Manchester United made an incredible comeback against Leicester to secure a place in the FA Cup Round of 16. With seconds remaining on the clock, Maguire made sure with the header as his team earned a 2-1 triumph, celebrated until the last breath at the Old Trafford. Despite going through, though, Ruben Amorim made one thing crystal-the trophy won't be a get-out-of-jail card to save the season.
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United is far from perfect
The heroic win in "Fergie Time" could have easily propagated the narrative of a comeback, but Amorim refused to buy into it. Asked about the importance of the result, he was blunt: "We have to believe until the end, but this has nothing to do with Fergie Time. I think we have to do much better, with the ball, without the ball."
His self-criticism was not superficial at all, and he underlined the lack of energy during the first half; he spotted the problems both in possession and when his team didn't have the ball. In his opinion, despite the comeback, the team's performance was not good enough.
System, squad, or manager?
The question about what needs to change at United couldn’t have been more direct — is it the players, the system, or the manager? Amorim’s answer was as pragmatic as it was revealing.
"It’s everything. The manager is the first one responsible. When a team doesn’t play well and doesn’t improve, it’s the manager. But we’re here to watch the game, study the game, and try to improve for the next match."
Rarely has a United manager been so accountable in public. If one thing can be said about Amorim since his arrival, it is that he is not a runner. But words of accountability won't solve those problems on the pitch.
What really makes the difference?
The coach also dismissed the notion that United's second-half improvement came about because Alejandro Garnacho went back to his "natural" position. According to him, the real problem is to keep possession and control of the game.
"If you watch the games, sometimes it's just ball control, having the ball, and not losing it under the first press. It's the little things, the big things, it's everything."
This is straight to the core problem, United doesn't just have a positioning issue, it has an identity issue with the ball. Any tactical setup without structure in possession becomes fragile.
The FA Cup won't fix everything
The history United have with the FA Cup is filled with iconic moments, and for many, it's seen as a way to give the season a respectable end. But Amorim isn't subscribing to that school of thought.
"I can't just focus on saving the season with the FA Cup momentum. That's not how I see soccer, that's not how I see Manchester United."
What the coach wants is more than to win a cup in order to mask the deeper structural issues of the team. He has been clear that he is focused on performance and long-term improvement, not the short-lived sense of success from a single trophy.
"The current moment is clearly not good enough. It's a good result. We've moved on to the next round. We have a week to prepare [for our next league game], but today was not a good day."
The words of Amorim summarize United's reality: the victory came, but soccer is still far from what's expected from a team that wants to return to the top. The FA Cup may provide a trophy, but it won't be a shield to cover up the team's flaws. Manchester United will have to find more than last-minute heroics, with solutions beyond the myth of "Fergie Time."