The damning stats and table behind Ruben Amorim’s start as Man Utd manager | OneFootball

Ruben Amorim’s time as Manchester United manager has been a baptism of fire so far.

It was always going to be a hard task for Amorim when he replaced Erik ten Hag, given the amount of work that needs doing at Old Trafford. But nobody would have expected Amorim’s start to be so bad.

With 13 games left of the season, Man Utd sit 15th in the Premier League. They’re closer in points to the relegation zone (12) than they are the top four (15) and have lost a whopping 12 of their 25 games so far.

While Ten Hag will also take his portion of the blame for a poor start to the campaign, Amorim has to accept responsibilities. As the table below shows, if we were to just look at the Premier League since Amorim took charge of Man Utd, the Red Devils would be 16th, just five points outside the relegation zone.

So we’ve decided to take a look at some other damning stats from Amorim’s Man Utd reign so far.

Low scorers

Goals have been a problem for Man Utd all season, with the Red Devils scoring just 28 in the Premier League so far. In Amorim’s 14 games in charge, they’ve scored 16, averaging 1.4 per match.

That alone should be pretty worrying, when some of their so-called Big Six rivals have been scoring for fun. Liverpool are averaging 2.8 goals per game, Arsenal 2.4 and Manchester City 2.1.

Instead, Man Utd’s current peers are the relegation-battling teams. Only Southampton (12), Leicester City and Ipswich Town (11) have scored fewer Premier League goals than Man Utd during Amorim’s reign.

Accuracy has been Man Utd’s biggest problem. The Red Devils have hit the target with just 56 of their 181 shots in the Premier League under Amorim. Only West Ham United (27%) have a lower shot accuracy than Man Utd’s 30.9% during that time.

Poor shot placement

Shot placement ratio measures the difference between Expected Goals and xG on Target. The higher the shot placement ratio, the more your finishing improves your chances of scoring — based on where you’re placing your shots.

For example, Salah has a shot placement ratio of 1.18 in the Premier League this season. His xG of 19.38 turns into 22.86 xGOT, with Salah improving his chances of scoring based on where he is placing his shots. Chris Wood is another to show expert finishing this season, with a shot placement ratio of 1.38, improving his 10.39 xG to 14.38 xGOT.

Since Amorim took charge of Man Utd, the Red Devils have the worst shot placement ratio in the Premier League (0.8). As a team, they’ve recorded an xG of 18.24, which is the eighth-lowest in the Premier League. Their xGOT drops down to 14.57, the fifth-worst. But it’s the difference of -3.67 that shows just how bad Man Utd’s finishing has been.

Overreliance on Diallo

Sticking with the theme of goals, Man Utd have been too reliant on Amad Diallo to both score and assist. And that’s just been made even worse given Diallo’s season-ending injury.

Now, Diallo has been excellent under Amorim, arguably Man Utd’s best player. He’s been directly involved in nine league goals since Amorim took charge, scoring five and assisting four. That’s 56.3% of Man Utd’s total league goals coming through one player.

Only six players have been directly involved in more goals in the Premier League since Amorim took charge. And Diallo is in good company too, chasing the likes of Alexander Isak, Erling Haaland and, of course, Mo Salah.

Back at Man Utd Bruno Fernandes is second behind Diallo with six goal involvements, before two players on three. One of those is also out for the season (Lisandro Martinez) and the other is currently on loan at Aston Villa (Marcus Rashford). So Man Utd’s currently available players with Premier League goal involvements under Amorim are Fernandes (six), Joshua Zirkzee (two) and Rasmus Hojlund (one). That’s it.

Slow starters

Another season-long problem for Man Utd, that has continued under Amorim, is their slow starts. The Red Devils have scored just nine first-half goals in the Premier League this season. Only Leicester (seven) have scored fewer.

When you restrict that to Amorim’s reign, Man Utd’s numbers drop down to just five first-half goals. Again it’s only Leicester (three) who have fared worse. This comes down to poor accuracy once again. In the first half, Man Utd have hit the target with just 20 of their 83 shots. While the 83 shots places Man Utd around mid-table, the 20 shots on target is second-worst.

If games during Amorim’s time in charge of Man Utd ended at half-time, the Red Devils would have picked up 11 points from 14 games. Man Utd have been behind at half-time in five games, and failed to score on 10 occasions.

The Red Devils have also conceded the opening goal in 10 of their 14 Premier League games under Amorim. For fairness, they have gained seven points from losing positions under Amorim, the third-best record during his reign.

Defensive errors

Man Utd are by no means the most error-strewn team in the Premier League. They’re just very costly with the errors they make.

Only two teams have made fewer errors leading to shots in the Premier League than Man Utd under Amorim, currently sitting at eight. But only four teams have made more errors leading to goals than Man Utd’s five under Amorim.

That’s 63% of Man Utd’s defensive errors leading to a goal, the worst record in the Premier League since Amorim took charge. Andre Onana has been the worst suspect for errors, with all three leading to goals. Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho have also made defensive errors leading to goals for Man Utd. Fernandes has another error leading only to a shot, while Tyrell Malacia and Harry Maguire have also made errors leading to shots.

Across the Premier League as a whole, no player has made more errors leading to goals than Onana since Amorim took charge. The Man Utd goalkeeper is tied on three alongside Southampton defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis.

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