Manchester United have sacked manager Erik ten Hag after two years at the club, with Sporting’s Ruben Amorim expected to take over as manager. But what can fans expect from him?
Amorim is one of the most in-demand coaches in Europe and was linked with the West Ham, Barcelona, Juventus, Liverpool and Bayern Munich jobs when the clubs were looking for new managers in the summer.
He was also touted as the potential Pep Guardiola replacement for Manchester City, for when the Spaniard does eventually decide to leave his post. These rumours gained even more traction given that Sporting’s director of football, Hugo Viana, will also be joining City.
Amorim, despite his success and reputation, is still only 39 and therefore fairly inexperienced as a top-level coach. But his record speaks for itself. He guided Sporting to their first trophy in 19 years in 2021, ending a long streak of league wins from Benfica and Porto.
Sporting also won the Liga Portugal for a second time under his reign last season, finishing ten points above second place Benfica. The Portuguese side have started this season with a perfect league record of nine wins from nine, scoring 30 goals and conceding only two in the process.
What to expect tactically
Amorim is known for his 3-4-3 formation and may want to continue with that approach at United.
The only concern would be that Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt may lack the pace required to be wide centre-backs in Amorim’s system, but could play in the middle of the three with Lisandro Martinez and Leny Yoro as the preferred wide options. It would require them to stay fit for that to work, however.
The formation would suit Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui, full-backs who are both better going forward than they are defensively, though he may need to invest in a natural left-footed wing-back, given Luke Shaw’s continuous injury problems.
Manuel Ugarte, who has not had the easiest start to his United career, would also benefit from Amorim’s arrival. The Uruguayan played under Amorim for two years with Sporting and was exceptional as the number six, ball-winning midfielder. He would likely be the preferred choice alongside Kobbie Mainoo, Bruno Fernandes, Christian Eriksen or Mason Mount when fit.
He also has the option to play Fernandes further up the pitch as part of the forward line. Hojlund will likely lead the line with Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Amad as other options in the wider attacking positions.
Player development
In terms of his player development, Amorim has got a great track record of unearthing gems, such as Viktor Gyokeres, who scored 43 goals last season and already has 16 this campaign after signing him from Championship side Coventry City.
United have a very young squad and inconsistency has been an issue, so fans will be hopeful that Amorim will be able to get the best out of the likes of Joshua Zirkzee, Hojlund and Garnacho.
On balance, it seems that the 39 year old is a great fit for United. he has experience managing some of players in the squad, his English is good, the formation will suit the players and he has a proven track record of success. It remains to be seen whether he will be in the United dugout for their game against Chelsea this weekend, but fans certainly have reason to be excited.
