5 Man Utd issues Ruben Amorim must fix NOW after 7am return to work following Grimsby woe

If Ruben Amorim thought a summer would act as a reset with his Manchester United woes now behind him, then Wednesday night proved that he was sorely mistaken.

For the first time in the club's history the Red Devils were beaten by a team from the fourth tier as Grimsby dumped them out of the Carabao Cup. An embarrassing night could have been even worse, they were trailing 2-0 at half-time, but rallied to force penalties before losing 12-11 in the shootout.

It means from their opening three games in all competitions they have lost to Arsenal, drawn with Fulham and been outdone by a team sitting fourth in League Two.

Amorim knew he needed a fast start after a poor opening few months to his tenure, but that has not happened. Any feel good factor that came from the dominant display against Arsenal has firmly disappeared and the dark clouds are gathering.

Ineos know they got their first managerial call wrong when they backed Erik ten Hag, only to sack him months later. Amorim was their first hire and they're determined to prove that they can get these decisions right. It means the Portuguese coach will be given time, but only so much of it.

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The bookies fancy him to be gone before the season draws to a close. United returned back from Grimsby at 1am on Thursday morning and the manager was back at Carrington just six hours later at 7am to get to work following the latest humiliation - the players then arrived at 11am.

A Manchester derby at the Etihad is just over a fortnight away and a humiliating defeat there could be terminal. Amorim has continued to look for answers and he'll again have to get back to the drawing board as we look at what he can fix.

Start getting the attack firing

Might seem crazy to think given more than £200million was spent on Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko, but the team's frontline is certainly not humming. There's been the odd positive sign, particularly from Cunha. But no attack that cost that much to assemble should need more than 250 minutes to score its first goal of the season.

Arsenal kept them scoreless, Fulham gifted them a brief lead on Sunday via an own goal and it took 75 minutes for the United attack to breach the Grimsby defence on Wednesday night. Many thought as if the investment in the attack would solve itself, but that doesn't look to be the case.

Put Cunha and Mbeumo's woes behind them

Ironically, there were 13 penalties taken by United players at Blundell Park. The only two men to miss spot kicks were the new arrivals Cunha and Mbeumo. The ex-Wolves man missed the penalty that would've sealed the game and Mbeumo's effort crashed off the bar to send Grimsby through.

Amorim cannot afford for two of his most potent attacking weapons to see their heads drop. He needs to ensure that the added pressure that comes with playing on the red side of Manchester doesn't weigh them down. Cunha has been arguably their best player so far and the team can ill-afford for their attack to be blunted.

Sign a goalkeeper

Yes it is harsh, but the errors will not stop from Andre Onana. He was responsible for another blunder and the cries for United to change their No 1 are only gathering volume. Time is running out but their need for a new goalkeeper is potentially now larger than their need was for a striker this summer.

Gianluigi Donnarumma has still not left PSG and he's been linked with an Old Trafford switch. It remains to be seen just how much budget United have left, but they've already spent considerable amounts given Sir Jim Ratcliffe claimed they were weeks from going bust. Clearly there's cash somewhere - and they need to spend it on a goalkeeper.

Give Sesko some confidence

No striker who costs £74m should watch all nine of his outfield team-mates step up before him in a penalty shootout, but that was the reality on Wednesday. Sesko is either a man already struggling for confidence or one fearing failure. Neither are ideal. United have seen how slow starts for strikers can result in them never finding their feet - Rasmus Hojlund a case in point.

Amorim has left the Slovenian on the bench for United's opening two games. He may cite the need to get him up to speed, but every other major striker who has moved to the Premier League has been thrown straight into the fold. Sesko didn't paint a good picture for United fans by stepping up so late in the shootout, but Amorim has to play his part in making the 22-year-old feel like the main man that they need him to be.

Finally consider some pragmatism

This may well fall on deaf ears. For months Amorim has claimed United hired him off the back of his Sporting Lisbon success, which owed itself to his philosophy. But it is so clear that this set of players are not getting to grips with what he wants them to do - even if he is loyal to the end to his beliefs.

The gaps and the space down the flanks were continuously exploited by a team in League Two on Wednesday. So no wonder Premier League outifts have had such joy. Amorim does appear more than willing to go down with his ship, but he needs to decide whether he'd rather the sack or to make some tweaks to his system.

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