Manchester United Find a New Manager
Ruben Amorim has arrived at Manchester United following the departure of Erik ten Hag. Despite a successful interim period from club legend Ruud van Nistelrooy, the Red Devils have identified the former Sporting Lisbon boss as the man to usher in the INEOS era of football at Old Trafford.
Yet, despite the breath of fresh air following Erik ten Hag’s sacking, I still get this sense that there are plenty of people out there that feel the same negative notalgia that I do. Have we not seen this movie before?
Say what we will, ten Hag is a much better manager than his Manchester United tenure would suggest. So are Jose Mourinho and Louis van Gaal. I even have respect for the brief success that Ole had at Old Trafford.
Meanwhile, David Moyes was dubbed the ‘Chosen One’. Hand picked by Sir Alex Ferguson himself to build the next great United dynasty. Even Rangnick, despite the negative effects of his unadulterated honesty, was spot on with his analysis of what was going wrong at Untied.
Red Devils’ fans have been fed so much managerial propaganda for so long that it is hard to differentiate truth and potential, from blind hope. It is hard to see where any manager, let alone Ruben Amorim, can hoist this club out of a hole that has only seemed to get deeper, despite the attempts of a wide range of several elite managers.
In Amorim We Trust
The arrival of Ruben Amorim raises more questions than it answers. He brings with him to United a stellar reputation. But, he also brings a whole new formation, tactical setup, mentality and coaching staff to a team that just got Erik ten Hag fired for its inability to endure transition.
On paper, United’s new Portuguese boss is everything we want to see in a manager. He is firm, yet has a reputation of support and empathy for his players. He has a definable style of play. His pedigree is unquestionable. His youth and recent experiences as a player endear him to his squad. And he has shown he can succeed at a club with significantly less resources than United.
However, similar things have been said about every other manager that has taken the reins at Old Trafford since Ferguson departed. From Moyes to Rangnick, every former manager has been worth their salt in one way or another. This just feels all to familiar.
Moreover, I feel Amorim has a greater handicap than any of his predecessors. He has no experience in a top three European league. He has never managed in England. In only five years as a manager, he has never coached a player with the kind of ego’s United players have. Nor is he a club legend.
And, despite his domestic success in Portugal he has never found success on the European stage. Meanwhile, his managerial tenure so far has done little to suggest he has any tactical flexibility.
Was Ruben Amorim Worth the Wait?
The short answer to this question is, no. The longer answer is…
Regardless of his potential, Amorim is still an inexperienced coach at a club with a terrible record of supporting managers. After so many false starts, United is not in a position to indulge the learning process of a manager of his juvenescence. Nor are United’s new owners and front office established enough to take a punt on a relatively unproven coach.
I mean no offense to Amorim. The problem is that United fans have been burnt enough in recent years that it feels naive to suggest that new owners, and a new manager, neither of which has ever operated on the stage that United exist on, will immediately solve every problem.
There is also the argument that, regardless of all of the praise surrounding Ruben Amorim, he is the perpetual bridesmaid.
Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool, Manchester City, Barcelona and Manchester United are only but a few of the clubs that have interviewed yet passed on Amorim at some point in the last three seasons.
Simply put, Amorim and INEOS are both relatively green operators for a club of United’s pedigree. Our new owner, front office and manager all show a lot of promise. And they all come to Old Trafford with stellar reputations. But, I don’t think that either this club or the new manager is ready to get the most from the other.
A New Era Begins
Despite my apprehensions, I am merely pointing out that United’s new front office is navigating an extremely precarious situation.
I am not convinced that Amorim is going to solve everything. However, fans need to remember, INEOS and the new executive team have only had months to sort out a perfect storm of problems. The club they inherited from the Glazers was so poorly run that it will likely take another decade to completely unravel the mess Ed Woodward and Richard Arnold made.
It also begs mentioning that INEOS inherited a manager and players that clearly don’t fit the long term model Omar Berrada, Dan Ashworth and David Brailsford have in mind.
Some credit is due to Berrada and Ratcliffe for not jumping to the decision to sack Erik ten Hag too quickly. After so many changes at the club over the summer, it wasn’t naive to think that some continuity would benefit the team, despite the decision backfiring.
Unfortunately, too much time and money was invested into this amalgamation of players and staff under Erik ten Hag. While United’s new owners and front office are not entirely to blame for the club’s current position, they are responsible for unraveling a very expensive mess. A process that I imagine will involve just as much money, and quite a few more speed bumps before coming to fruition.
Ruben Amorim
Amorim the Manager
As a former player recently turned manager, Amorim is seen as being a fairly informal individual. Videos of his training sessions and interviews all show someone who is not afraid to joke around and enjoy light hearted moments.
However, many of those same videos suggest that he is also a no nonsense kind of person. He hasn’t been afraid to get spicy with the press and walk out of interviews. And he is unadulterated at calling out anyone not doing their jobs.
Amorim isn’t afraid to be a disciplinarian, though he never shies away from putting an arm around a player. Most accounts of him suggest that while he places a lot of demands on his players, he never leaves them out in the cold to figure out how to do their job alone.
His communication skills are seen as one of his greatest assets. He speaks multiple languages, including English fluently. While he also takes great care in making sure each player knows exactly what their jobs are. There is nothing left to interpretation with him.
A trait that many criticized Erik ten Hag for lacking.
Amorim-Ball
Amorim-ball is pretty straight forward. In 216 matches as a manager, the Portuguese boss has not once changed his formation or tactics. He likes to play a modern incarnation of the traditional 3-4-3, which looks more like a 3-4-2-1.
The wingbacks push high in attack to create width, but settle into a back five when defending. Two central midfielders play in a double pivot. While the number 6 can slot in to a back four when the wingbacks are high up the field. And the front three usually consists of a traditional number 9 and either two number 10’s or a 7 and 11 that come in narrow to support the striker.
Out of possession, Amorim likes to press high. In all of Europe, it is was calculated that only Manchester City and Brighton have consistently played a higher line this season than Amorim’s Sporting.
His teams are incredibly efficient at winning the ball back and taking their chances. They are also extremely sound defensively. In Portugal, so far this season Sporting have scored 35 goals in the league while allowing only 3!
What does that translate into? Amorim, on a basic budget, has crafted a team that has gone undefeated in 20 matches, including beating Manchester City in the Champions League, and have won all of their league games so far this season. Last season his team, which won the Portuguese league, went 29-3-2. They managed a goal difference of +69. And they have only lost 3 league matches since December of 2023.
Not bad by any managerial standards.
Can Amorim-Ball Rescue Manchester United?
Amorim’s consistent tactics and man management style mean that every squad member knows their job inside and out. His team runs like a swiss watch. In Portugal, they have the best xG, best chances created, least number of chances allowed, and lowest xGA. Meanwhile they rank in the top three of each of those metrics in all of Europe.
Most of his players seem to love him, and feel empowered by his methods. He is young, has innovative training ideas, and he uses modern technology and a contemporary approach to develop young players.
By all counts, he is exactly what you want to see from the modern manager. There is, ofcourse always a big BUT!
The Premier League is not a hospitable place for credulous managers that can’t adapt quickly. Meanwhile, many teams successfully employ the same tactics week and week out, like Amorim’s Sporting. But, the teams that are winning the most trophies have tactical flexibility. A flexibility that Amorim has yet to prove he has in his locker.
What’s more, the Portuguese Primeira League is considered the weakest of all top seven European leagues. Success outside of the Premier League seldom equates to automatic and immediate success in England. Ole, Rangnick and ten Hag are all prime examples of recent United coaches who came to the club with limited experience in significantly weaker leagues.
I have high hopes for Ruben Amorim at Manchester United. Unfortunately, history will suggest he has a huge mountain to climb at Old Trafford.
What Next for Manchester United?
INEOS, Berrada and Ashworth have received a lot of criticism for their handling of Erik ten Hag. However, in less than 24 hours from ten Hag’s departure they had already agreed to pay out Ruben Amorim’s buyout clause at Sporting Lisbon. It then took them less than a week to agree a deal for the the new manger.
United’s front office had already chosen the Sporting manager as their top target over the summer should ten Hag need replacing. And they wasted no time in recruiting the 39 year old Portuguese coach. Unfortunately, logistical problems prevented Amorim from joining the club until this international break.
In addition to a new manager, and another coaching transition, there is likely to be a lot of movement in the upcoming transfer windows as Amorim learns more about which players he wants to keep or sell. Though, that is too speculative a rabbit hole to digress down right now.
Ratcliffe and Berrada have also wasted little time making concrete moves to improve the Red Devils’ facilities. Ratcliffe has been spotted around the greater Manchester area shopping golf courses so that they can build a new training facility.
Meanwhile, United have even released design plans to build a whole new sports park around the current grounds. It will include a 100,000 seat stadium to rival the best in the world, a fan zone, a second football hotel, several waterfront condominium blocks, a football museum, upscale shopping and dining, and there are even rumors that engineers will attempt to save and refurbish Old Trafford to act as a venue for the women’s and youth teams.
Cautious Optimism
As a fan, these are all the things we want to hear. But, there are always two sides to every argument. There are plenty of fans that have seen enough from Manchester United over the years that cautious optimism is as much as we can muster.
Despite the new manager, and all of the positive changes being made at the club, the last eleven years have been rough for United fans. Far worse than the baron years between the time of the holy trinity and when Sir Alex won his first trophy.
I think all United fans will agree that we don’t want Manchester United to become the next Liverpool going 30 years without a Premier League trophy.
Fortunately, regardless of my not so thinly veiled pessimism throughout this post, what is happening now at Manchester United is cause for more hope than any previous managerial regime.
The new front office is making informed and mostly positive decisions. A new manager has arrived with a unique and fresh approach to the game and we finally have an owner that wants to be engaged with the fans, and wants to leave a legacy at Manchester United that is reminiscent of the great John Henry Davies.
If anything this new period for our club should be fun to watch.
Glory, Glory Man United!
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