After painful early season losses dampened hopes and led to calls for the Portuguese’s dismissal, he has somewhat steadied the ship
Sir Alex Ferguson says Ruben Amorim is showing some “good signs” and hopes he can continue on an upward trajectory as he looks to restore Manchester United’s footballing fortunes.
United have steadied themselves after a tough start to the 2025–26 season, Amorim’s first full campaign as United coach.
After painful losses against Grimsby, Manchester City and Brentford dampened hopes and led to calls for the Portuguese’s dismissal, he has somewhat steadied the ship, putting together an unbeaten run in the league and registering a three-match winning streak in October.
The turnaround coincided with the introduction of new goalkeeper Senne Lammens to replace the poor Altay Bayindir, with former No 1 Andre Onana excluded from league appearances from the start of the season, before finally joining Turkish club Trabzonspor on loan.
Ferguson said: “There are signs. The manager has had some good signs. Particularly the goalkeeper has been outstanding, he’s only played three or four games and he’s looking really good.”
The goalkeeping situation had been a major problem for Amorim last season, with Onana committing a string of errors that worsened United’s already poor performance on the pitch. Amorim’s intention had been to sign a trusty veteran, with his sights set on Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez in the summer, but ultimately United were put off by the fee Villa were demanding for the 33-year-old and signed Lammens instead for a fee around £18m.
The summer also saw the introduction of Premier League-proven forwards Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, both of whom have impressed. The latter is United’s leading goalscorer with six goals in 12 appearances.
Ferguson said: “Of course, Mbeumo and Cunha, the new players from Wolves and Brentford, they’ve added to it. I hope the manager gets a bit of success because at United you need to have success.
“But the signs are getting better. I think back-to-back wins is something teams like United should always expect, but having gone through a cycle where the improvement has to come by waiting and being patient, they’ll enjoy it now.”
