I was in the Manchester United away end for Ruben Amorim’s first game - this needs to change

It was a dream start. Just as Amorim’s name began to be sung by the travelling 3,000 fans, Amad beat his man, racing towards goal to tee up Marcus Rashford to score within 90 seconds.

After weeks of speculation on how long it would take for Amorim to get across his identity onto this struggling United side, it looked instantaneous. But that was as good as the football got at Portman Road. Off it, United fans backed the team, willing them forward with cries of ‘attack, attack, attack’ but the same old frustrations remain.

It is unsurprising given the lack of training time Amorim has had with the first-choice team, but the startling lack of individual quality and the unsuitability of much of the squad to a system which depends on having aggressive, mobile players, was evident.

Ipswich deserved their first half equaliser, after dominating the opening period, despite the best efforts of the massively under- appreciated Andre Onana. He made an outstanding close-range save earlier in the half and made another crucial stop from Liam Delap in the second-half to preserve the point.

And at a time when few United players merit a personalised song from supporters, the Cameroonian was rightly serenaded for his efforts. But, to the surprise of nobody who had made the nearly 500 mile trip from Manchester, the team cracked, albeit courtesy of an impressive strike from Omari Hutchinson, who caused huge issues for United’s midfield throughout the first half.

Going into half-time, I wasn’t alone in thinking United would limp onto another away defeat, with the same recurring issues of United not being combative enough off the ball, nor progressive enough on it.

Amorim showed a decisiveness to fix this early in the second-half through bringing on the tenacious Manuel Ugarte, who presumably would have started if he had not played for Uruguay in Brazil on Wednesday.

Although it never looked like United would go onto win, despite Amorim’s best efforts to inspire a late goal, dropping Bruno Fernandes into a deeper midfield position, to accommodate two strikers, who have collectively scored just two league goals in nearly 900 minutes so far this season.

With United kicking off the day in 12th, whilst Liverpool went eight-points clear at the top of the Premier League, nobody would have taken a point going into the game, but this was a reality-check for anyone thinking Amorim could serve a instant fix to a side which have largely disappointed since the Carabao Cup Final of February 2023.

Amorim now has some much-needed time on the training pitch, and with several players returning from injury, results and performances should improve. So it wasn’t the dream start, but hope has been reignited after it was extinguished during the final weeks of Erik ten Hag's reign.

As Gary Neville said to Ruben Amorim in an interview on Sky Sports, United fans always stick by the manager and although confidence had evaporated in the Dutchman, the United faithful always back the manager. It was noticeable after full-time, as the team came over to applaud the travelling fans, it was Amorim’s name which was sung on repeat.

The frustration at the team languishing in the bottom-half, sandwiched between Brentford and Bournemouth, is largely targeted at the players, many of whom simply aren’t good enough to play for United, but it is still important for the coach to start well.

The warning signs under ten Hag, of a tendency to collapse within matches and succumb to humiliating defeats were evident from his second game at Brentford, where United lost 4-0. So attention will quickly move to Thursday night and Amorim's introduction to Old Trafford, whilst supporters will desperately hope he can quickly implement a much-needed identity on the team.