Ruben Amorim’s appointment as Manchester United’s new head coach has brought along with it a wave of expectations. The former player, heralded as the new Jose Mourinho, found considerable success in Portugal, especially with Sporting CP.
Coming to the Premier League, Amorim will have a huge task in hand, and first of all will need to motivate this United side, which has been lacking a cutting edge. Under Erik ten Hag since their League Cup win February 2022, United have crashed to 22 defeats in 61 matches, conceding 82 goals, equal to those scored. Their eighth place finish last season was their worst in the Premier League era.
Here are the key talking points for Manchester United:
5. Make the United backline his foundation
Much to the surprise of fans, United’s defence has been their strongest among all departments this season. This season, Ten Hag employed a high line, further assisted by new signing Noussair Mazraoui at right-back. The Moroccan and Lisandro Martinez have been impressive, but lack the experience of playing in a 3-4-3 formation, which Amorim exclusively uses. Only Harry Maguire has significant experience of playing in such a formation, and could be Amorim’s go-to guy.
4. Build his attack around Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes
Rashford and Fernandes are arguably United’s most-experienced attackers. Rashford bagged 17 Premier League goals in the 2022-23 season, and was used in the left wing. In Amorim’s 3-4-3 formation, he is best-suited to the inside forward role.
Meanwhile in theory, Fernandes doesn’t really fit into Amorim’s setup. But he is United’s star player and created 114 Premier League chances last season. He lacks the ability to be in a high press forward lineup, and could be converted to a no. 6 in midfield.
3. Use Rasmus Hojlund like Viktor Gyokeres
Hojlund was a key acquisition during Ten Hag’s tenure, with United buying him for a reported fee of 72 million Euros. He is similar to Viktor Gyokeres, who was Amorim’s centre forward in Sporting, scoring 41 goals in 42 Primeira Liga appearances.
In Joshua Zirkzee, Amorim has a good back-up. Amorim prefers a powerful striker, supported by two inside forwards, something which perfectly suits Hojlund.
2. Make Manuel Ugarte a key cog in his playing XI
In Ugarte, Amorim has a trusted player from Sporting CP. Ugarte was Amorim’s anchor in the 2022-23 season, with a combined total of 178 tackles and interceptions, the most in the Portuguese league.
So Amorim won’t need to go to the transfer market to get a trusted player, as he already has Ugarte. Ugarte will be key in leading United’s high press, and will also be important in shutting down gaps through central midfield.
1. Bring the winning mentality back
For the past few years, United have lacked a winning mentality. They have been extremely dominant one week, and then in utter chaos the next, something which was ever present during the Ten Hag era. Amorim’s main task will be to motivate his players, so that they can challenge for the Premier League title.