Manchester United‘s Decline Deepens: From Brentford Beating to Historic Lows
BRENTFORD, England – Three years after a humbling 4-0 defeat at brentford sparked debate about whether Manchester United had “hit rock bottom,” a closer examination reveals a sustained period of decline marked by meaningful financial investment and increasingly disappointing results. That initial loss, while shocking, proved to be a symptom of deeper issues rather than the nadir of the club’s fortunes.
As that mauling at the Gtech Community Stadium,United invested over half a billion pounds in new players,yet finished the 2024-25 campaign in 15th place – their worst league finish since their relegation in 1973-74. While the club secured the EFL Cup, FA cup, and Champions League qualification during this period, those successes were overshadowed by a series of embarrassing defeats.
United conceded six goals in a loss to Manchester City in 2022 and suffered a record 7-0 defeat at Liverpool in March 2023. A 4-0 loss at Crystal Palace in May 2024 further highlighted the team’s struggles, and a recent 4-3 defeat at Brentford required late goals from Alejandro Garnacho and Amad Diallo to avoid an even more lopsided scoreline.
This summer alone saw a further £219.6 million spent on four players. Despite these additions, United suffered a historic low in August, losing to League Two side grimsby in the EFL Cup – the first time the club had ever been defeated by a fourth-tier opponent. Goalkeeper Senne Lammens had not yet arrived, but Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo (a scorer for Brentford in the 2022 match), and Benjamin sesko all featured in the defeat.
Manager Ruben Amorim acknowledges the challenge of restoring a winning mentality. “It’s really hard but I also understand it’s a different club, with different pressures in a completely different league,” he said.”That feeling of winning and for it to be really normal to win, I struggle [with] a lot.It’s in our hands to change things. We just need to win the next one and to do everything to win the next one [after that].”
Currently, United seek their first back-to-back league wins under Amorim, a feat they haven’t achieved since winning consecutive matches at the end of the 2023-24 season and the start of the 2024-25 season – a 2-0 victory at Brighton followed by a 1-0 win over Fulham. This contrasts sharply with Amorim’s previous success at Sporting, where he led the club on a 12-match winning streak in autumn 2021 and won 16 of 17 games before moving to England.
