Manchester United's stance on Amolin's dismissal revealed! Players are losing faith in him, stubbornly sticking to 3-4-3 while misusing personnel.

Although Manchester United has had its worst start in 33 years this season, manager Ruben Amolin continues to have support from the club's leadership, at least temporarily. The UK’s "Manchester Evening News" disclosed that even a friend of Amolin confessed that after 31 Premier League matches with just 8 victories and 16 defeats, it’s incredible that the 40-year-old Portuguese coach’s job remains secure.

Manchester United spent £225 million in the summer transfer window, yet have only won one of their first four league matches, scoring just one goal from open play. In the League Cup, Amolin’s squad was shockingly eliminated by League Two side Grimsby. After a heavy defeat against Manchester City, Amolin insisted he would never abandon the 3-4-3 system; to change tactics, the club would have to change the coach.

However, making a decisive coaching change—or taking any bold action—is never Manchester United’s style. Regarding Amolin’s job, Italian transfer expert Fabrizio Romano stated: “Currently, Manchester United is sending out positive signals about Amolin. I can assure you that Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s presence at the Etihad Stadium is a strong indication that he wants to get close to the team, the coaching staff, and all the current personnel at United to understand what really needs to be done to resolve the current situation.”

Romano emphasized that Manchester United currently has no plans to replace the coach. “Amolin has publicly declared he will not change his philosophy, sending a clear message to the club that he won’t alter the formation and firmly believes the issue isn’t with the system or most players; he is quite satisfied with the current squad. He thinks the problem lies in the team’s mentality. As of now, the club has not decided to make any changes.”

British media revealed that the Manchester United board has no immediate plans to sack the coach, nor are they likely to force him to change the formation. They intend to give Amolin time to fix the problems. However, the leadership’s trust cannot change the fact that Amolin is gradually losing confidence not only from fans but also from players. The "Sun" reported that many players disagree with the coach’s stubborn 3-4-3 formation, which has proven ineffective.

After Manchester United’s 0-3 thrashing by Manchester City, Amolin still went onto the pitch to applaud the fans, though only a handful of away supporters remained in the third-tier stands. The "Manchester Evening News" quoted a season ticket holder present at the match saying: “I really don’t understand how this coach hasn’t been fired yet; he seems to have a golden pass. He’s been in charge for almost a year and should have shown good results at the start of the season, but clearly hasn’t.”

When discussing Manchester United’s problems, it feels like repeating the same points over and over, yet the same issues keep occurring. Ruben Amolin and his disciples make the same mistakes, and these errors seem quite preventable.

Since Amolin took charge at Manchester United, everyone has pointed out issues with his 3-4-3 formation, which is unpopular. Amolin has made some adjustments, and now the formation looks more compact both offensively and defensively, with shorter distances between defensive lines, making it harder for opponents to break through. For example, in the Manchester derby, attacking midfielder Mbemo and Amad Diallo were assigned to drop back to cover midfield numerical disadvantages.

However, Amolin used the wrong players in the wrong positions, which ultimately led to conceding goals and defeat. In Manchester United’s first conceded goal, there were enough defenders, but Luke Shaw, playing as an emergency left center-back, was easily beaten by Doku and then just stood watching at the edge of the penalty area.

Bruno Fernandes was focused on the ball at Doku’s feet, failing to mark Phil Foden nearby, who circled around the United captain and then scored with a header. Everyone knows Bruno is offensively strong but weak defensively, lacking defensive instincts. He was active and reached the position but has no awareness to mark opponents; Foden simply used smart movement to shake him off. Bruno isn’t lazy, just that tracking opponents’ runs and threats is not his strength.

This isn’t the first time Bruno has let United down defensively by missing a marker. In August, when visiting Craven Cottage, he failed to mark Smith Rowe, who helped Fulham equalize.

There is some logic in playing Bruno as a defensive midfielder because he can deliver threatening long passes from that position. However, due to the 3-4-3 formation, his defensive weaknesses are exposed. If this keeps happening, the position should be changed or the formation altered, but Amolin refuses to do so.

In this match, Bruno could have played his usual number 10 role, allowing Casemiro and Ugarte to partner in midfield, but Amolin stuck to his guns. Bruno played as a defensive midfielder, with Luke Shaw behind him, while Foden and Haaland enjoyed freedom on the pitch.

Amolin won’t change his formation, yet he continues to pick the wrong players in the wrong positions, causing more problems for himself. If Manchester United keeps playing like this, the same scenes will definitely repeat.

It’s not just the defense; Manchester United’s €85 million new striker Šeško might be the loneliest player at the Etihad Stadium. Data shows the 22-year-old Slovenian international had only 20 touches in 80 minutes on the pitch, none inside the penalty area. Šeško couldn’t get the ball near goal and had to drop deep; his average position was even deeper than left wing-back Patrick Doku.

His only shot was a long-range effort from the edge of the box. Fans seemed to witness another Haaland emerging up front. ESPN’s Mark Ogden commented: “Amolin’s tactics have left Šeško disappointed.”

Amolin claimed Šeško needs to be patient: “He will feel like he’s in the world’s strongest league, and we can help Benjamin (Šeško) express his qualities, but this requires time.”