ruben amorim

Why Ruben Amorim will succeed at Man United

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With every new manager that enters the Old Trafford dugout, hope of Manchester United returning to the glory days, slowly fades.

David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and now Erik ten Hag have all failed at the club.

The list is only getting bigger and fans memories of winning titles are only getting cloudier.

It’s been 11 years since United last won the Premier League and 16 years the Champions League.

Yet the team looks no closer to winning those major trophies again.

But there is hope.

A new prospect has arrived in Manchester.

Ruben Amorim, the chosen one.

Who is Ruben Amorim?

Until recently, this might not have been a name you were very familiar with. A 39-year-old Portuguese manager whose only managed Casa Pia, SC Braga and Sporting Lisbon, so why’s he the top target you might ask?

Let’s dive a little deeper into him, and you might understand why the United leadership identified him as the top target so quickly.

Trophies

Upon the arrival of Amorim at Sporting, the Portuguese side hadn’t won a league title in 19 years. Amorim changed this instantly. He guided Sporting to the ‘Liga Portugal’ title in his first season.

Since then, after finishing second and fourth the following years, he won his second title last season.

He’s also led Sporting to two Portuguese League Cup’s and a Portuguese Super Cup.

So Amorim is no stranger to a piece of silverware that’s for sure.

Style of play

3-4-3 formationThis is where it gets really interesting.

When you think of United, you think of a fast attacking style of football. Their great teams of old usually set up in a 4-4-2 or 4-4-3. What was consistent is the use of a back four. No matter the manager, United have never really ventured away from this for very long.

Van Gaal tried a back three, only to abandon the idea pretty quickly.

But Amorim is about to change everything.

He sets his teams up in a 3-4-3 formation. He utilises wing backs to provide attacking threat and extra defensive cover.

This is nothing like Old Trafford has seen before.

Amorim’s teams score lots of goals but are also defensively resolute.

In 10 league matches and four Champions League games this season, Sporting have scored 44 goals. Averaging 3.1 goals per game. Defensively they’ve only conceded five goals from all these games. In total, they’ve won 13 of the 14, just drawing with PSV away in Europe.

So although he plays a back three, the statistics suggest he plays the attacking football fans want.

Communication

One of the most important aspects of being a United manager is the ability to deal with the press and communicate to fans. A big part of Ten Hag’s downfall was just this. He lost the fans with his baffling press conferences.

Amorim completely contrasts this. When speaking he’s incredibly easy to listen to and is likeable. He presents himself very well and has a certain aura about him. This is essential because there is no tougher job than being at United when things are going badly.

Amorim had his first taste of the English media at his pre-match press conference ahead of their Champions League tie against Manchester City. He was asked to give an answer in English but refused as he wanted to do it in Portuguese. He handled the situation calmly and coolly. This ability to handle the press is a good sign him in Manchester.

Whether he can handle the big ego’s is something that only time will tell but from first glance it looks like he can deal with this side of the job.

Will Amorim’s football fit in at Man United?

The idea of Amorim coming in and revolutionising the way United play is incredibly exciting, but will his football work at the club?

This is the reason why Liverpool opted against the Portuguese manager in the summer, as they felt his system wouldn’t fit their players.

From the academy up Liverpool trains their players in a back four, so it’s no surprise they didn’t want to disrupt this, but United were clearly willing to take the risk.

After a decade of failure, the club isn’t in an advantageous position to be rejecting ideas, as its clear the previous systems haven’t worked either.

So United may see Amorim’s back three as a fresh lease of life that the club desperately need.

How will Amorim set Man United up?

It’s most likely that he’ll opt to use the same 3-4-3 formation he does at Sporting.

This is almost his first test as fans don’t want to see him come in and abandon his morals which were so successful for him.

Having seen Ten Hag hired for his football and then fail to play that same way, it’s essential Amorim doesn’t change his identity entirely.

Obviously, he’ll have to tweak things to fit the players and the size of the club but not to the extent of Ten Hag.

What will be key in Amorim’s system is his use of wing back’s.

When Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia return after their long injuries, they’ll be incredibly important to making his system work. If they can’t adapt to a wing back position, then they could be moved on in favour of bringing in the familiar face of Alvaro Fernandes.

Fernandes was sold by United in the summer, but the club has a low buy back clause (£16.7m). He is a comfortable fit in the left wing back position.

On the other side, both Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui are likely able to fit into this new role.

Sticking with the defence, Amorim will probably use Lisandro Martinez on the left of the three, with Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro the other two. While Yoro isn’t up to match fitness, Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans will fill in. The use of De Ligt in this formation could be concerning though, as he struggled to do this at Bayern Munich under Julian Nagelsmann. He isn’t notorious for covering space well which is essential in a high back three.

Moving to this formation means United will likely need to bring in another defender next summer to provide additional depth. Particularly with the futures of Lindelof, Maguire and Evans up in the air.

The midfield will also be incredibly interesting. Manuel Ugarte excelled under Amorim at Sporting before his move to PSG, so he’ll likely be favoured in midfield. But Casemiro has shown a revival of form recently and has earned a spot too. For initial stability Amorim may opt to use both Ugarte and Casemiro but look to utilise Kobbie Mainoo in the future.

But where does this leave Bruno Fernandes?

With Amorim liking fast wingers who can drive at defenders, Fernandes seemingly doesn’t have a space in the team. Alejandro Garnacho, Amad Diallo and Marcus Rashford all fit this profile but club captain Fernandes doesn’t.

Amorim may look to use Fernandes in the two-man midfield, but this could leave United defensively vulnerable.

Fernandes maybe the prime example of the little tweaks Amorim will have to make to his system as he’s one of, if not United’s best player.

Then if he’s looking for a similar mould to free scoring Viktor Gyökeres, Rasmus Hojlund would be the most likely pick due to his ability to run the channels and drive at defenders. Joshua Zirkzee might have to become more of a nine than a nine point five if he’s to fit under Amorim.

Why Amorim will succeed at Man United

It feels different this time.

While there are certain similarities to Ten Hag, coming from a smaller European league and impressing in the Champions League, Amorim has that strength in the areas Ten Hag didn’t. He has the style of play and trophies to back him up but crucially the communication and tactical flexibility. Ten Hag’s unwillingness to change made him the architect of his own downfall. He couldn’t adapt to find a way of playing which was attractive but also successful.

Amorim isn’t like this. Even in the game against City, he openly admitted they were lucky in the first half and didn’t get carried away with the result. He changed Sporting’s structure at half time fixing their vulnerability in the midfield and making them far more solid. This prevented City from scoring and guided Sporting to the win.

This tactical prowess mixed with blatant honesty is something fans never saw at United with the previous manager. Ten Hag’s unwavering dedication to a losing style mixed with his consistent excuses caused him to alienate fans. But Amorim’s tactical nature and good communication will prevent these issues from occurring.

The man dubbed as the ‘special one’ 2.0 has an unbelievably big task ahead of him. Only time will tell whether he succeeds but what we do know is, he’s going to change the future of the club forever.