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Ruben Amorim's tenure at Old Trafford has been labeled a major letdown. Looking at the numbers, his performance is notable for all the poor reasons. In the modern top-flight period, no boss at the club has managed a worse points return, or achieved a final position as disappointing as 15th place. Delving further back, you have to go back to Frank O'Farrell in the early seventies to find a United boss who lost a greater proportion of matches. Additionally, he infamously carved a niche in United's annals by suffering a final loss to Tottenham, particularly Ange Postecoglou's iteration of the North London club.

Life, but, is not often so black and white. Regardless of the negative press of his favored system, the Portuguese manager departs from a team in a far better condition than the one he took over. Months ago, following a victory over Brighton, Welbeck shared that teammates were hailing United as the finest team they had encountered in a long time. The performance in a thrilling high-scoring tie with Bournemouth was equally encouraging and exciting.

Although it is tough to argue against the termination—especially given it was allegedly triggered by his remarks regarding bosses with more miserable track records—his demise was finally stymied by awful fortune. If the absence of key personnel not happened at the same time as the absence of other pivotal members, he could still be in the role—possibly succeeding.

Fletcher Takes the Reins

Therefore, the interim boss Fletcher inherits a reasonably solid state of affairs. Key players like Mason Mount, Bruno Fernandes, and Mainoo are back to fitness, while Diallo and Mbeumo will in the near future return from the Africa Cup of Nations. Simply careful stewardship of this gifted group is expected to be enough to guarantee a fifth-place finish and, with it, continental competition for the coming campaign—most likely in the coveted UEFA Champions League.

Burnley's Formidable Test

Vincent Kompany's team, but, will not make things easy. Even with boasting only 12 points and having lost 3 of their last five matches, their performances have frequently been stronger than the scorelines suggest. Head coach Scott Parker will certainly have his squad pumped up to take the game to opponents who are likely to field an lineup that has lacked cohesion, arranged in a system they have not used for more than a year.

Kick-off: 20:15 GMT.