Manchester United play their final game of 2025 at home to bottom side Wolves on Tuesday night. It has been a difficult year for United, with a 15th-place league finish and a Europa League final defeat in June meaning no European football this season.
But this season has also seen an improvement on last. And that was a must for Ruben Amorim.
United sit sixth going into the Wolves game that will mark the halfway point of the 2025/26 season with 29 points – seven more than at the same stage last season. It really should be 32 points from 19 games after Wolves – and that would mean 10 more points than at the halfway point last term.
United had a wretched December 12 months ago with five league defeats. This December has been better, with only one defeat.
The aim for United is to play European football next season – a top-six finish is required or a domestic trophy won. United are hitting par, but it’s been such a turbulent roller-coaster it never feels like there’s consistency.
Their next three games are against Wolves, Leeds United and Burnley, three sides in the bottom five. All should be winnable. Yet United have also struggled to defeat lower-placed sides, drawing against teams who currently sit 14th, 15th, 17th and 18th.
Wolves are even worse off in 20th, bottom with only two points and not a single win all season. And while they looked poor when the two sides met at Molineux on December 8 – a game United won 4-1 – Wolves made a fist of losing only 2-1 to leaders Arsenal and again by the same scoreline against Liverpool at Anfield this past Saturday. Their 1-0 November defeat at Aston Villa was no disgrace either, even if their overall record is.
Ahead of Tuesday's game, Amorim said of Wolves: “They showed against Arsenal, in the Premier League you never know. They have their problems; we have our problems. But in this game there are no excuses. We need to win”.
United’s problems are injuries and key players being away at the Africa Cup of Nations. Of the injuries, Amorim said: “I don’t know how Mase [Mason Mount] is going to be for that [Wolves] game. Kobbie Mainoo is not going to be ready. Bruno Fernandes is not going to be ready. Mata [De Ligt] and Harry [Maguire] are not going to be ready.”
The United side that finished the Boxing Day siege at home to Newcastle United looked more like a United XI which would play a pre-season game than a Premier League match, but that unconventional mixture of inexperienced youth and fringe players did themselves proud as they held on for a 1-0 win. After being fixated on a 3-5-2 formation, Amorim has used several tactical systems in recent weeks and players in different positions.
“It's a process,” he explained. “And when I came here in the last season, I understood that maybe I don't have the players to play well in that system, but it was the beginning of the process. We are trying to build an identity.
"Today is a different moment. We don't have a lot of players, we need to adapt, but they already know that, they understand why we are changing. It's not because of the pressure of you guys [journalists], of the fans. It's because now we understand the way we want to play and the principles are the same.
“We can change the system and I think we are going to become a better team. Because when all the players return we are not going to play all the time with three defenders, we are going to improve. But that was something that I was talking about, but then when you talk about changing the system all the time and I cannot change because the players will understand that I'm changing because of you and I think that is the end for the manager.
"When we are playing well in our system I think that is the moment to change if it's the better thing to win the next game, and that's what we did today [against Newcastle]. I’m just trying to improve and all the mistakes that I did in the last season, I am trying to learn a little bit and to change things.”
Fernandes, a near ever-present this season, is a big miss. Though he is expected to be out for a couple more weeks, he is pushing his manager to let him return to training already.
“He cannot be that guy that is not playing, is not talking and speaking,” said Amorim of the influence of Fernandes. “He's always speaking. That's why he's the captain and he has bad things sometimes, like moving his arms, but he has a lot of good things and he's always leading the game, the practice, every time.
“He's the guy that is watching the trainings, even after treatment, he's going there. I don't know if he wants my job or not, but he's a leader, the guy is a leader”.
United must face the next couple of games without their leader, but that also affords opportunities to others. Manuel Ugarte, who has disappointed the few times that he’s featured, performed well against Newcastle. As did Patrick Dorgu, the man of the match and not only for scoring the only goal of the game. Ayden Heaven, just 19, also had his best game in a United shirt, defending well as his team were pinned back.
It’s all experience and opportunity, which Amorim hasn’t always been able to offer, given the lack of cup football, but despite all the changes United must win enough matches for a top-six finish. The bar of expectation is lowered – for now – and United are just about clearing it as the season hits the halfway stage.
