Ruben Amorim was reflecting on one of the best performances of his short reign at Manchester United, against Real Sociedad in the Europa League, when his attention turned to the attacking output of his team.
"Sometimes we are missing something," he said, with almost a rueful half-smile. The game in San Sebastian, northern Spain didn't yield a bucket-load of goalscoring opportunities, but rather half-chances or "situations" as Amorim called them. His team's inability to take more than one -- the goal scored by Joshua Zirkzee -- means that the tie is in the balance after a 1-1 draw ahead of the second leg in Manchester on Thursday.
Real Sociedad can't score either -- only bottom side Valladolid have scored fewer goals in LaLiga this season -- but they will feel confident that United's goalscoring problems almost guarantee Thursday's game will never be too far away. The longer it remains tight and tense, the more confident the Spanish side will grow. La Real coach Imanol Alguacil was keen to throw all of the pressure onto Amorim and his squad ahead of the first leg, and he will know the value to his players of a stressed and nervous Old Trafford.
Managers will tell you that the antidote on evenings like that is an early goal, but United don't start games well, either. Bruno Fernandes' free-kick against Arsenal gave them a half-time lead for the first time in nearly three months. The last time they scored a first-half goal from open play was in the 3-2 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Dec. 7.
Problems scoring goals is nothing new for Manchester United. It's an issue that pre-dates Amorim's arrival and stretches back as far as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's last full season in charge.
United finished the 2020-21 season as the second-highest scorers in the Premier League with 73, behind only champions Manchester City. But across the past four seasons combined, they've amassed just 206 league goals. To put that into context, City have scored 342 in the same period, Brentford 210. Only five teams have scored fewer than United's 34 league goals so far this season. Wolverhampton Wanderers, sitting 17th and battling relegation, have scored 38.
United are not particularly creative, but chances they do make often go begging. United rank 10th in the division for shots (364) and 17th for shot conversion (9.3%). Aston Villa have taken the same number of shots, but have scored 41 goals and sit eighth in the table, five points off the top four.
Like so many of United's problems, it can be partly traced back to recruitment.
Since the summer of 2021, four strikers have arrived at Old Trafford with a mandate of leading the attack. Cristiano Ronaldo, then 36, returned in August 2021. Wout Weghorst joined on loan from Burnley in January 2023. Having made signing a striker their priority in the 2023 summer window, United opted for 20-year-old Rasmus Hojlund; Zirkzee, another raw young player with potential but no real record of sustained goalscoring, was signed last summer.
With Ronaldo and Weghorst long gone, Anthony Martial released on a free transfer last summer and Marcus Rashford on loan at Aston Villa, the responsibility to score the goals has fallen on Hojlund and Zirkzee. They've struggled, scoring five league goals between them so far this season. Hojlund even has the fewest touches in the box per 90 minutes (3.05) than any Premier League striker who has played at least 500 minutes.
Hojlund, in particular, looks devoid of any confidence. There was a moment against Arsenal after he had come on as a second-half substitute when Casemiro's high press saw the ball break to the Denmark international at the top of the penalty area, with just goalkeeper David Raya to beat. A confident striker takes one touch and rifles his finish into the net. Instead, Hojlund looked uncomfortable with every movement, pausing in possession long enough for Declan Rice to recover and make a last-ditch tackle.
There was a video circulating on social media after the game of Hojlund looking despondent as he chatted to former United goalkeeper and compatriot Peter Schmeichel outside the stadium.
Amorim has been keen to build up his players whenever he can and so he would be forgiven for feeling slightly aggrieved that this week, Hojlund was included in a list of under-performing players named in an interview by co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
"If you look at the players we are buying this summer, we're buying Antony, we're buying Casemiro, we're buying [Andr] Onana, we're buying Hojlund, we're buying [Jadon] Sancho," Ratcliffe told the BBC. "These are all things from the past, whether we like it or not, we've inherited those things and have to sort that out." That was just after Ratcliffe branded some players currently at the club "over-paid and not good enough."
It's probably not the pep talk Amorim had in mind as he prepares to face Real Sociedad.
Thursday's game could make or break United's season. Lose, and the campaign will effectively be over in early March with only pride to play for. Win, and there will remain a chance Amorim could end his first season with both a trophy and Champions League qualification. The possibilities are night and day.
Winning in Europe won't be easy; Lyon, Athletic Club, Roma, Lazio and Tottenham have also got their eyes on reaching the final in Bilbao in May, but United under Amorim have shown against Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal they can match anyone -- even during a season so bad that they've been setting all manner of unwanted records. Regardless of what happens in Europe, United are on course for their lowest top-flight finish since being relegated to the second tier in 1974.
Amorim has wanted to play down the importance of winning the Europa League, saying that it would only act as a temporary salve for bigger issues. However, CEO Omar Berrada was clear during interviews with reporters on Tuesday about what it would do in the immediate future. "There's no doubt that if we qualify to the Champions League, we will have more revenues and we'll have more capacity to invest in the team," he said.
More money for new players -- even with a �2 billion stadium to pay for -- speeds up this transitional period under Amorim. He might even be able to find the piece that's missing when it comes to scoring goals.
