How Ruben Amorim’s record after 10 games compares to every post-Ferguson manager

• Ruben Amorim is no stranger to tough starts

After losing his opening two games in charge of Casa Pia in Portugal’s fourth tier, the freshly retired midfielder publicly declared that he would quit if he suffered a third straight reverse. They duly won 4-0.

Amorim hasn’t handed himself any ultimatums just yet – perhaps he should – but has conceded that a return of five defeats from ten matches is a major concern.

The latest brave soul to clasp the poisoned chalice that is modern-day Manchester United is following in the footsteps of five managers that all ultimately failed to succeed the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson.

Here is how Amorim’s record stacks up against his predecessors.

• Ruben Amorim’s record after 10 Man Utd matches

It all started so well. Amorim’s reign was 80 seconds old when Marcus Rashford fired United in front against Ipswich Town.

However, the subsequent 89 minutes proved more prescient as the Red Devils barely tested the Tractor Boys thereafter and were fortunate to emerge with a single point.

Before Rashford was exiled from the first-team squad, the England international scored twice on Amorim’s home Premier League debut in a 4-0 victory over Everton.

The Red Devils had beaten Norwegian outfit Bodo/Glimt three days earlier, but the signs of United’s struggles 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 have desperately struggled to create opportunities from open play.

Since Amorim’s appointment, United have mustered chances worth a combined non-penalty xG of just 8.7, per UnderStat – a measly haul which ranks 13th in the Premier League.

There is more of a clear shape out of possession, but the Red Devils have become entirely inept at set-piece situations.

Of the 19 goals which Amorim’s side have conceded, nine have come from dead balls – and two have been directly from corner kicks.

A Boxing Day defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers – inspired by Matheus Cunha’s deliberate attempt from the corner flag – was United’s third loss on the spin and their fifth of December. The storm has well and truly arrived.

• How Ruben Amorim’s record compares to Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Erik ten Hag and more

Amorim’s tally of five defeats from his first ten games is not only the worst start made by any of Ferguson’s failed successors, but represents the most losses suffered over 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 Hag‘s Old Trafford debut ended in defeat to Brighton before he suffered through a 4-0 dismantling 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 also endured a wretched opening to his United career – and won even fewer games than Amorim.

The Dutchman’s inherently inflated ego, swollen further by a successful showing as Netherlands boss at the 2014 World Cup, was punctured by a debut defeat to Swansea City.

After a 1-1 draw with Sunderland, Van Gaal was consigned to a humiliating EFL Cup exit at the hands of League One MK Dons, losing 4-0 to a third-tier club which had only existed for ten years at the time.

Never one to admit defeat, Van Gaal insisted post-game: “I am not shocked.” Everyone else was.

Jose Mourinho collected the first trophy in what he unashamedly hailed as a treble on his Manchester United debut, lifting the Community Shield at the start of a season which would end with mild glory in the League Cup and Europa League.

The Portuguese boss won seven of his first ten matches on either side of three straight defeats – Mourinho’s longest losing sequence across all competitions at the time since his days as Porto boss in the early 2000s.

While a bright burst from Ferguson’s original, anointed successor, David Moyes, soon gave way to the mind-numbing mediocrity which has since become commonplace in the red half of Manchester, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer unquestionably 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 bundle of endearing eccentricities which offered the perfect salve to the final days of Mourinho’s toxic reign in 2019.

Solskjaer was constantly smiling, moved Paul Pogba into the number ten position and even refused to leave his car in Ferguson’s old parking space.

As the tune of ‘Ole’s at the wheel’ rattled around Old Trafford, United racked up nine wins and 25 goals from the former striker’s first ten games.

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