As Ruben Amorim spoke to the media after Manchester United were humbled at home by Bournemouth on Sunday, water began to drip from the roof of the auditorium at Old Trafford.
Leaks are appearing just about everywhere at United these days, whether it is the stadium, Amorim’s team selections or, most worryingly of all, his defence.
If there was a sense of deja vu about Bournemouth winning here 3-0 before Christmas again, the sight of United conceding the first goal from another set-piece felt even more familiar.
Only Wolves have a worse record than United, who have conceded nine goals from free-kicks or corners in the league this season and 17 times in total in 2024. That is a club record and there are still two more games to go — against Wolves at Molineux on Boxing Day and at home to Newcastle on December 30.
Perhaps most worrying of all for United is that their defensive problems have only got worse under new head coach Ruben Amorim, who has insisted on playing a back three since taking over in November.
Amorim has the highest ratio of goals (and set-piece goals) conceded per game of any United boss in the Premier League era.
Ruben Amorim efforts to shore up Man United’s defence have so far proved unsuccessful
United currently have the second-worst defensive record in the league, behind only Wolves
The club’s weaknesses defending set pieces were once again laid bare in their defeat by Bournemouth
In Amorim’s defence, he was parachuted in mid-season to improve a situation that was not of his making, using players he hasn’t signed.
United’s most expensive summer buy, £59million Leny Yoro, has only recently recovered from a broken metatarsal, Tyrell Malacia is working his way back from an 18-month lay-off, Luke Shaw and Victor Lindelof have both broken down on their comebacks, Harry Maguire was out of action for nearly two months and Matthijs de Ligt has missed the defeats by Spurs and Bournemouth through illness.
But the teething problems experienced under Amorim, and the frailties at the back, are starting to cause concern as United suffer the embarrassment of being in the bottom half of the table at Christmas for the first time in 35 years.
Indeed, 13th position after six league games — and three defeats — under the Portuguese is only one place better off than when Erik ten Hag was sacked in October.
This is no longer simply a bad start. The Newcastle game will mark the halfway point of the season as United struggle to avoid dropping even lower than last season when Ten Hag’s eighth-place finish was United’s worst in the Premier League era.
Ten Hag’s side had a goal difference of minus one and United are in the same situation now, having struggled to score at one end and keep them out at the other.
Amorim senses a nervousness when they play out from the back, and a fragility that saw both Spurs and Bournemouth score goals in quick succession — an issue that also plagued Ten Hag.
‘Two goals very quickly, like against Tottenham,’ he said. ‘You want to respond but you cannot do it because you suffer another goal, and then we suffer until the end of the game. It’s one of our focuses to maintain the calm when you concede a goal.’
Amorim’s No 2 Carlos Fernandes has been tasked with finding a solution to their vulnerabilities
United’s backline have also suffered with injuries, and only recently welcomed summer signing Leny Yoro back into the fold
Set-pieces have become a particular worry with United conceding a league-high 41 per cent from them this season.
Amorim has taken away the responsibility for set-pieces from first-team coach Andreas Georgson, who was brought in by Ten Hag in the summer, and given it to his No 2 Carlos Fernandes.
At every corner or free-kick, both attacking and defending, Amorim and Fernandes will swap places in the technical area like clockwork, as if they were two figures in a weather house. But the situation has only got worse with United conceding five goals from set-pieces in Amorim’s six games at a rate of 0.83. Across all competitions, set-pieces have led to goals seven times in six games.
As with every game under the new Portuguese coaching team, United’s players crowded into the penalty box during the warm-up on Sunday and practised defending Bruno Fernandes’s set-pieces.
Yet United held out for less than half an hour as young Bournemouth defender Dean Huijsen rose to head in from Ryan Christie’s free-kick.
It doesn’t help that Amorim has rotated his line-up, and back three, to try to keep players fresh and get his ideas across — or that United aren’t blessed with a great deal of height when Yoro or Maguire don’t play.
‘All the areas are of concern, especially set-pieces,’ admitted Amorim. ‘We are training on that and we have to improve. There’s a lot of teams that are really strong on it, so we’re working on it a lot. We don’t have much time to explain but we’ll try.
‘Nothing bad lasts forever and nothing good lasts forever, so we must be very strong in our ideas — especially in the bad moments.’
