‘Something must change,’ nd says Amorim – but what?
JACQUES FEENEY/OFFSIDE/GETTY
United’s performance against Grimsby was another damp squib
Despairing head coach is searching for answers after humbling defeat by Grimsby and promises a rethink
29 Aug 2025 - The Guardian
Jamie Jackson
Ruben Amorim apologised to fans after Manchester United’s stunning defeat on penalties to fourthtier Grimsby in the Carabao Cup and was clear that a line needed to be drawn. “I think this is a little bit the limit,” he said. “Something has to change. In this moment, we need to focus on the weekend and then we have time to think.” There are plenty of pointers.
Amorim’s stubbornness
Being cast-iron sure of your football vision is as vital for a head coach as being confident enough that the vision can be tweaked if results nosedive. Clearly Amorim has an undying faith in his 3-4-3 formation – but seemingly lacks the latter as he did not have the courage to watch the penalty shootout defeat at Grimsby, instead sitting hunched and feeble-looking in the dugout. Adjusting the stance regarding his football vision would be prudent. Wednesday’s Carabao Cup capitulation against Grimsby was the latest evidence of this.
It all casts the Portuguese as Manchester United’s Russell Martin: a hubristic No 1 who believes that having an unshakeable blueprint shows he is a man of principle. The logic is easy to follow – and misguided. Players need to be sure that their manager believes in the plan for them to buy into it wholesale. The caveat, though, is this: if they follow it 100% and it still blows up so badly that a paltry 27 points from 29 Premier League games are accrued on top of being dumped out of the League Cup by League Two opposition you have to change. So far the man from Lisbon is not for turning.
Address the game model
United’s director of football, Jason Wilcox, is conscious that Amorim can be stubborn and while part of Wilcox’s role is to back the head coach, the time is ripe to discuss his manager’s beleaguered 3-4-3 and the chanceless play it produces. Erik ten Hag came under pressure from Dan Ashworth, Wilcox’s predecessor, to adjust his game model. When results did not turn around, the Dutchman was sacked.
Wilcox has the power to instruct Amorim to field a different shape so why might he not? Wilcox, plus Omar Berrada, the chief executive, and Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the head of football, all hired the Portuguese on his 3-4-3 ticket, which makes it tricky for Amorim to be curtly informed there is a loss of faith in the system and the 40-year-old himself.
Make Mainoo a starter
In a terrible team performance at Blundell Park there were glimpses of what Kobbie Mainoo offers, especially in the first half. He padded about midfield, laying off balls, moving to make himself available, and was able to escape incoming traffic by turning in tight areas: the kind of No 8 skillset Amorim’s United miss.
Yet the coach’s current assessment is that a player who scored the 2024 FA Cup finalwinning goal against Manchester City and was England’s European Championship breakout star that summer – starting the final – is not good enough for the starting XI.
This has been Mainoo’s status since last Christmas, yet United’s results have not improved in his absence. While the head coach’s relations with Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho have broken down, he has no problem with Mainoo, so why not move Bruno Fernandes back to No 10 and give Mainoo a chance as the fulcrum.
Goalkeeper farrago
Altay Bayindir’s error allowed Arsenal’s winner at Old Trafford in the 1-0 opening day loss and André Onana was culpable for both Grimsby goals. Clearly a new No 1 is needed. Quick.
Amorim expects to sign Senne Lammens from Royal Antwerp imminently but at 23 and with no senior Belgium caps he surely cannot be an instant solution to United’s goalkeeping problems. Instead, Bayindir may depart should Lammens arrive. If that happens a head coach who does not fancy Onana at all will have to pick the error-prone Cameroonian.
MUTV grilling sums up United’s mess
All club TV channels are Pravdalike, acting as a PR for the head coach and players. But cut to the aftermath of Blundell Park and MUTV tore up the policy.
The in-house station pointedly asked Diogo Dalot whether United should have the talent to beat a fourth-tier side. Dalot’s answer: “Exactly. Not just the quality, but obviously the minimum standards that you ask in every game, the approach to the game.
“The best way for us to have respected Grimsby today was to come here and play 100%. I think that’s what we need to improve for the future. I don’t want to go through the same sentence time and again. We just have to show [that] and we just lost one opportunity today to show that we deserve to be here.”
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Club figures believe Amorim may quit as tactics questioned
29 Aug 2025 - The Guardian
Jamie Jackson
Ruben Amorim’s tactics and manmanagement are being questioned by some in the Manchester United dressing room and there is a feeling at the club that the head coach may resign unless results pick up.
Amorim is under severe pressure after the Carabao Cup penalty shootout elimination by Grimsby, the first time United have lost to a fourth-tier team in the competition. The reverse means the side are without a victory this season, having also lost to Arsenal and drawn with Fulham in the league, putting pressure on them before their home game with Burnley tomorrow. United are understood to have no plans to sack Amorim but there is a sense at the club that if results do not turn his stubbornness may prompt him to walk away – possibly as early as next week during the international break – rather than change his methods.
After last season’s record low Premier League finish of 15th, the poor run is sparking questions of Amorim from within the squad, the Guardian understands. The head coach’s insistence on a 3-4-3 formation is causing particular scrutiny after earning 27 points in 29 league matches.
There is also bemusement regarding his man-management approach, which is viewed by many players as well-meaning but sometimes counter-productive.
After the Grimsby loss Amorim said “something has to change” but he is viewed at United as being wedded to his formation, so there is no expectation that was a reference to altering the shape he also used consistently – and successfully – at Sporting in his previous job.
United’s match with Burnley is their last before the international break. The message from within Old Trafford yesterday was that it remained business as usual. United resume after the break with the derby at Manchester City on 14 September.
One player who will not feature again for United is Alejandro Garnacho. The winger – one of the players Amorim was keen to move on – appears likely to move to Chelsea. The two clubs have finally agreed a £40m deal with a 10% sell-on fee.
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PAUL CURRIE/SHUTTERSTOCK
Grimsby’s players show their delight in the dressing room after victory
A night for all who believe football’s about belonging not balance sheets
Some nights you know, even as they’re happening, will stay with you for ever. Wednesday night at Blundell Park was one of them. A full house, the world’s media watching, and Grimsby Town delivering the sort of performance that will be told and retold in pubs, workplaces and playgrounds for decades.
The pitch looked perfect under the lights. The performance was even better. When Manchester United’s manager, Ruben Amorim, admitted afterwards that “the best team won”, it felt like a moment of truth. For once, the cameras weren’t pointing at the Premier League’s aristocrats but at a small port town on the Humber. For once, the headlines belonged to us.
I caught the train into town, something I rarely do now. I needed to be early for media duties. My wife drove later with the kids and a few friends. I don’t think I’ve been more popular than I was this week, with United in town.
From the first whistle there was belief. When Charles Vernam opened the scoring in the 22nd minute, it felt like the roof came off. Tyrell Warren, once a United player, made it 2–0 after André Onana’s error. United looked stunned.
Of course they came back. Bryan Mbeumo pulled one back with 15 minutes to play. Harry Maguire headed an equaliser in the 89th minute. For a moment it felt inevitable, like the story would end the way it usually does.
But we held on and deservedly took one of the biggest clubs in the world to penalties. And those penalties went on and on. Ten each, then 11. Finally, Mbeumo hit the bar. Twelve-eleven to Grimsby. Pandemonium. United beaten by a club from League Two. A pitch invasion. The collective joy that only football can deliver.
The romance of the cup is a cliche, but nights like this prove why it matters. David and Goliath. The underdog upsetting the natural order. A squad whose wage bill could be covered by one opposition player’s pay packet. And yet heart, organisation and bravery found a way.
It’s easy to be cynical about modern football. The billions in the Premier League. The sense that money dictates everything. But this was a reminder of why we keep showing up.
It was for the fans who trudge home in the rain after another defeat but come back the next week. For the kids who kick a ball on a patch of grass between housing estates. For everyone who believes football is still about belonging, not balance sheets. And for one glorious night, every seat was full, everyone dared to hope the impossible could happen. It did, and the world had to pay attention.
That’s the real victory. Not just the penalties, or the headlines, or the memes about Amorim being “sacked in the morning”. It’s knowing we reminded ourselves of who we are. That we showed, even against impossible odds, that belief can change the script.
So yes, Manchester United will recover. Their season will roll on. But here, in Great Grimsby, it’s a night we’ll never forget. To paraphrase a famous Norwegian commentator: Mick Hucknall. James Nesbitt. Rachel Riley. Usain Bolt. Stormzy. Rory McIlroy. Some blokes from Guildford. Your boys took one hell of a beating.
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Chelsea agree £40m fee for Garnacho as Nkunku exits
29 Aug 2025 - The Guardian
Jamie Jackson Jacob Steinberg David Hytner
Manchester United have agreed to sell Alejandro Garnacho to Chelsea for £40m plus a 10% sell-on fee.
The 21-year-old Argentina international has been training away from the first-team squad since the start of the summer after a breakdown in his relationship with Ruben Amorim, the head coach. It is understood Chelsea offered an initial £25m before the final fixed fee was agreed.
It will be United’s highest-value player sale for five years and the club’s fourth-highest-value sale ever. Only Cristiano Ronaldo, Romelu Lukaku and Angel Di María have left United for a higher price. Due to the winger’s wish to leave, United view the deal as a positive step. Garnacho scored 26 goals in 144 appearances for United after joining the academy setup from Atlético Madrid in 2020.
While Garnacho is heading to Stamford Bridge, Christopher Nkunku is moving away, with Milan poised to sign the forward for a package worth £36.2m. The deal contains a sell-on clause for the France international, who has agreed personal terms with the Serie A club.
Chelsea are also interested in Barcelona’s Fermín López and RB Leipzig’s Xavi Simons. Tottenham, however, have held talks with Leipzig over the Dutch international, who flew to London on Wednesday, and are primed to make a bid. Spurs are determined to sign a No 10 after failing with moves for Morgan GibbsWhite and Eberechi Eze – and with James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski out with long-term injuries. They hope to close a deal for Simons, who Leipzig are keen to sell.
Leipzig value Simons at £60.5m, although they may accept a little less because time is tight before Monday’s deadline and they want to push ahead with a bid for Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott. He remains close to Jürgen Klopp, the former Liverpool manager, who is the head of football at Red Bull.
Bayern Munich held talks over Nkunku but were interested only in a loan. Chelsea wanted a permanent sale. The Blues’ position is slightly different on Nicolas Jackson, who may be allowed to go on loan if the deal contains an obligation to buy. Bayern, Aston Villa, Napoli, Juventus and Newcastle are tracking the 24-year-old striker.
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