Man Utd: Three reasons why Ruben Amorim has to be sacked after Brentford defeat

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim is coming under increasing pressure after his side fell to a 3-1 defeat against Brentford in the Premier League.

United found themselves 2-0 down after 20 minutes due to an Igor Thiago brace before Benjamin Sesko reduced the deficit with his first goal for the club.

Bruno Fernandes missed the chance to make it 2-2 as his penalty was saved by Caoimhin Kelleher and substitute Mathias Jensen scored a third for the hosts in injury time.

We’ve taken a look at three reasons why Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the United board now need to sack Amorim.

Results

Let’s start with the obvious one.

Football is a results business and Amorim has overseen a disastrous start to his life at Old Trafford.

United finished 15th and recorded their worst-ever points total in the Premier League last season and have now made a poor start to the current campaign.

Overall, Amorim has taken charge of 33 Premier League games, winning nine, drawing seven and losing 17. United have scored 39 goals and conceded 53 in those 33 games, leaving them with a goal difference of minus 14.

The 40-year-old manager has a win rate of just 27.2% and a huge loss rate of 51.5% in the English top-flight.

Those results give him a return of 34 points from a potential 99 and a points per game ratio of just 1.03. For context, that’s a worse Premier League PPG record than the likes of Paul Lambert, Gareth Southgate and Chris Hughton.

It is also worse than Roy Hodgson’s PPG record at Liverpool (1.25), Graham Potter’s PPG record at Chelsea (1.27) and Ange Postecoglou’s PPG record at Tottenham (1.4).

In terms of former United managers in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, Moyes had a PPG record of 1.67, Louis van Gaal had a PPG record of 1.78 and Jose Mourinho had a PPG record of 1.89.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer replaced Mourinho and had a PPG record of 1.84. Former interim boss Ralf Rangnick was only able to record a 1.54 PPG record and Erik ten Hag had a PPG record of 1.78.

Not including sides that have been relegated or promoted, West Ham and Tottenham are the only Premier League teams not to have taken more points than United since Amorim’s appointment in October 2024.

But both of the sides played one game fewer than United in that time and have made managerial changes, sacking Graham Potter and Ange Postecoglou.

The defeat at Brentford also saw United miss an opportunity to win back-to-back Premier League games for the first time under Amorim.

200 – Today was Ruben Amorim’s 200th top-flight game as a manager. He has lost three more of his 33 Premier League games with Manchester United (17) than he did in 167 Primeira Liga matches (14). Standards. pic.twitter.com/Qz4jVWrCER

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 27, 2025

The formation and team selection

The loss against Brentford raised further questions about the 3-4-2-1 formation, which Amorim has stubbornly stuck with throughout his time at Old Trafford.

A lot of players are clearly struggling to get to grips with the system and the fans also have doubts, as United have almost always been a 4-4-2 or 4-4-3 team.

One of the biggest problems with his 3-4-2-1 formation is that the two holding midfielders can be outnumbered and Brentford used a three-man midfield against United.

Amorim’s team selections also raise a lot of eyebrows as Altay Bayindir has remained in goal despite his poor form this season and Senne Lammens’ arrival on transfer deadline day.

In midfield, Kobbie Mainoo was one of United’s standout performers during Erik ten Hag’s time at the club but has been reduced to a bit-part role under Amorim.

His only start in the 2025/26 season has come in the Carabao Cup defeat to Grimsby Town, and he has made four substitute appearances in the Premier League.

United could now lose their talented academy graduate, who is attracting interest from Manchester City, Chelsea and Newcastle.

Failing to get the best out of his players

Alongside the issues with the formation and team selection, Amorim has also been criticised for failing to get the best out of the players at his disposal.

Fernandes is widely regarded as one of the best no.10s in the world but Amorim has deployed him in one of the two deeper midfield roles in every game this season.

He has since struggled to produce his best form and his missed penalty at the Gtech Community Stadium capped off an afternoon to forget for the United captain.

The midfielder made more clearances (four) than key passes (one) against Brentford, completed just 78% of his passes and had just one touch in the opposition box.

United also backed Amorim in the transfer market in the summer and spent £200million on a new front three, bringing in Bryan Mbeumo, Benjamin Sesko and Matheus Cunha.

Mbeumo and Cunha both enjoyed brilliant seasons in the Premier League last season, while Sesko is widely regarded as one of the best young strikers in Europe.

The trio all started together for the first time against Brentford and have shown glimpses of their talent in a United shirt, but they also have just two direct goal involvements between them in the opening six league games this season.

At this stage last season, Mbeumo had five goals for Brentford, Cunha had two goals for Wolves and Sesko had two goals and two assists for RB Leipzig.

READ MORE: Man Utd loan watch: How every player is faring in 2025/26 away from Old Trafford