Ruben Amorim wakes up on his 40th birthday on Monday and feels closer to the 50. The 77 days since he got out of a private jet from Portugal and looked sun -drenched and full of optimism, have taken their toll from the new head coach of Manchester United.
'Of course there is a lot of pressure. You can see it on my face, you can compare it to the way I arrive and now ', he noticed at the beginning of this month, and that was before United passed him through the Mangel in matches against Liverpool, Arsenal, Southampton and Brighton. And rangers.
It is encouraging that only one of those matches ended in a defeat – albeit against Brighton who brought Amorim into an emotional slump, in which he damaged a TV in the dressing room.
And here on a soaked evening in Craven Cottage there was another victory to cheer him up and celebrate his birthday with a smile on his face.
It wasn't beautiful. United nowadays is never again, not even when they win. Amorim had to 'suffer' again to borrow one of his favorite words. But it was again a small step in the right direction.
Although the defeat in Brighton was the sixth defeat for Amorim in the Premier League – as much as he suffered in a whole season at his three previous clubs – the boo of the last whistle was never intended for him. The Glazer and Sir Jim Ratcliffe family were the target of their anger, and here again on Monday.
Here the traveling fans of United showed their love long before the shot of Lisandro Martinez was deflated over Bernd Leno in the 78th minute and was the decisive goal of the game.
“Amorim's red and white army,” they sang from Putney End, after which they sang his name on the melody of Give It Up from KC and The Sunshine Band.
He went too much in the game to acknowledge them. As usual, Amorim hardly left the technical room, racing up and down, he and the Portuguese countryman Marco Silva visibly visibly from the other side of the field in their clear white sneakers.
If a team would win, it felt like Silva's. Fulham got the better chances and Andre Onana was the busiest of the two goalkeepers.
But after they had won at Craven Cottage with late goals during their last two visits, there was always the danger that United would do it again. Martinez was the unlikely hero three days after he put down a late winner for Bruno Fernandes against Rangers.
Did it prove that they were closer to the adjustment to his 3-4-3 system? That is hard to say on evenings like this.
But United rises to twelfth place in the Premier League and goes to Bucharest halfway through the week, where a point against Steaua probably guarantees a place in the eighth finals of the Europa League.
The improvements are, no matter how small. It would be easier if Amorim could buy out problems, but the chance of this is small for next week's transfer deadline.
That has to worry somewhat, since his predecessor Erik ten Hag has spent £ 600 million and his most expensive acquisition, £ 82 million Antony, has been lent to Real Betis just for the rest of the season. Offer Amorim a fraction of that money and he would pull your hand off.
Yet he knew the score when he landed from Lisbon and in November, and it was just as difficult as he expected.
Prior to this match, Amorim admitted that he would like a preseason with his players, so that they could see that he 'did not always prepare the matches with stress'. Unfortunately that will have to wait until the summer.
For now he has three points and another reason to celebrate his birthday in Carrington.
Comments