Ruben Amorim's abject away record - Man Utd lose at Brentford as dismal run continues

Winless in eight 

Manchester United boss Rúben Amorim has endured a difficult first 10 months at Old Trafford, with mounting problems for the Portuguese underlined by their 3-1 defeat to Brentford on Saturday at the Gtech Community Stadium. Igor Thiago opened the scoring from a route-one ball over the top and finished superbly, before the Brazilian stabbed home on 20 minutes to grab himself an early double. The Bees dominated the early proceedings and capitalised on United's disorganisation at the back, with Altay Bayindir forced into two important stops. Benjamin Sesko's close-range finish, which came after his first two attempts were denied by Caoimhín Kelleher, gave them a lifeline. Bruno Fernandes saw his penalty saved by Kelleher late on and Mathias Jensen piled on the misery with a fine strike in stoppage time. Despite spending €250.7million this summer and possessing an overall squad value of €723m, United succumbed to another loss - extending their winless run on the road to eight Premier League games.

The Red Devils have struggled to stop the rot on their trips around the country and it is a growing problem for Amorim, who has cut a helpless figure on the touchline. The 40-year-old has only tasted victory three times in 17 matches away from home, collecting just 14 points from 54 available, to underline their major issues in getting results outside of Manchester. And with nine of those games ending in defeat, their ability to take a decent result home is unconvincing at best. Indeed, their last success on the road came back on March 16, 2025, when they beat Leicester City 3-0 at the King Power Stadium, although the Foxes were well on their way towards relegation at that juncture. Alarmingly, they have only found the net 17 times away from home since Amorim was appointed, conceding 30 goals in the process.

The ex-Sporting boss has been defiant in keeping his favoured 3-4-3 formation in place throughout his reign, yet a number of issues have been exposed within his side. The ease in which Thiago managed to break the offside trap and score unopposed from Harry Maguire will raise further questions about the effectiveness of his back three. Even with the expensive additions of Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro, Amorim has failed to solve the conundrum at the back. And up front, Bryan Mbuemo, Matheus Cunha and Sesko have managed just two goals between them this season in the Premier League, with Cunha yet to open his United account.

Performances have slightly improved compared to when they finished last season in 15th-place, but the fact Amorim hasn't won back-to-back games since his appointment is indicative of his team's lack of consistency and effectiveness to gain anything resembling momentum. Add into the mix their dismal Carabao Cup exit to Grimsby Town and the scrutiny on his position will only increase if United fail to improve their results away from home.