Problems are mounting for Ruben Amorim. His Manchester United team put in a creditable performance against Aston Villa on Sunday, but still lost 2-1. More concerning, perhaps, was that the afternoon ended with two 18-year-old debutants -- Jack Fletcher and Shea Lacey -- on the pitch at Villa Park and defender Lisandro Martnez pressed into action as a midfielder.
Captain Bruno Fernandes, who barely ever misses a game, watched the second half from the bench nursing a hamstring injury. Throw in the Africa Cup of Nations absences of Bryan Mbeumo, Amad Diallo and Noussair Mazraoui, plus ongoing injury issues with Matthijs de Ligt, Harry Maguire and Kobbie Mainoo, and Amorim is looking at a bleak mid-winter. What kind of team he will be able to field against Newcastle at Old Trafford on Boxing Day is anyone's guess.
There's a nicely decorated tree in club colours currently standing in the corner of reception at Carrington, but it would be no surprise if there was a dearth of Christmas cheer at United's training ground this week.
"During this year, especially at this time, we have so many problems, but we have to cope with that," said Amorim. "We need to prepare all the guys that we have for the next game. We cannot use anything as an excuse. No one is going to remember these problems, so let's cope with that. It will make us stronger.
"I saw from the beginning of the season a team that is going forward, but sometimes relax a little bit and sometimes is not there in the right moment to fight. Today was completely the opposite."
- Report: Rogers stars as Aston Villa beat Man United
- Aston Villa 2, Man United 1: How it played out
The positive for Amorim is that United did well against Villa. Fans making the trip to Birmingham on Sunday morning would have done so with a degree of trepidation given how well Unai Emery's team have been playing lately.
Villa kicked off having won their last nine games in all competitions. In beating United, they made it 10 in a row for the first time since 1914, but it wasn't a convincing victory. They won thanks to two sublime goals from Morgan Rogers, who has now got four in two games.
Rogers' first was exquisite, the England international given too much time to drive in off the left by Leny Yoro before finding the top corner with his right foot. The second, with the score at 1-1, was almost identical. It was closer in, but Yoro was again at fault and again Rodgers curled his finish inside the far post with his right foot.
It says everything about the limitations of United's squad that Yoro, a 20-year-old defender in his second season in England, is being asked to play so often. Meanwhile, most of the home fans streaming out of Villa Park at full-time after a seventh consecutive league win were involved in one of two debates.
Are Villa, third in the table and three points behind leader Arsenal, genuine title contenders, and could Rogers start for England at next summer's World Cup ahead of Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer? On this evidence, the answer to both is a tentative "yes."
"You make those conversations, not us," said Rogers afterwards. "We're firmly focused on the task at hand and handling it each game."
The conversation around United and Amorim is more complex. Pressure will increase again after another defeat, but on another day this could have gone a different way.
After flirting with the idea of picking a back four to compensate for the loss of his AFCON players, he decided instead to pack his midfield with Manuel Ugarte, Mason Mount, Matheus Cunha and Fernandes. For large parts of the first half it worked, and United deserved to go in at half-time at 1-1 after Patrick Dorgu robbed Matty Cash and Cunha scored for the second successive game.
The second half followed a similar theme. Martinez, on for Fernandes, looked comfortable in midfield having done the job for Ajax before his move to Old Trafford and there were chances to score a second, with Cunha missing a sitter from a Dorgu cross from the left.
But just like in the first half, Rogers popped up with a second moment of real quality and Villa found a way to win. Whatever that intangible quality is, United -- right now -- do not possess it.
"I think we were the better team today," said Amorim. "We did a very good job that no one is going to remember tomorrow because what matters is the result.
"We already knew that Aston Villa play with everybody inside and we needed to overload that situation. We have been training like that. We did different options, we can use different starting elevens depending on the game, so we are improving.
"Again, I think we deserved so much more today but the better team did not win."
In the last two months, Amorim's team could -- and maybe should -- have won games against Nottingham Forest, Tottenham, Everton, West Ham, Bournemouth and Villa, but they didn't beat any of them. If United are going to finish in the European places, that's something they will have to change.
With the Premier League likely to get five Champions League spots this season, the opportunity is there. The question, though, is whether they're capable of taking it.
Amorim's first job this week is to find out which players he has available to face Newcastle. His next task is to find a way to win -- just like Villa did on Sunday.
