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The former manager's tenure at Old Trafford has been labeled a significant disappointment. Statistically speaking, his performance stands out for all the wrong factors. In the contemporary football age, not a single Man Utd boss has recorded a lower points average, nor managed a standing as disappointing as 15th in the table. Delving further back, you have to revisit the manager Frank O'Farrell in the early seventies to find a manager at the club who was defeated in a greater proportion of games. Moreover, he infamously carved a niche in the team's history by enduring a loss in a final to Tottenham Hotspur, specifically the current side of Tottenham.

Football, though, is not often so black and white. Regardless of the negative press of his tactical approach, he departs from a team in a far better condition than the one he inherited. In a prior match this term, following a victory over Brighton & Hove Albion, Welbeck reported that fellow players were praising United as the most impressive opposition they had faced in some time. Their play in a thrilling high-scoring tie with Bournemouth was equally promising and exciting.

While it is hard to argue against the dismissal—particularly given it was allegedly triggered by his comments about superiors with poorer track records—Amorim's exit was finally stymied by terrible fortune. If fitness issues for key players not occurred alongside the absence of other essential members, he may remain in the job—perhaps thriving.

Fresh Start for United

Therefore, Fletcher steps into a relatively positive state of affairs. Key figures like Mason Mount, Bruno Fernandes, and Mainoo are available again, while Amad Diallo and Bryan Mbeumo will in the near future return from the Africa Cup of Nations. Just sensible stewardship of this talented squad should be sufficient to secure a top-five finish and, with it, European football for the following term—probably in the coveted Champions League.

The Clarets' Tough Challenge

Vincent Kompany's team, though, will not make things easy. Although boasting only a dozen points and suffering defeats in three of their previous five outings, their displays have at times been better than the outcomes show. Manager Parker will surely have his team revved up to get after opponents who are expected to field an starting eleven that has never played together, arranged in a system they have been denied for a year or more.

Match begins: 8:15 in the evening GMT.