Ruben Amorim has been candid about the scale of the task at Old Trafford: “we have a lot of problems in our club,” he says, a refrain that has become the soundtrack to a turbulent start to his United tenure.
The Portuguese coach frames his mission as a long-term rebuild, but he is doing it at a club where the calendar and the crowd demand instant success.
A clash between patience and expectation
Amorim’s dilemma is stark and simple, he needs time to shape a team, yet Manchester United operate in a climate where time is a luxury no manager can afford. “We know we need time,” he admitted last week, before adding the blunt reality: “But there is no time in this club.” That contradiction sits at the heart of every tactical tweak, transfer decision and postmatch press conference.
Results intensify the scrutiny
The 1-1 draw with West Ham has only sharpened the spotlight.
United head to Molineux to face a Wolves side desperate for a win, and supporters travelling to Molineux do so with understandable nerves. Wolves have struggled all season, but football’s unpredictability — and United’s recent inconsistency, exemplified by a home defeat to a 10-man Everton — means another slip against the league’s basement dwellers would amplify calls for change. Some fans are already demanding Amorim’s exit.
A squad half-built and a strategy under strain
Summer spending reshaped United’s attack, with roughly £200 million poured into forwards such as Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Šeško.
Yet the rest of the squad remains a work in progress. Amorim leans heavily on a youthful core, Šeško (22), Senne Lammens (23), Amad Diallo (23), Patrick Dorgu (21) and Leny Yoro (20) and even had to turn to 19-year-old Ayden Heaven after a dip in form from Yoro.
These are players the club hopes will blossom, but they are not yet the finished product.
Amorim has not shied from describing some of his young charges as “struggling,” and critics point to transfer choices that prioritised future potential over immediate impact.
Alternatives such as Emiliano Martínez and Ollie Watkins might have offered short-term solidity, but United’s recruitment policy favoured youth and long-term upside.
Inside the dressing room the message is different
Not everyone at the club is asking for time. Diogo Dalot, a seasoned presence at United, distilled the mood succinctly in the tunnel after the West Ham draw: teams must summon “anger and the drive” to win, and you cannot be the one to plead for patience.
“We have to win straight away because that’s what the club demands, but it’s a process,” he said, capturing the uneasy balance between immediate results and gradual progress.
What comes next
Amorim’s blueprint still requires reinforcements in key areas — a high-energy midfielder and specialist wing-backs to fit his system — but the club’s leadership opted to phase improvements rather than overhaul the squad in one window.
Plans are reportedly in place to target midfield reinforcements ahead of next season, but such long-term fixes offer little solace to a manager whose present is measured in matchdays, not transfer cycles.
On Monday at Wolves, Amorim will have to coax a performance from a squad built for the future while delivering the short-term results the present demands. The question is no longer theoretical: how much time will he actually get to turn a promising project into a winning team at Manchester United?
