Manchester United can reverse damning decline with one missing quality: ‘We are starving’ | OneFootball

When Ruben Amorim got to convey good news, it still came with a demand. He informed Harry Maguire that Manchester United were triggering the extension to his contract, capping a personal renaissance after the defender lost his place and the captaincy under Erik ten Hag. But Amorim wants to see more as Maguire is tied down for another year at Old Trafford. “He has to improve as a leader,” said the head coach.

If Amorim was imported to bring his brand of leadership, a youthful manager feels he has too few authority figures on the field. “When you look at our team, we are starving for leaders on the pitch,” said Amorim. If it was damning, United have some of the symptoms of teams who often lack leaders.

They can struggle to respond to setbacks. They concede goals in quick succession; two in three minutes to Bournemouth, in seven to Nottingham Forest, in nine to Tottenham. They sometimes lose their way in games. Over the last two years, they have suffered heavy defeats or lost matches when they had the pressure of being favourites. There are times when they lack control: it could be attributed in the past to the sacked Ten Hag’s chaotic tactics and more recently to a struggle to adapt to Amorim’s very different system.

Yet it is an indictment because, in theory, United’s squad should be packed with leaders. Their last two defeats, however, have come without their chosen captain still able to influence proceedings. Bruno Fernandes has led by the wrong sort of example at times: his third red card of the campaign – admittedly, the first was rescinded – was followed by the concession of two goals to Wolves.

open image in gallery

‘We need the guys who are more experienced to help the others,’ says Ruben Amorim (Getty)

With Fernandes suspended, United were beaten 2-0 by Newcastle. It was, though, with a side that ought to have contained a contingent of senior figures. Maguire was passed over for the armband, which was given instead to Lisandro Martinez: the out-of-form World Cup winner was partly culpable for both goals. The third centre-back was Matthijs de Ligt, who captained Ajax in a Champions League semi-final while still a teenager.

In front of them were Christian Eriksen, winner of a record 140 caps for Denmark, and Casemiro, who has five Champions League medals. As each was outrun and overrun by Newcastle, experience was no advantage.

open image in gallery

It would be understandable if Harry Maguire’s confidence was dented when he was demoted (PA Wire)

Yet part of the case for buying Casemiro, at 30 and for £60m, was to bring in a dominant figure. In his debut season, he seemed a catalyst. Then, in happier times, Ten Hag namechecked six players he saw as leaders in his squad: Fernandes, who tended to take the armband, the dropped club captain Maguire, his signings Martinez and Casemiro and the now departed Raphael Varane and David de Gea.

Less than two years later, it feels very different. Fernandes, at least, does not shrink, though perhaps some of this season’s disciplinary issues stem from overcompensating, from trying to do everything in a struggling side. Casemiro, who has only started one of the last six league games, is not assured of his berth in the team and is diminished by his decline. Martinez no longer appears as indomitable as he did. It would be understandable if Maguire’s confidence was dented when he was demoted.

open image in gallery

Bruno Fernandes walks off the pitch after seeing red (David Davies/PA Wire)

Perhaps too many players at United have been playing badly to lead. Maybe leadership is an illusion glimpsed in good times. Arguably, some of those who could have been captaincy candidates are disqualified: the longest-serving player Luke Shaw is invariably injured and Marcus Rashford, a veteran of 426 appearances for his local club, wants to leave.

And if United have a younger group who need the support of their elders, in emerging talents such as Rasmus Hojlund, Alejandro Garnacho, Amad Diallo, Kobbie Mainoo and Leny Yoro, that need is still greater because of the burden conferred by the size of the club. Amorim recognises as much.

“If you want to be a top, top team you have to be leaders and we have that in the dressing room,” he said. “But they have to step up. Because we have a lot of young kids also and this moment is really, really hard. You can look at the table but you are still Manchester United. This gap and this pressure on a big club in a really low moment is really hard to cope, so we need the guys who are more experienced to help the others.”

open image in gallery

Lisandro Martinez is struggling for form (PA Wire)

The accusation from United’s alumni has long been that more recent players don’t display the same strength of character they did, that they lack the warrior-skippers of earlier eras. Roy Keane, Rio Ferdinand and Gary Neville, all former captains, have said at various points that they don't have leaders. A few weeks into his reign and Amorim agrees. Or, at the least, he feels they have players who are not showing the leadership they could. United have the expensive and the experienced, the footballers who have won trophies at Old Trafford or elsewhere, but Amorim is hungry for some of them to lead his team through difficult days.