'Cowering Amorim image hard to shake' - can he come back from this?

"He just needs time. Give him time and he will get it right."

There have been some low points in Ruben Amorim's Manchester United tenure, but a vote of confidence from the manager of League Two Grimsby Town after they have just knocked you out of the Carabao Cup has to be up there.

Perhaps the enduring image of the evening was the sight of the Portuguese "cowering" - as described by BBC Sport's chief football news reporter Simon Stone - in the dugout during the penalty shootout, unable to watch.

Amorim did not hold back in his assessment of his side's performance, saying: "I think this is a little bit the limit. I think something has to change. I think the team and the players spoke really loud today."

Quite what he was alluding to remains to be seen. The former Sporting boss said at the end of last season that if the club's poor form continued into this season he would step aside as manager.

What is clear is that this latest defeat - United's third match without a win to start the campaign - leaves the 40-year-old in a fragile position.

Can he survive the latest crisis at Old Trafford?

Manchester United's defeat by Grimsby has made headlines around the world.

Most United fans would have predicted a tricky night on the Lincolnshire coast but victory was also expected, with almost £200m spent on a new forward line this summer.

A combined £130m started in the shape of Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko, with £65m Bryan Mbeumo appearing from the bench.

But the defeat adds to a worrying trend of results for Amorim.

He has by far the lowest win percentage of any permanent Manchester United manager since Sir Alex Ferguson, with a return of 16 wins, 12 draws and 17 defeats from his 45 matches so far.

Even the much maligned Ralf Rangnick, who was in interim charge between December 2021 and May 2022, achieved a win ratio of 38%.

It seems strange to label a game 'must-win' in late August, but Burnley at home on Saturday appears just that for Amorim and his side.

Manchester United are unbeaten in their previous 23 Premier League meetings with promoted teams - if that run were to end this weekend it could prove fatal for the Portuguese coach's tenure at Old Trafford.

When Amorim was appointed last November, he made it clear that his preference was to wait until the end of the season before joining the club.

However, United's board stressed it was a "now or never" offer.

That, coupled with the perceived mess that Amorim inherited and his desire to play a completely different formation, meant many gave him a free pass last term.

The logic was that, after the lowest Premier League finish (15th) in the club's history, a full pre-season with new signings would be a fresh start.

But evidence of that has been in short supply.

"What an embarrassment for Manchester United," former England striker Chris Sutton told Radio 5 Live.

"Where does Ruben Amorim go from here? The perception of him now, I don't think he gets over this.

"If I was Ruben Amorim tonight there is not a prayer that I would have made eight changes. I would have played my strongest team, try to put the game to bed and then make changes.

"That was an error from him in my book. He will struggle to come back from this. The pressure this season is well and truly on now. If I'm him, I am officially worried."

Last season's 15th-placed finish in the Premier League means United are without European football this season for just the second time in 35 years.

But defeat in the Carabao Cup has scuppered one possible route back into Europe.

It increases pressure on performances in the league, where their two opening fixtures have produced just one point - leaving them 16th.

The pressure on Amorim is not what minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe envisaged when he sanctioned a move for the Portuguese last November.

But, even when results were poor last season, Ratcliffe told BBC Sport in March that Amorim was "an excellent manager and I think he will be here for a long time".

The Grimsby result is one thing, but the sight of Amorim cowering in the dugout during the penalty shootout - it's difficult to imagine someone like Sir Alex Ferguson doing that.

The image is something that's difficult to shake. Teams lose football matches but it's how you lose and it's how you lead.

Amorim's position is certainly not safe. He brought up the fact that there will be decisions that will need to be made after the match against Burnley on Saturday.

It felt like he was considering his own future, rather than the club taking the decision out of his hands.

The problem for United is that they invested a lot of energy into getting him in the first place, believing he was the right man for the job.

Amorim said in his first discussions with the club that he would have preferred to join in the summer, but during pre-season said he was actually glad he joined last autumn - because he was able to see the problems that caused them to come 15th, and it meant he could start the season without those problems.

But the problems have come again.

We are in a constant conundrum because we have been through so many managers and so many players, but we seem to still be repeating the same patterns.

If we change the manager then we are just back to square one again.

But the players are obviously not doing what they should be for Amorim. He can't change all 22 players, but we are stuck in this cycle of bringing in new players and nothing changing.

It's hard to know what to do next.

There's only a finite amount of managers out there, so how many do we have to go through until we find one that fits what we need?

Ineos has come in and we have more of a structure at the club, which we have been crying out for, yet somehow it is still not quite working.

What is the problem at the core of the club?