Coach Ruben Amorim recently made a daring statement about his intention to stick with MU for 20 years. But his first mission when entering the opening match of Arsenal was to make sure he lived Old Trafford for more than 20 weeks.
The focal match of the first week of the Premier League 2025/26 can be both blessing and a curse for Amorim and Mikel Arteta – the two coaches under pressure for very different reasons at the periods … very different in the career. The result of this confrontation will immediately shape the atmosphere: either excited, or pessimistic.
Many people may think that Amorim is less pressure than Arteta in the match on this Sunday night. MU comes from a very low platform, so just ending in the top 6 is a huge step.
Building a team that is enough to win the Premier League is much harder than spending 200 million pounds to bring a team from the 15th to the position of the European Cup, which is the top priority in Old Trafford in the next 8 months.
Meanwhile, Arteta faced the familiar challenge compared to last year: Must bring Arsenal from the runner -up position to the championship. With Arsenal, just an early stumbling can lead to a negative chain effect, when the frustrated frustrations of many years ago easily broke out.
The expectation of placing Arteta is to prove that he can become the Premier League champion, and the expectation for Amorim simply proves that he is enough to be the coach in the highest tournament in England.
That is the harsh reality reflecting the current position of the two clubs. Arsenal fans should remember this: If MU reaches the current level of the Gunners in the next 5 years, that is, there are 3 consecutive seasons for the championship, Amorim has worked too well. Arteta needs to be careful not to be the victim of the high standards he set.
MU and Arsenal have followed two different directions for a while, and only Arsenal entered this season with real opportunity to become a champion. From the perspective of coach, Amorim must prove more than Arteta.
In Braga and Sporting, Amorim's win rate exceeded 70%. But in MU, that number is only 40%. More worrying, he lost 17 in 42 matches. Regardless of the difficult circumstances or the lack of balance in the squad that Amorim inherits, it is still a terrible achievement for a club.
MU's problem was carefully dissected before and during the difficult period under Amorim. The failure to find a solution that experts has asked in May that, perhaps better for all if the two parties broke up, acknowledging this cooperation ineffective.
That thought is somewhat based on information from Old Trafford at the end of the season, when everyone asserts MU's near future depends entirely on winning the Europa League to return to the Champions League stage. Sir Jim Ratcliffe then emphasized the need to cut the budget and increase the ticket price to avoid the financial crisis.
Yet only a few months later, MU did what they had done for many years – the bold chi to overhaul the squad. Speaking softly, the messages were very contradictory, and it was still unclear how much the Reds were ventured to close a series of deals.
Certainly MU will enter the match against Arsenal in the lower door position. But after the opening match, Amorim understood that MU would always be expected to overwhelm most opponents and stand much higher in the rankings. Similarly, Arteta knows that there will be no sympathy if Arsenal starts badly – what can happen when they have a challenging first season.
The view that Arteta “must” championship this season to confirm that his dynasty at Arsenal is inevitable, but not fair. Overcoming Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea are extremely difficult. If Arsenal continues to compete close to, second again and go deep in the Champions League, is it reasonable if it is reasonable to replace the coach?
The minimum requirement for Arsenal, as well as for any club that wants to win, is to be competitive enough, that is, in March, there is still the opportunity. It can be said that Arsenal has “stood still” for the past 3 years when he came in secondly, but the concept of “most ate, second lost” was not entirely accurate in this case.
No alert leadership has thought about firing a coach that can lead the club in every season with the ability to compete for big titles. Although it is difficult to avoid the waves criticizing after the footsteps, Arsenal should only work according to his own route, not to follow the pressure of public opinion.
It is true that Arteta needs to win a big title at some point, but what makes Arsenal worried or fans lost faith only happened if the team showed signs of backwards. With the current additional personnel, there is no reason to believe that will come right this season. However, one of the biggest dangers for Arsenal may be themselves.
The confrontation between the strikers at Old Trafford is also a notable episode to evaluate the strength of the two teams. For a long time, Arsenal had pursued Benjamin Sesko, but they finally chose Viktor Gyokeres, and then the other name docked MU.
At the age of 22, Sesko matches the rejuvenation criteria that many big clubs prioritize. Meanwhile, Arsenal believes that Gyokeres, 27, has been a complete product, ready to immediately bring the goals that may have made a difference in the past 3 years. Therefore, Sesko – Gyokeres confrontation is a symbol of the overall difference between MU and Arsenal, or between Amorim and Arteta.
One side feels that they have time to gradually improve, with the other side, they must immediately speed up from the starting line. Let's wait and see who will win.
