If life was not already complicated enough for Ruben Amorim, among the many fires he finds himself trying to extinguish, every now and again someone is obliged to ask him about “Mission 21”.
Same again this week, after his Manchester United team lost their 13th league game of the season. Sunday brings the small matter of Manchester City, not currently at their dominant best but over 12 years the biggest nightmare for United of the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era. Marcus Rashford is scoring goals for Aston Villa. Scott McTominay is challenging for the Serie A title. Anthony Elanga looked like Kylian Mbappé against United. Dean Henderson might end up in an FA Cup final. Meanwhile, Amorim is dealing with the idea that United need to win their 21st Premier League title by 2028.
That idea was conceived of by Sir Dave Brailsford, the Monaco man of mystery, Ineos director of sport, British cycling guru and one of the most powerful men in the new United exec super-structure. He is Ineos’s lead on performance culture. He is there to help and support – but is any of this helpful or indeed supportive?
His Mission 21 presentation – winning a Premier League title by 2028 – was made to staff last year and first reported in February, but what is it? A threat? A promise? A call to arms? A KPI?
Either way, Amorim was asked about the timescale for the next title this week and gave several answers at once. United, he said, “won’t be the biggest challengers in the next year if the next two years”. He added that they needed time. He also said that they could not expect time. “Next year [winning the title] is our goal,” he said. “I’m not saying we’re going to win the title in the next year, I’m not crazy.”
Make of that what you will. What is evident is this is a man under such intense pressure that 2028 might well feel as far away as the Battle of Waterloo. The club say that after years of drift United need some targets. The official line is that Brailsford is not an employee of United, and instead his salary is on the Ineos payroll. Either way, if the suggestions are true about the size of it, it is certainly the equivalent of a lot of staff lunches at Carrington.
