Carabao Cup Disaster: What Next for Ruben Amorim as £400m Manchester United Fall to Grimsby?

Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United hit a new low with a humiliating Carabao Cup exit to League Two Grimsby Town. After Onana’s errors, penalty heartbreak, and viral ridicule, serious questions loom over Amorim’s future and United’s direction.

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The Haddocks and the Humiliation

On a rain-sodden night at Blundell Park, Grimsby Town supporters mocked Manchester United with inflatable haddocks and chants of derision. For them, it was a night of folklore and joy; for United, another chapter in the slow-burning tragedy of decline.

The League Two side’s victory wasn’t a fluke—it was earned. United’s first-ever defeat in any cup to fourth-tier opposition will sit in the club’s hall of shame alongside York City, Bournemouth, Southend and MK Dons. This was humiliation, pure and simple.

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The Weight of History

It had been 11 years since United were last dumped out in the second round of this competition, crushed 4-0 by MK Dons under Louis van Gaal. Ruben Amorim’s side now have a scar just as deep.

Yes, he rotated. Yes, he gave minutes to academy products like Kobbie Mainoo and Tyler Fredricson. But this was still a team worth £400m, featuring Sesko, Mbeumo, Cunha and Maguire. Against a Grimsby side they had not faced in 77 years, United looked disorganised, vulnerable and, at times, lost.

The optimism of Amorim’s summer rebuild has crumbled quickly. Two Premier League games have yielded one point. And now, in August, the Carabao Cup—the kind of competition United should be expected to navigate blindfolded—is gone.

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Onana’s Nightmare, Amorim’s Problem

Andre Onana symbolised the chaos. He was jittery from the start, nearly caught out by Cameron Gardner’s header before being beaten at his near post by Charles Vernam’s strike. Minutes later, he flapped at a routine cross, gifting Tyrell Warren an open goal.

This was supposed to be the night Onana reasserted himself after injury and doubts over his position. Instead, his struggles only deepened the uncertainty—and with United actively chasing Antwerp keeper Senne Lammens, the goalkeeper debate is fast becoming a crisis.

Amorim, pacing and pointing, looked helpless. Social media later ridiculed him for fiddling with magnets on a tactics board in the dugout. To the outside world, it was the image of a manager drowning in theory as his team crumbled in practice.

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The Second-Half Rally, the Penalty Collapse

To his credit, Amorim threw everything at the game after the break. Fernandes, De Ligt and Mbeumo entered. Pym denied Fernandes brilliantly. Mbeumo finally found the net. Maguire powered home a header to force penalties.

But when it mattered most, United faltered again. Onana saved from Clarke Oduor, but Matheus Cunha’s spot-kick was kept out by Christy Pym, a boyhood United fan. And when Mbeumo hit the underside of the bar with the 26th effort, Grimsby were in dreamland.

Amorim, hunched in the dugout and unable to watch, had the look of a man overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster.

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Big Names, Small Impact

The most damning indictment wasn’t just the result—it was the performances of United’s supposed stars.

Sesko, a £74m signing, was anonymous and delayed his penalty until last, showing little confidence. Mainoo, finally handed a start, endured a miserable return. Garnacho, Antony, Sancho and Malacia all cut frustrated figures, part of a squad that increasingly looks fractured and demoralised.

Even the manager’s marquee summer additions—Mbeumo, Cunha, Sesko—failed from the spot, underlining that the rebuild isn’t just incomplete, it might already be malfunctioning.

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Where Do United Go From Here?

The question now is not whether this was a humiliation. It was. The bigger question is: what next for Ruben Amorim and Manchester United?

The FA Cup is suddenly the club’s only realistic route to silverware, and the season is barely a month old. Confidence is evaporating, supporters are restless, and the sight of Amorim fiddling with magnets in the rain has become symbolic of a man searching for solutions he cannot find.

The rebuild was supposed to offer hope. Instead, the cracks are already showing—at goalkeeper, in attack, in midfield leadership. With the transfer deadline looming, players like Garnacho, Antony and Sancho may already be eyeing the exit door.

Amorim promised modern ideas, tactical energy, and a new direction. But the blunt truth is this: United, even with hundreds of millions spent, still look like a side that can be bullied and beaten by a League Two opponent.

And unless Amorim finds answers fast, the haddocks at Blundell Park will not be the last symbols of ridicule he faces this season.