Man Utd are no better under Ruben Amorim - but Red Devils boss must learn from Erik ten Hag's mistakes and stick to the process

Nine games in to Amorim's reign, the statistics do not make for encouraging reading. United are 13th in the Premier League table, one place higher than where Ten Hag was when he was sacked in October but in the same position as when Amorim took the baton from interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy in November. They have taken seven points from their six league games, one fewer than Ten Hag earned from his last six in charge.

They are also out of the Carabao Cup, the competition they won in Ten Hag's first campaign, and Amorim's hopes of emulating the Dutchman's excellent record in the FA Cup look slim after - through no fault of their own - being drawn away to Arsenal in the third round. They have conceded 17 goals in their nine matches under the Portuguese, seven of which have been from set pieces. They have also lost two home games (to Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest) while conceding three goals, just as they did under Ten Hag (against Liverpool and Tottenham).

United have at least made progress in the Europa League and after the victories against Bodo/Glimt and Viktoria Plzen they have a strong chance of finishing in the top eight and making the last-16 without having to go through the play-offs. They also pulled off a stunning derby victory away to Manchester City. But then again, Ten Hag also managed to beat City, including in an FA Cup final.

There have been a couple of noticeable improvements though. The team are scoring more goals than under Ten Hag (1.8 goals per game compared to 1.5). They also look less vulnerable in open play, being able to control the opposition's transitions better. While the set-piece defending is deeply concerning and must be improved, Amorim has managed to make his team look ever so slightly more cohesive.

The manager has also sought to take responsibility for the number of injuries the team gets by rotating the squad as much as he can, even if it means sometimes playing players with lesser ability. After making six changes from the defeat at Tottenham for the Bournemouth game he explained: "It's not rotation to see players and prepare the future, it's simply to not have injuries. I know there's a long-term project and we're focused on that, but I also know that at big clubs you don't have a lot of time and you have to win games. I have a clear idea of the responsibility I have here but I'm trying to manage the team to not have injuries. If you have injuries it's a massive problem."

Ten Hag's second campaign was destroyed by injuries but while the Dutchman was always keen to point out how many players he was missing, he never made a link between the injuries and his own reluctance to rotate.

Amorim has also proven to be a much better communicator than Ten Hag, both with the media and with his players. While Ten Hag talked a good game about improving standards and cracking down on breaches of the discipline, his actions did not speak louder than his words.

When Cristiano Ronaldo left the pre-season game with Rayo Vallecano at half-time, he was still in the squad for the opening game of the season against Brighton. When the Portuguese refused to come off the bench against Tottenham, he was only banished from the squad for one game.

When Rashford was late for a team meeting at Wolves after oversleeping, his punishment was to be left out of the starting line-up, only to be brought on at half-time when the game was goalless. Rashford scored the winning goal and all was forgiven. And last season when he skipped training after his drunken night out in Belfast he only missed the game against Newport County. Just days after that discretion, he started against Wolves and scored.

Amorim has proven to be a much tougher enforcer of his rules. He left Rashford and Garnacho out of the squad for the Manchester derby after questioning their attitude off the pitch and while the Argentina international was back for the trip to Tottenham in the League Cup four days later, Rashford was again left out and was not selected for the Bournemouth game. The homegrown forward's continued absence from the squad is causing a huge distraction and if United do wish to sell him, not playing him while appearing to call out his attitude will only drive down his price.

However, Amorim is not going to budge until he sees a noticeable improvement in Rashford's displays in training, and his detailed explanation after the Bournemouth game should give great encouragement to United fans who have become sick of certain players not pulling their weight. He said: "Everyone at Carrington knows what I'm talking about and what I want from Marcus and for everyone else so it's not a distraction for us, maybe it is for the media but that's not my concern. [Rashford should be] like any other player, the best that they can be.

"If you have big talent, [you need to show] big performance, big responsibility, big engagement. Push everybody forward. In this moment some guys have a big responsibility here because they are here for a long time. This is one of the lowest moments of our club we have to face it and be strong in this moment, that's what I want from every player in the team."

Amorim finished his answer on Rashford with an unashamed vow to die with his ideas. He added: "I'm doing things my way, it's the only way I know, if I don't do that I'll lose myself and I will not lose myself. I know what I'm doing." Those words underline the manager's belief in his methods and they should reassure fans who became dismayed with the way Ten Hag compromised on his beliefs early on in his tenure.

The Dutchman was hired by United on the strength of his achievements with Ajax but one year into his tenure he raised eyebrows when he said that the Red Devils would "never play like Ajax". The comments should not have surprised anyone who noticed how he quickly reshaped the team after losing his first two games in charge against Brighton and Brentford. Ten Hag abandoned his principles of playing out from the back and dominating the ball and his team soon began to resemble that of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, geared towards counterattacking. His tactics led to United finishing his debut season third in the Premier League and reaching two finals but in his second campaign his team were found out and they did not know how to evolve.

Solskjaer met a similar fate in his third full season in charge of United, when he was sacked after being destroyed 5-0 by Liverpool and being outplayed by Manchester City at Old Trafford. The Norwegian told the Stick to Football podcast: "At Manchester United you have a responsibility as well for the fans to enjoy the game. Don’t just go and get a result. Those two home games, I always looked at them as we need to be Manchester United, don’t defend, don’t be counterattacking, just let the players go out there, go toe-to-toe with them because otherwise there’s no point at being at Manchester United. You've got to, at some point take the next step – and they weren’t ready. Just not good enough."

Speaking to Gary Neville in his first interview as United boss, Amorim seemed to hint that Ten Hag had been too pragmatic when he had been in charge and was at pains to say he would do things differently. He said: "I know that you can win and you have Erik. Erik was amazing in Ajax. For me, he built the best two teams outside the five strongest leagues. It's not just that, but I have one idea. I know what to do. It could go wrong, I know, but I'm comfortable because I know that. Step one, step two, step three. And with that, I have confidence that we are going to achieve something. One idea is to understand the game in the same way, see the game in the same way, do the things in one way."

Implementing such a fixed way of playing does not take place overnight, especially when there are so many games and so few training sessions for Amorim to get his ideas across. Rasmus Hojlund said after the defeat to Nottingham Forest that there was "a lot to take in" and two weeks on, the team are clearly still getting to grips with Amorim's way of playing. Things are likely to get even worse in the next couple of weeks. On Boxing Day United visit a resurgent Wolves lifted by the arrival of their own new Portuguese manager Vitor Pereira and then end 2024 against a resurgent Newcastle. They begin the new year away to irresistible league leaders Liverpool and then visit Arsenal in the FA Cup.

The fixture list gets ever so slightly easier from then on, with home games against Southampton, Brighton, Crystal Palace and Ipswich plus away trips to Fulham, Tottenham and Everton at the end of February. By then it should be clearer whether or not Amorim's methods are working. But it is already clear that Amorim will not accept mediocrity and he will not compromise.

Staring at the dripping ceiling after being thrashed by Bournemouth, Amorim cut the figure of a man who simultaneously knew he had a gigantic mess to tidy up but also looked capable of pulling it off. He said: "We cannot let this become normal. I understand it's a tough moment and it's on me. If I knew [how to fix things] it would solve all the problems of this club, even this drip. I won't say I'm relaxed because I'm as frustrated as the fans but I know what to do."

Despite the rocky start, Amorim remains a man with a plan. And unlike his predecessors, he is going to see it through.