Ruben Amorim - Manchester United Head Coach

Yeah hopefully was more a case of who was available

I don’t really buy it was impossible to play Ugarte. By Thursday he'll have played about 3 games in 3 weeks. He hasn't had much football this season.

Hojlund was available as well. Personally I'd like to see Bruno played as a CM. He's done it before and looked good. Would give us a combination of workrate and passing we don't have there.

Looking forward to Thursday though. We should see some changes.
Traveling is a huge factor obviously. He is coming from S.America and was one of the last to arrive. Why rush him and increase fatigue and injury?
 
Traveling is a huge factor obviously. He is coming from S.America and was one of the last to arrive. Why rush him and increase fatigue and injury?

Because that's how it is for footballers. They play Thursday, travel and play Sunday. Or Wed and Saturday. Been going on forever.As I mentioned he's also a guy who hasn't played much this season, fatigue shouldn't be an issue yet. Yeah it's not ideal but you do it when the alternative is two midfielders we know can't play together away from home.

We play away in Europe 12th Dec. City on 15th Dec. Do we rest the guys who play on the 12th to avoid fatigue and injury?
 
Because that's how it is for footballers. They play Thursday, travel and play Sunday. Or Wed and Saturday. Been going on forever.As I mentioned he's also a guy who hasn't played much this season, fatigue shouldn't be an issue yet. Yeah it's not ideal but you do it when the alternative is two midfielders we know can't play together away from home.

We play away in Europe 12th Dec. City on 15th Dec. Do we rest the guys who play on the 12th to avoid fatigue and injury?

I completely agree. I’m not saying I know more than a professional coach but I’ve always been of the opinion if you’re fit enough to come on, you’re fit enough to start.

Especially when the alternative is football suicide.
 
Because that's how it is for footballers. They play Thursday, travel and play Sunday. Or Wed and Saturday. Been going on forever.As I mentioned he's also a guy who hasn't played much this season, fatigue shouldn't be an issue yet. Yeah it's not ideal but you do it when the alternative is two midfielders we know can't play together away from home.

We play away in Europe 12th Dec. City on 15th Dec. Do we rest the guys who play on the 12th to avoid fatigue and injury?
Well playing on Thursday and again on Sunday is different when you’ve had 4 days to recover from the weekend. But traveling 8+ hours on a flight, with the time difference factor and coupled with the fact he prolly played Tues night/Wed morning isn’t the same situation. Surely you can see that?
 
Because that's how it is for footballers.
This is silly. No reason the accept the status quo.
We play away in Europe 12th Dec. City on 15th Dec. Do we rest the guys who play on the 12th to avoid fatigue and injury?
Very possibly. It’s the managers choice but Amorim seems to be a manager who rotates and makes use of everyone at his disposal. Thats why we have a squad of players and not just 11 + 3 subs.
 
I'm torn on whether I like his comments on the media or not...it's a risky game...if he snubs them, you guarantee he'll get a hard time from them.

On the other hand, he's United manager, he will anyway...maybe fighting fire with fire isn't a bad idea, considering they need us more than we need them. What is needed though, is the unequivocal backing of the exec. team - if he's going to make certain decisions about how he deals with the media, it needs to be "one voice" from United.
Agree 100% with this. They need to do this now or we're going to never get anywhere. It's just too much.

Though Amorim seems like he's quite feisty and straightforward. Probably doesn't care if he pisses off the media.

The issue is getting the players to also not care about the media and social media. I think they focus too much on what is being said about them instead of just concentrating on their training. That I think is his biggest task - changing that mindset imho.
 
Well playing on Thursday and again on Sunday is different when you’ve had 4 days to recover from the weekend. But traveling 8+ hours on a flight, with the time difference factor and coupled with the fact he prolly played Tues night/Wed morning isn’t the same situation. Surely you can see that?

Well no its not exactly the same but the difference is a few extra hours on a plane. It's also done by footballers across the globe on a regular basis. I don’t think it's a particular risk, especially when it's a player probably short on games really.

Anyway, no huge deal. Let's see how it goes over the next few weeks in terms of selection.
 
Our players aren't as bad as many are making them out to be.

In my opinion, this is wishful thinking. Half of them are rubbish and always were - Maguire, Lindelof, Dalot, Zirkzee, tbh list is endless. and a few are washed up and well past their prime and not up to PL standards anymore - Casemiro, Eriksen, etc. There's also a bunch who demonstrated talent in the past but are not driven enough anymore and just turned into a permanent lazy looser - Rashford.

Obviously there are some quality players but nowhere near enough to make a solid XI, let alone a solid squad...

The reality is that most players are dogshit and no coach will be able to compete to United standards with this squad. It's simply not possible . Guardiola , Klopp, it doesnt matter, they would all fail coaching these.

All The big 3 in Portugal have better Squad. Even Porto which is substantially worse than the other 2 at the moment.

ETH wasn't The problem and Amorim wont do better if critical signs aren't made or some hidden gems are brewing in the youth teams that can have immediate impact.

We will see though.
 
I think Mount struggles in this system if he's anywhere but in the 10.

He's a tidy player when on form but has never been a press resistant profile. He almost single handedly lost United the game when coming on after conceding a chance when he was pressed in the wide side of the midfield and lost possession. He doesn't have the range of passing to offer even what Casemiro does in possession (who's underrated for spotting runs) and whenever the conversation turns into a Mount vs Bruno there's only one winner.

I really think Mount is in that one dimensional element, I know he played wide in the UCL for Chelsea but that feels like isolated instances rather than something that's in his arsenal.
In this current squad, maybe he can only play 10. But if Amorim is capable of getting this squad playing his system and we start dominating games, then he could be an effective 8.

Mount at his best is fantastic as a connective player, and is good at pressing. When Chelsea were flying in the UCL under Tuchel, I remember thinking how sorely we missed a player that can help us constantly recycle the ball like Mount was doing, its so important in games you want to dominate and sustain pressure. For every Bruno, you need a player like Mount.
 
What happens when you’re a new manager at the biggest club in the world. All the attention focuses on you. I get what he’s saying though… he wants to be a loud to just focus on the players but you don’t train 24/7.
a loud = allowed
 
Just listened to Garry Neville and Carragher on sky. Do these people realise it’s his first match and he’s only had 1 week ? I’m happy and glad Neville was outraged by the draw. But he’s acting like it’s a new and unexpected thing with United.

My honest opinion. They are just waiting for a reason to blame the “343” and try and pressure change. I’ve never seen so much focus placed on a formation. We go a few matches without a win, watch how they go after the formation.
 
Just listened to Garry Neville and Carragher on sky. Do these people realise it’s his first match and he’s only had 1 week ? I’m happy and glad Neville was outraged by the draw. But he’s acting like it’s a new and unexpected thing with United.

My honest opinion. They are just waiting for a reason to blame the “343” and try and pressure change. I’ve never seen so much focus placed on a formation. We go a few matches without a win, watch how they go after the formation.
I disagree, I think the focus this season will be on the players inability to adapt our the lack of training time to get his ideas across. I don't like Jamie as a messenger but his message about the demands of the formation on the 2 central midfielders is not wrong.
 
We've been a 4231 team for what, 6-7 years now? Honestly the more you think about it the less surprising it is that we struggled so much against Ipswich. Throwing a squad tailored to a 4231 into a 3421 in the middle of November was always going to be problematic, but I admire Amorim's balls for doing it.
 
I really like his chat with Roy and cia. He looked tired, not too fond of the whole Circus, but honest and direct, that takes some personality.
 


the second part of the clip - where jamie points out where Amorim wants Case and Evans to push forward and press - thats where i think our lack of physicality/ old legs will have an issue.

In that situation, (with CM and wide CBs pushing that high up the pitch) we have very little back in terms of players who can do all the running required. (Mainoo/Ugarte in CM, Yoro/Licha/Shaw in wide CB positions. (and these 3 are injury prone or coming back from long injury breaks).

We have a lot of problems in getting the right balance of players for the central spine of the team. At least until January
 
There is only one logical way to solve this. Play Mason Mount and Ugarte. My worry though is how does a Mainoo thrive in this system. Can Mainoo press as effectively? Will he become a pressing efficient player? He will have to be in order to thrive.
 
There is only one logical way to solve this. Play Mason Mount and Ugarte. My worry though is how does a Mainoo thrive in this system. Can Mainoo press as effectively? Will he become a pressing efficient player? He will have to be in order to thrive.
Mainoo is the youngest out of all our midfielders. He is at the stage where you can mold him easily to fit in a certain system... hell, some players his age are still flip flopping between positions let alone formations. He should be absorbing all the tactical stuffs like sponge.
 
There is only one logical way to solve this. Play Mason Mount and Ugarte. My worry though is how does a Mainoo thrive in this system. Can Mainoo press as effectively? Will he become a pressing efficient player? He will have to be in order to thrive.

Mainoo is the youngest out of all our midfielders. He is at the stage where you can mold him easily to fit in a certain system... hell, some players his age are still flip flopping between positions let alone formations. He should be absorbing all the tactical stuffs like sponge.

Mentally, i think Mainoo can adapt easily to his role. He is smart and if coached well (which does seem to be Amorim's strength) he should pick up the new role.
But physically, he needs to really up his game. He does need to up his work rate, especially when retreating, a lot.

Again, he is young and i think he will really develop into the best CM we have had since the Sir Alex days.
 
Mentally, i think Mainoo can adapt easily to his role. He is smart and if coached well (which does seem to be Amorim's strength) he should pick up the new role.
But physically, he needs to really up his game. He does need to up his work rate, especially when retreating, a lot.

Again, he is young and i think he will really develop into the best CM we have had since the Sir Alex days.
I agree with you. Young lad that's waiting to be moulded. My only worry is that I rarely see young players who are innately different types of players change into another.

Mainoo is a pausa. He's super intelligent and very hard to get off the ball. Off the ball, he's perfect for Spanish and Dutch systems because he doesn't need to be action man all the time. In Amorim's system, he will need to combine both. I don't know if he's got that in him. It's like trying to make De Bruyne into an offensive and defensive presser. KDB presses brilliantly at the point of opposition build up, he doesn't need to do much after other than being strong positionally. I just hope Ruben finds a way to unlock our starboy.
 
There is only one logical way to solve this. Play Mason Mount and Ugarte. My worry though is how does a Mainoo thrive in this system. Can Mainoo press as effectively? Will he become a pressing efficient player? He will have to be in order to thrive.
Exactly. They will both do well. I also think Bruno will and Martinez. Basically he wants aggressive pressing.

The others can do it but those who lack pace will be reluctant to step outside of their comfort zones as they will have gradually adapted their game as they’ve got older to accommodate for the fact they don’t want to get caught out.

In the clip Evans and Casemiro did start to do it when Amorim told them both off. Eriksen was also pushing high. It just needs to happen naturally and consistently for the system to work.
 
Makes you wonder how did seasoned players like Eriksen and Casemiro feel uncomfortable there? surely they had played that kind of pressing somewhere in their entire career....
They are uncomfortable because they are old as feck and don't have the recovery pace anymore to get back if they are not successful with their press. I think those two can only work now in a mid to low block team that plays on the counter. They can sit back and ping balls for the attackers to chase, but are totally unsuited for any kind of proactive football.

They are still good players. They simply don't have the legs anymore to run up and down the pitch for 70-80 mins.
 
I saw it. And he didn’t say it at all. Not once did he mention anything about “limiting interviews and that he was going to speak to the head of communications”. It’s just hyperbolic bull shit and embellishment made up to encourage clicks and engagement.

The tweet linked is opinionated and presented as fact, and has no business being linked, in my opinion. This forum would do very well to stop permitting these posts; it just drives up a frenzy as the impressionable (that are unable to formulate their own opinion), lap up the bullshit that is regularly posted here and take it as gospel.
Well said, poster
 
Makes you wonder how did seasoned players like Eriksen and Casemiro feel uncomfortable there? surely they had played that kind of pressing somewhere in their entire career....

Yeah agree and I wouldn't even call it pressing.

To me it's more just getting the whole team further up the pitch.
 
Makes you wonder how did seasoned players like Eriksen and Casemiro feel uncomfortable there? surely they had played that kind of pressing somewhere in their entire career....

PTSD.. Whenever they did that previously we left holes behind... when you dont have the trust in your own team.

When midfielders press it means CB's have to press and we saw in one instance where Evans didn't and they were out..

On the naked eye, people will blame lack of midfield there but it was more cowardness from our defenders, not willing to press high.

It will take a while as players are having to change what they do. You can see that Amorim was not happy with certain players and called them out.
 
In my opinion, this is wishful thinking. Half of them are rubbish and always were - Maguire, Lindelof, Dalot, Zirkzee, tbh list is endless. and a few are washed up and well past their prime and not up to PL standards anymore - Casemiro, Eriksen, etc. There's also a bunch who demonstrated talent in the past but are not driven enough anymore and just turned into a permanent lazy looser - Rashford.

Obviously there are some quality players but nowhere near enough to make a solid XI, let alone a solid squad...

The reality is that most players are dogshit and no coach will be able to compete to United standards with this squad. It's simply not possible . Guardiola , Klopp, it doesnt matter, they would all fail coaching these.

All The big 3 in Portugal have better Squad. Even Porto which is substantially worse than the other 2 at the moment.

ETH wasn't The problem and Amorim wont do better if critical signs aren't made or some hidden gems are brewing in the youth teams that can have immediate impact.

We will see though.
Whilst I do accept some of what you have to say, why try to exonerate ETH it is ridiculous, he oversaw over £600m in spending on players, you can argue about whose responsibility recruitment was and should be but the bottom line is he was involved, if the problems are as you indicate with the players then he should have identified that and focused on players that would improve the situation and allow him to work his system, that is not even touching on the absolutely ridiculous tactics he tried for nearly an entire season.

Thing is everybody recognises that we have several players who are over the hill and/or are not good enough, I am confident that nobody thinks this squad is good enough to win the league.

The squad is good enough to push for the top 6 especially this season with lots of teams under performing, the only issues are the fitness of players and whether Amorim will make the tough call to drop big names in favour of players who give him what he needs.

BTW what is Rashford loosing?
 
I hope he keeps smiling because although they will frustrated him, a lot of them just aren't suited to his style of football.
 
A very interesting watch. Pace and agility in our CM’s is obviously essential for this to work, but I’d say equally so in defence. City have had the confidence to press so high and quickly because of the Walker safety net.
 
I previously said I wasn't sure about a Kobbie/Ugarte CM partnership but from seeing some of the game and reading up on the analysis, I think that is the logical first choice partnership and I think it may work really well. Others will play a role and I still think Casemiro will be important this season but I don't think Casemiro has the legs to do what Amorim requires over 90 minutes.

I thought we were pretty bad against Ipswich but the plan was clear to see. I'm really happy we're in the EL now, while it reduces the amount of time he gets to train the squad, these games will be a great opportunity to get the team used to playing his football in competitive games and for Amorim to learn about the players.