford struck for United in front of Ipswich Town. However, the next 89 minutes proved more prescient as the Red Devils barely tested the Tractor Boys after that and were luckily to appear with one point.

Before Rashford was dropped from the first-team squad, the England international scored twice on Amorim’s home Premier League debut in a 4-0 win over Everton. The Red Devils had beaten Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt three days earlier, but signs of United’s problems under their new Portuguese boss were evident even in these victories. As Amorim warned after his three-game unbeaten start: “The storm will come.”

The reigning FA Cup champions struggled desperately to create chances from open play. Since Amorim was appointed, United have collected chances worth a combined xG without penalties of just 8.7, per UnderStat – a miserable haul that ranks 13th in the Premier League. There is more clear form out of possession, but the Red Devils have become completely inept in assignment situations.

Of the 19 goals Amorim’s side conceded, nine came from set pieces – and two came directly from corners. AND Defeat on Boxing Day at Wolverhampton Wanderers – inspired by Matheus Cunha’s deliberate effort from the corner flag – was United’s third defeat in the round and their fifth in December. The storm has well and truly arrived.

Amorim’s tally of five defeats in his first ten games is not only the worst start by any of Ferguson’s failed successors, but also the most losses in such a short period since Walter Crickmer in January 1932.

However, the 39-year-old head coach is not the first United boss to set unwanted pre-war records. Erik ten HaagHis Old Trafford debut ended in defeat at Brighton before suffering a A 4-0 demolition away to Brentford in August 2022, becoming the first United manager since John Chapman in 1921 to lose his first two games in charge.

Louis van Gaal he also suffered a miserable start to his United career – and won even fewer games than Amorim.

The Dutchman’s inherently inflated ego, further inflated by his successful performance as Dutch coach in 2014. World Cupwas interrupted by a debut defeat against Swansea City. After a 1-1 draw with Sunderland, Van Gaal was condemned to a humiliating exit from the EFL Cup at the hands of League One MK Dons, losing 4-0 to the then-ten-year-old third division side. Never one to admit defeat, Van Gaal insisted after the game: “I’m not shocked.” Everyone else was.

Jose Mourinho won a first trophy in what he unashamedly called the treble on his Manchester United debut, lifting the Community Shield at the start of a season that would end with mild success in the League Cup and European league. The Portuguese manager has won seven of his first ten matches on both sides with three consecutive defeats – Mourinho’s longest losing streak in all competitions at the time since his days as Porto manager in the early 2000s.

While the great bang of Ferguson’s original, anointed successor, David Moyesit soon gave way to the numbing mediocrity that has since become commonplace in the red half of Manchester, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer undoubtedly enjoyed the best opening salvo.

A walking, talking memory of the glory days, Solskjaer initially inspired an entertaining brand of counter-attacking football. The ultimate nostalgist was a collection of endearing eccentricities that offered the perfect salve for the final days of Mourinho’s toxic reign in 2019.

Solskjaer kept smiling, moved Paul Pogba into the number ten position and even refused to leave his car in Ferguson’s old car park. As the tune of ‘Ole’s at the wheel’ rang through Old Trafford, United racked up nine wins and 25 goals in the former striker’s first ten games.

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