Manageress Manchester United Chase FA Cup Glory

Manchester United host Brighton in the FA Cup this weekend, in what will be Darren Fletcher’s second game at the helm. Caretaker boss Fletcher took charge of United’s last game against Burnley, which ended in a 2-2 draw. He was placed in charge after Ruben Amorim’s departure following United’s 1-1 tie with Leeds United last weekend.

After the game against Leeds, Amorim made this cryptic and nearly incoherent statement: “I just want to say I came here to be the manager, not to be the coach. In every department – the scouting department, the sporting director – [they] need to do their job. I will do mine for 18 months and then we move on.”

He continued: “I just want to say that I’m going to be the manager of this team, not just the coach. I was really clear on that. That is going to finish in 18 months and then everyone is going to move on. That was the deal. That is my job. Not to be a coach.”

He was swiftly sacked the next day following a 14-month tenure at the club. It seems the Manchester side will now wait until the summer to make a permanent managerial appointment and will bring someone in on a caretaker basis until then. Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Michael Carrick are currently the frontrunners for the interim job, and it is expected that one of them will be appointed after the game against Brighton.

Even though they are currently managerless, the FA Cup presents the only realistic opportunity for United to win a trophy this season. They are not involved in a European tournament, are currently 17 points behind leaders Arsenal in the league, and were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by League Two side Grimsby Town in one of the all-time lows for the great club.

It has been a very disappointing season for the Red Devils thus far. United are in poor form, winning only one of their last six games. Exiting the FA Cup in the Third Round, a feat they last accomplished back in the 2013/14 season, would only add to the dismay and be unacceptable.

Hoisting the FA Cup is part of Manchester United’s DNA. They have won it 13 times, the second-most behind Arsenal. Brighton, on the other hand, have never lifted the famous trophy.

In years past this would have been a mismatch. But in this repeat of the 1983 Final there is a plausible feeling that Brighton could finally topple United. While the Seagulls are in poor form, notching only one win since November and falling to 11th in the table, Danny Welbeck is in fine fettle. He’s scored eight Premier League goals in 12 starts this season. If he starts, or even comes on midway, Welbeck will be chomping at the bit for some retribution against his former side United.