Had Amorim’s one-year anniversary been marked on 1 October, judgement would have been almost exclusively negative.
At that point, only Tottenham of the 17 teams who remained in the Premier League throughout his tenure had fewer points than United’s 34 from 33 games. After three successive victories, Wolves and West Ham are also behind them now.
On Thursday, for the first time, Amorim was shortlisted for manager of the month. In his news conference he was asked about the possibility of Champions League qualification.
If they win at the City Ground, United will go second.
Even if it is only for a matter of hours, it will be the first time they have been that high, mid-season, since a victory at West Ham in September 2021, immediately before Solskjaer’s world unravelled.
Amorim warned of reading too much into his side’s current form. But three successive wins coupled with Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s ‘three-year’ comments, means a chronical of his first year does not read like an epitaph.
A month ago, the private stinging rebuke of one critic close to the dressing room was that Amorim’s enthralling news conferences were all he was good at.
Yet, while box office in their delivery, it is the part of the job he likes the least. He is emotional, which shows itself after games. But apart from solemn moments, when he speaks on behalf of the club on matters of importance, his words are not rehearsed.
His jovial nature is at odds with his intense and serious persona on the training ground – and his rather detached presence at times.
Last season, when media were allowed to observe the first 15 minutes of training before European games, it was noticeable that Amorim watched the routine sprints and rondos on his own, from a different pitch, sometimes 50 yards away.
This, it is explained, is partly because he has no role to play but also because he is using the time to think about the messaging he will deliver in the main session.
Filmed footage of his first training session last November shows Amorim telling midfielder Kobbie Mainoo exactly how many strides he needed to move after laying a pass off, then where to open his body out to create maximum passing angles.
This summer, sources said there were points where he had two players taking up the same positions in training, before running through different scenarios to ensure they moved into the right area of the pitch.
While this may seem peculiar it does make sense given Amorim knows which players fit into which slots in his team.
That first recorded session also showed Amorim working on speed in transition, especially defensive turnovers.
Finally, with gaps between games allowing full preparation weeks, this reinforced messaging is paying off. Awful days at Grimsby and Brentford are outliers rather than the norm.
United officials say now, as they have done consistently throughout the past 12 months, there has never been an internal conversation about Amorim’s future. The club’s hierarchy, from Ratcliffe down, is supportive. The aim for the season remains European qualification.
But have there been times when Amorim himself wondered if he would get this far?
“It’s hard to say,” he said. “There were some moments that were tough to deal with, to lose so many games, was so hard for me because this is Manchester United.
“Putting all the attention on Europa League and not winning, was massive.
“So, I had some moments that I struggled a lot, and was thinking maybe it’s not meant to be. Today is the opposite. Today I feel – and know – it was the best decision in my life, and I want to be here.”
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