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The Red Devils are off to a slow beginning this season, ramping up pressure on head coach Ruben Amorim, who has secured just 25.8% of his Premier League matches so far.

The club have just two victories from their last 13 top-flight fixtures and delivered a further disappointing performance in Sunday’s 3-0 loss to local rivals Manchester City.

Despite increasing outside concern around Amorim, exacerbated by the Manchester defeat, senior officials are fully behind the Portuguese boss.

And, insiders insist that in key statistics, United are performing stronger than the previous year even though sitting 14th place.

This comes on the back of their worst opening to a league campaign since 1992-93, with just four points from their opening quartet of games.

Key Statistics Reveal a Modest Improvement

A number of their underlying stats in fact indicate a gradual upturn over the last half-year, although this has often been undermined by issues in both boxes.

Since the start of March, United have scored nine fewer goals than might be expected based on the calibre of chances they create.

This xG figure, excluding penalties, shows a story of inefficient finishing, while they have let in over three additional goals than expected—numbers suggestive of unreliable goalkeeping.

Form vs Results: A Concerning Gap

The problem is that this improvement is not converting to actual results.

Since 1 March, United have recorded a fairly respectable non-penalty expected goal difference, with only teams performing better.

Yet, his side have gathered only 13 points in that spell—equal worst total of any current Premier League club, shared with West Ham.

Faint Signs of Progress, But Patience is Short

So while there may be some subtle signs that Amorim is beginning to turn the tide, a more tangible improvement is drastically needed if the Portuguese is to get more time at the helm.

For now, United remains in a period of change, amid numbers and results telling contrasting stories.