They’ve won a few trophies and there were some good times under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and then Erik ten Hag, along with other glimmers of joy, but the combination of Ruben Amorim implausibly righting the sinking Old Trafford ship while Liverpool simultaneously plunge into crisis has created a satisfaction stew which might just have made October 2025 the most enjoyable month for a Manchester United fan since Sir Alex Ferguson retired.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe came out in support of Amorim when reports of his sacking and talk of possible replacements were still rife despite a face-saving victory over Sunderland at the start of the month.
The co-owner said he needed three years at Old Trafford to prove he’s a “great” coach; we gave him three weeks, still wholly unconvinced both by Amorim’s ability to turn things around and by the veracity of Ratcliffe’s backing of a manager with the worst record of any Man Utd boss since the halcyon Fergie days. But what a three weeks it’s been.
Having incredibly failed to win consecutive Premier League games since joining the club last November, Amorim’s now won three(?!) on the bounce, with victory over fourth-placed Sunderland followed by their first win at Anfield in nearly a decade and then their latest triumph, over Brighton.
And they were proper wins too, featuring some tactical nuance, game management, surprising confidence and some outstanding performances from summer signings to shift the narrative in dramatic fashion, to the point where we’re wondering what’s stopping United from qualifying for the Champions League next season.
No midweek football thanks to the Europa League final and Grimsby Town defeats, while meaning scant opportunity for backups like Kobbie Mainoo, is granting Amorim plenty of time on the training ground with the players to hone ideas and implement a philosophy which they now appear to be finally getting to grips with.
Senne Lammens has been a revelation in goal and Casemiro’s rejuvenation has, at least for the time being, put a stop to claims Amorim and United were doomed to perpetual false dawns at best until they signed a new No.6. Rumours of interest in Carlos Baleba, Elliot Anderson and others have been conspicuous by their absence in the last couple of weeks.
The centre-backs are all playing well, with the question now not which three are less likely to screw up but which in-form defender Amorim should leave out. Lisandro Martinez’s return looks set to raise those standards even higher.
Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha are doing excellent work in relieving the creative pressure on the shoulders of Bruno Fernandes, who looks increasingly like the leader of Man Utd rather than a guy whining while wearing an armband.
And although the jury may still be out on Benjamin Sesko, it’s testament to the work of his fellow forwards that he’s being allowed the space to ease into life in the Premier League rather than being harangued for not scoring regular goals as Rasmus Hojlund was.
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It’s all going swimmingly for them, and whether because of some mystical requirement for one of the two greatest English teams to be in crisis at any one time, or simply thanks to a glorious twisting of fates for the Red Devils, the aversion of their club emergency has coincided with Liverpool’s mini-crisis becoming fully fledged in October.
It’s seen the Reds lose three Premier League games before dumped out of the Carabao Cup, making it six defeats in seven. Mohamed Salah has lost it. Virgil van Dijk might just be past it. Their two £100m+ players have been stratospheric flops. And Arne Slot, while making excuses that would make Jurgen Klopp or Arsene Wenger blush having been a beacon of objectivity last season, is now second in the sack race. Amorim is eighth.
Having been eight points behind Liverpool after five games, after nine Man Utd are above them. And while we can’t yet know whether October 2025 will act as a line in the sand, the point when Amorim’s Man Utd truly discovered their identity before going on to great things while Slot’s Liverpool scrabbled to recover theirs to no avail before his sacking, there’s no doubt that it’s been a standout month for Red Devils fans in the post-Sir Alex era; maybe the most enjoyable of all.