Fresh start or back to square one? Either way, Man United are never dull
As the Manchester United bus pulled up at Turf Moor, one waiting Burnley suit muttered to himself that “the circus is in town.”
It has been a dramatic week even by United’s standards: the rapid breakdown in relations between Ruben Amorim and club bosses, a fiery Friday meeting with director of football Jason Wilcox, two incendiary news conferences, and another sacking. It’s a club that can sometimes feel more like a soap opera with only a sprinkling of actual football.
The latest episode had a new leading man — caretaker boss Darren Fletcher — and more twists and turns. United went behind against Burnley, took the lead through two well-taken goals from striker Benjamin Sesko, before eventually being pegged back and settling for a 2-2 draw.
If nothing else, it’s rarely dull.
“[We] put in a performance that should win the match,” said Fletcher. “We created a lot of chances, goal-line clearances, a disallowed goal.
“If you look at it in those terms, we should win the match. It wasn’t perfect. We started slow. We scored two fantastic goals. There’s still lots to work on, but I was really pleased with their efforts.”
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In some ways, Fletcher, through no fault of his own, has come to encapsulate United’s muddled thinking and chop-and-change culture since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement. After his playing career ended in 2019, he ended up back at Carrington to help with the under-15s and under-16s as part of his coaching qualifications.
In January 2021, he was made part of the first-team coaching staff under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Within a few months, he had been promoted to the newly created position of technical director — despite his own reservations about being properly qualified for the job. He stayed in the role until Wilcox was brought in by Sir Jim Ratcliffe in April 2024, and for the final months of the 2024-25 season, he was kept on as part of Amorim’s staff.
Fletcher has been head coach for the under-18s since July until getting the call on Monday that he’d been placed in charge of the first team following Amorim’s dismissal. He’ll be on the touchline again for the FA Cup tie against Brighton at Old Trafford on Sunday, but what happens beyond that remains up in the air.
Fletcher is the sixth caretaker or interim appointment since Ferguson left in 2013 after Ryan Giggs, Solskjaer, Michael Carrick, Ralf Rangnick and Ruud van Nistelrooy — all former Ferguson players except for Rangnick. Solskjaer or Carrick could well be returning. After all, every good TV show needs recurring characters making unexpected comebacks out of the blue.
Usually in these circumstances, United have had coaches left over to push forward in their time of need. Amorim, though, was given free reign to pick his own backroom staff, so when the axe fell Monday, the entire coaching team departed with him. It left Fletcher to quickly assemble a makeshift team of Travis Binnion and Alan Wright (both currently with the under-21s) and former teammate Jonny Evans, who only recently left his job as the club’s head of loans.
That’s the kind of 48 hours it has been under the United big top, and Fletcher deserves credit for managing a difficult situation. He even found the time to inject some confidence into Sesko, who doubled his goal tally for the season.
“I sat down with him yesterday and showed him videos of his movement and how opportunities are going to come,” said Fletcher. “[I told him] to keep believing and making runs.
“Hopefully they start flooding in from now. I thought he was fantastic tonight.”
It wasn’t the result Fletcher wanted, but he can at least say that he made his mark. He reverted to a back four at the first opportunity, and after a poor first 20 minutes, United were the better team.
Fletcher knows as well as anyone what fans expect. Under his instruction, the team committed more players forward at every opportunity. By the end, they had managed 30 shots and 10 on target.
The former Scotland midfielder — serenaded at one point with a chant of “Darren Fletcher, football genius” — ticked other boxes for the travelling supporters. Midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, frozen out under Amorim, played the last 15 minutes off the bench. Academy graduate Shea Lacey was thrown on toward the end and almost scored a stunning winner, cutting in off the right and smashing the crossbar.
There were, though, the same defensive mistakes that Amorim has been bemoaning for a while. “I think it’s proved in the season [that] they give up goals too easily,” admitted Fletcher.
Burnley’s first goal was particularly poor with Casemiro inexplicably losing his runner. The draw is United’s third straight, all against bottom-five teams after stalemates with Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leeds United. They’ve dropped points against each of the bottom seven since the start of November.
The United fans who braved freezing temperatures at Burnley were left to debate whether it was a fresh start or back to square one as they applauded Fletcher and his players at the final whistle. Tune in to the next installment against Brighton on Sunday to find out.