Ruben Amorim - Manchester United Head Coach
- Thread starter sewey89
- Start date
Some of the usual anti United voices in the media are acting very panicky about this appointment. Seems like they might be terrified it could actually be a good one.
Since March 2020, when Amorim took charge, Sporting have the highest win percentage of any team across Europe's top 10 leagues (77% - 120 wins out of 156 games
This indicates his players are performing for him!
Nooooo! ‘This group of players’ is actually radically different now from that of Ole and Jose. It’s too lazy to assume that. Nobody is deliberately getting anyone fired.
If anything we simply don’t have the quality required and the transfer strategy is going to be all important. I genuinely think we aren’t that good anymore!
Beard is best
For some reason, I'd always assumed that he managed Bruno at Sporting so was already unsettled that Bruno might be a favourite of Amorim. Turns out he never managed him and only coached a team against Bruno once, winning the game 2-1.
Aside from nationality they have no ties to each other, so I'm hoping he has no issues getting Bruno out of the first 11 or the club if he doesn't fit his system or his poor form continues.
When ETH joined, Bruno, Rashford, Shaw and a few others still had a lot of goodwill at the club so they had to be part of the team. Right now, there isn't a single player in the side that has earned the right to feel like they have to be in the team so Amorim has more leverage to drop anyone in the side if he feels the need to.
Aside from nationality they have no ties to each other, so I'm hoping he has no issues getting Bruno out of the first 11 or the club if he doesn't fit his system or his poor form continues.
When ETH joined, Bruno, Rashford, Shaw and a few others still had a lot of goodwill at the club so they had to be part of the team. Right now, there isn't a single player in the side that has earned the right to feel like they have to be in the team so Amorim has more leverage to drop anyone in the side if he feels the need to.
We can't have any more transfers this season due to Amorimzation.
Badum-tss.
Badum-tss.
Weird agenda. Not going to happen.
I don't know much about INEOS but I have to assume that the people on the board now are much better than the clown show we had before with Woodward and co
Amorim is their manager and the board will not want to look stupid (though have already to some degree) - they will back him over the players unless it's clear that he is the problem
Portuguese newspaper A Bola reporting that the 2 clubs willing to pay Amorim's release clause were West Ham and Al Nassr.
Supposedely there was a shortlist of big clubs in Europe for whom the release clause was 10M€. For everybody else, it was 20 million.
Al Nassr were offering 20 million € per year to Amorim. About 3 times as much as Man Utd is going to.
https://www.abola.pt/futebol/notici...-bater-clausula-de-amorim-2024110221595927373
Supposedely there was a shortlist of big clubs in Europe for whom the release clause was 10M€. For everybody else, it was 20 million.
Al Nassr were offering 20 million € per year to Amorim. About 3 times as much as Man Utd is going to.
https://www.abola.pt/futebol/notici...-bater-clausula-de-amorim-2024110221595927373
Surprised he didn't mention that the fee Sporting paid for him, after only 2 months at Braga, was/is the 4th largest fee for a coach. I suppose they thought they could see something special in him to be paying that type of fee.
Hello guys.
I'm a Sporting fan and I thought I might as well give you a little insight about Ruben's qualities and system.
First of all, the qualities: the guy is a phenomenal manager, for me one of the best coaches in Europe. You might laugh reading this, but forget the context (portuguese league), the curriculum (the titles he won in Portugal), all that. I don't say this because he won a lot in Portugal, i say this because of the way he develops and structures a team. And also because of the way he communicates, so clear and with such charisma that the fans will love them and the players will "buy" every single aspect of his idea. Because he is direct, clear, smart, it's easy to believe him. And that goes to the locker room as well.
I haven't seen many coaches with such a fingerprint, so clear and definied, as his on a team. You saw Sporting playing one week, and if you saw it the week before, and 2 weeks before, and 3 weeks before, you could the see pretty much the same. The tactical patterns are so clear, so well-worked and so structured that you see team's intentions - the construction from behind, the movements off the ball from the players and the paths used to get to the goal - repeatedly. He got to a point where Sporting fans pretty much knew what to expect before each game, and were confident with what they would see in the following game: such a dominance and tactical supremacy that everyone was calm and relaxed about the game before it started.
Of course, context matters, but I've seen many, many coaches in this context. Some have won as much as him (none in Sporting, and that's not a detail I would say), some have had good win percentagens, but very very few had this control over the game, the tactics. This year and last year, the impression one had was that the team would play exactly the same if all the players were blindfolded. It was so mechanized, so developed and for the players the proposal was so clear that the adjective I would is use fluid - every move, every action, every collective intent was so fluid.
In terms of the system, I would say:
Back three - This is how he always played. The center-back from the middle is someone who has to keep it simple. He has to have good control over the ball, he can't be sloppy and has to remain the calm and composure on the ball when he's pressed, but he has to pass it and play it simply. It's also important to have good aerial capabilities and be physically dominant. The center-backs from the sides have to do it a bit different. They have to have the best ball control possible, they have to feel confident and calm with the ball, be able to progress with it to open up spaces and create numerical advantages and they have to be able to keep doing good vertical passes. To say it simply, they have to be playmakers with the ball. I'm not sure about it's contractual situation, and its status currently on the team, but Lindelof would be a guy that could grow into a specific system like this. Dalot, also. Lisandro, I don't know - does he have the composure, creativity and vision with the ball to construct the plays from behind and for the team to be so "dependeable" on his playmaking with the ball? I guess we'll see.
The wing backs - Ruben had success with good offensive full-backs playing as wing-back, such as Porro and Nuno Mendes. But over the years, the system evolved so that the characteristics of the guys playing here changed. He started favouring "pure dribblers" here: normally small guys, but very fast, very good on the gear change and acceleration and specially (essential) very good 1x1 offensive skills. Guys like Diallo (on the right) and Garnacho (on the left), I would say, would play in these positions. Because everyone, from the midlefield to the attack, plays so much in central roles, these guys seem "abandoned" on the wing. It's on purpose: suddenly a colleague passes the ball on the wing and these guys have to have the shamelessness and technical and physical skills to crush the full-back 1x1.
Midlefield - Two guys, nothing much to say about it. He has used different kind of defensive midlefields (Palhinha and Ugarte are very different from Hjulmand, who is a calm playmaker) and different kind of central midlefields (Morita is very different from Bragança, he used Joao Mario also, but also Matheus Nunes, who has very different characteristics from the former 3). What will they need? Class and quality with the ball - the rest, Ruben will work with them on positioning, movements and confidence. Ugarte will thrive with him, I'm sure (he already has in Sporting).
Then, there's two essential positions, maybe the most important in his system: the "false wingers". They are not wingers, they play within the lines, in the interior areas, and they have to be a mix of a classical number 10 (with a great first touch, vision to assist and elegance) and a kind of interior winger (with dribble, gear chance, acceleration and capacity to finish and score). Check Trincao and Pote - those are the type of players that succeed in these system. Maybe Bruno can play here, with creative duties. But you'll also need a different type of player than Garnacho, Antony or Diallo, a guy comfortable with receiving the ball in interior areas, that great first touch and capacity to change the game and the attack with one/two touches. One example: Fatawu (Leicester) didn't thrive here because he was a player who liked to fix the oponent, wait and then trying to drible him. It has to be more "practical" players, with the quality, elegance and smartness to play well in central crowded spaces.
Attack - I personally believe Hojlund will thrive. Gyokeres is outstanding, but please don't take him away from us
Hope someone finds this insight helpful. Best to all!
Great post, thanks for sharing!
My worry with starting Garnacho and Amad at wing back is that it might be too much to ask defensively while everyone is still adjusting to a new system, so I can see a more defensively minded player like Dalot starting in one of those positions. I'm also concerned that our players might not be the best at adjusting to a new system in general. I'm hoping we at least see some more entertaining matches, and I do expect we'll start scoring more soon, but I think the defensive part is going to take a lot longer to click. Our players don't seem to be able to press very well, for example and our midfield has often been very porous. How much of this was due to our previous manager is up for debate, but from what I've seen it takes quite a lot of footballing intelligence and discipline to play Amorim's system, as well as some specific attributes in certain positions, and I think our squad is currently somewhat lacking in both of these, regardless of how poor ETH managed us. I am excited by the appointment but I am equally wary as I have been disappointed too many times after being hyped when we sign a new manager. I hope our new recruitment team are working more competently than what we've seen in recent years and are working with enough long term vision to equip him with what he needs, because I foresee quite a few of our current players not working out, although I bet it ends up being different players than I think!
So Liverpool weren’t willing to pay €10m to get him? Interesting.
Well, on the plus, at least it's potentially one way to solve the constant left back issue.
It's been mentioned before, (and ridiculed), but whack Antony there. He might at least have some use. If anything, he's a hard worker who doesn't shy from his duty to track back. Or feck him off. Either works.
Curious to see how much patience have for him. He's coming in at an awkward time and I don't think we have the players for his system or style for that matter. January is always a tricky window to deal with so I won't expect too much happening (and we've got some ffp issues aswell?). I predict people on here will turn on him in 6 to 9 months and we'll have the first thread with an in or out vote.
I don't think it will pan out that way unless he comes in and shows loyalty to the usual suspects. If he approaches things with an open mind we have a number of interesting players that can do a job in his system, Antony can be a good wingback if he puts his mind to it, Dalot and Mazraoui are a shoe-in on the right, we have enough CBs to conjure up a competent trio and numbers with usable quality to have a midfield.
It is the attack that's a bit concerning because I am certain Bruno and Rashford don't take care of the ball and work hard enough off it, respectively, to satisfy his demands. Whether he will have the balls to exclude them or the appetite for the media shit storm that might come his way if he does remains to be seen. What these two can do is provide the manager with an easy route to goal, when on form, and if he is not careful he might ignore the overall team development he wants to implement by relying on them and then they will let him down when the time comes to step up and challenge.
It will be interesting how he solves this conundrum. Bruno, Mount or Eriksen could play as the more traditional ten but who does he use for the other role of the inside forward. Rashford, will he do well in central areas and off the ball? Amad will have the skillset to do well there but does he have the productivity? Garnacho seems to be an out and out winger and he struggles to create for others but he looks like he has the skills to play centrally and contribute goals, he is one I would suggest he tries. The decisions he makes on the front trio will determine how his stint goes because in all the other areas the team sets itself.
Liverpool apparently were hesitant due to the 343 so they went with Slot instead
He was a fraud in my opinion too.
- Gets hired off the back of his Ajax body of work
- Proceeds to say we cannot play like Ajax after having a big say in recruiting Ajax-based players
- Proceeds to play the worst Premier League football this club has ever seen.
I dislike Bruno when he is in low form, he is then petulant, whiny, makes tonnes of rash decisions and messes up the team's game with his hero football, however, when he is in top form, he is the best we have, so we should hope that Amorim gets him to perform, because we need an in-form Bruno.
I also hope Amorim gets the best out of the likes of Rashford and Hojlund because he needs it to win games
Seeing as he isn't a manager to begin with, I reckon recruitment won't be up to him.
Love it.Agreed, and honestly you could just as easily make the equally silly argument that these players kept 4 managers in the job too long.
LVG had a horrible run midway through his final season, but the players turned it around and went on a cup run, keeping the manager's position intact til the end of the season.
Mourinho was a dead man walking ahead of the Newcastle game, but of all people, Martial and Pogba - the latter coming off the bench to play in the backline - turned a 2-0 loss into a 3-2 win. Mourinho carries on.
Ole, ridiculously labelled a PE teacher by many, was kept in a job because the team just had to keep getting into the top 4 and going deep in the cups. Grrr if only the players threw in the towel earlier! FFS play shitter next time, Rashford, or you'll keep another one in a job!
You've covered Ten Hag, and we haven't even gone into how the squad today is unrecognisable from the LVG, Mourinho, or even Ole days.
How so? Their needs were different from ours. Slot probably ticked more boxes than Amorim in terms of what they were looking for and I'd say based on current results they made the right move.
That doesn't make Slot better than Amorim. It just means they got the right manager at the right time. It's still early days in his reign though so let's see after a season or 2.
I always like to see how a manager manages the highs and the lows. It's easier to keep a winning team motivated than a losing one.
Great post! Thanks for taking the time to share your insight, you have got me really excited about our new manager.Hello guys.
I'm a Sporting fan and I thought I might as well give you a little insight about Ruben's qualities and system.
First of all, the qualities: the guy is a phenomenal manager, for me one of the best coaches in Europe. You might laugh reading this, but forget the context (portuguese league), the curriculum (the titles he won in Portugal), all that. I don't say this because he won a lot in Portugal, i say this because of the way he develops and structures a team. And also because of the way he communicates, so clear and with such charisma that the fans will love them and the players will "buy" every single aspect of his idea. Because he is direct, clear, smart, it's easy to believe him. And that goes to the locker room as well.
I haven't seen many coaches with such a fingerprint, so clear and definied, as his on a team. You saw Sporting playing one week, and if you saw it the week before, and 2 weeks before, and 3 weeks before, you could the see pretty much the same. The tactical patterns are so clear, so well-worked and so structured that you see team's intentions - the construction from behind, the movements off the ball from the players and the paths used to get to the goal - repeatedly. He got to a point where Sporting fans pretty much knew what to expect before each game, and were confident with what they would see in the following game: such a dominance and tactical supremacy that everyone was calm and relaxed about the game before it started.
Of course, context matters, but I've seen many, many coaches in this context. Some have won as much as him (none in Sporting, and that's not a detail I would say), some have had good win percentagens, but very very few had this control over the game, the tactics. This year and last year, the impression one had was that the team would play exactly the same if all the players were blindfolded. It was so mechanized, so developed and for the players the proposal was so clear that the adjective I would is use fluid - every move, every action, every collective intent was so fluid.
In terms of the system, I would say:
Back three - This is how he always played. The center-back from the middle is someone who has to keep it simple. He has to have good control over the ball, he can't be sloppy and has to remain the calm and composure on the ball when he's pressed, but he has to pass it and play it simply. It's also important to have good aerial capabilities and be physically dominant. The center-backs from the sides have to do it a bit different. They have to have the best ball control possible, they have to feel confident and calm with the ball, be able to progress with it to open up spaces and create numerical advantages and they have to be able to keep doing good vertical passes. To say it simply, they have to be playmakers with the ball. I'm not sure about it's contractual situation, and its status currently on the team, but Lindelof would be a guy that could grow into a specific system like this. Dalot, also. Lisandro, I don't know - does he have the composure, creativity and vision with the ball to construct the plays from behind and for the team to be so "dependeable" on his playmaking with the ball? I guess we'll see.
The wing backs - Ruben had success with good offensive full-backs playing as wing-back, such as Porro and Nuno Mendes. But over the years, the system evolved so that the characteristics of the guys playing here changed. He started favouring "pure dribblers" here: normally small guys, but very fast, very good on the gear change and acceleration and specially (essential) very good 1x1 offensive skills. Guys like Diallo (on the right) and Garnacho (on the left), I would say, would play in these positions. Because everyone, from the midlefield to the attack, plays so much in central roles, these guys seem "abandoned" on the wing. It's on purpose: suddenly a colleague passes the ball on the wing and these guys have to have the shamelessness and technical and physical skills to crush the full-back 1x1.
Midlefield - Two guys, nothing much to say about it. He has used different kind of defensive midlefields (Palhinha and Ugarte are very different from Hjulmand, who is a calm playmaker) and different kind of central midlefields (Morita is very different from Bragança, he used Joao Mario also, but also Matheus Nunes, who has very different characteristics from the former 3). What will they need? Class and quality with the ball - the rest, Ruben will work with them on positioning, movements and confidence. Ugarte will thrive with him, I'm sure (he already has in Sporting).
Then, there's two essential positions, maybe the most important in his system: the "false wingers". They are not wingers, they play within the lines, in the interior areas, and they have to be a mix of a classical number 10 (with a great first touch, vision to assist and elegance) and a kind of interior winger (with dribble, gear chance, acceleration and capacity to finish and score). Check Trincao and Pote - those are the type of players that succeed in these system. Maybe Bruno can play here, with creative duties. But you'll also need a different type of player than Garnacho, Antony or Diallo, a guy comfortable with receiving the ball in interior areas, that great first touch and capacity to change the game and the attack with one/two touches. One example: Fatawu (Leicester) didn't thrive here because he was a player who liked to fix the oponent, wait and then trying to drible him. It has to be more "practical" players, with the quality, elegance and smartness to play well in central crowded spaces.
Attack - I personally believe Hojlund will thrive. Gyokeres is outstanding, but please don't take him away from us
Hope someone finds this insight helpful. Best to all!
That outfit is a crime against humanity
my eyes hurtPoor Amorim refused a life of wealth with Al Nassr to come here and help a struggling Manchester United, on much lower wage.
When he starts getting grey hair in that lovely head of hair and beard I’ll start to worry.
Thanks for that. Great post, you answered a couple of the questions I had about his system.
Just with the bits that I quoted, Martinez has easily the most composure, creativity and vision from all our central defenders, and indeed there aren't many in the world who are better. He has started this season quite shakily though (not just defensively, but also with what he's doing with the ball), but as long as he turns that around then I don't really have any doubts over that part of the game. My bigger worry is his lack of speed and whether he can cover the wide areas defensively when our wingback goes forward. Especially as our most central defender will probably be De Ligt who also has average pace.
With the winger/#10 roles, Amad in theory should fit that quite well. It almost feels like he's been trained to be more of a classic winger with us, but his skillset lends itself quite well to how you describe that role. The question will ultimately be whether he's good enough to do it, but hopefully he gets a decent run to prove himself one way or the other.
You're right. I'd say Rashford did more for all his managers so far than vice versa, especially ETH.
Not sure LVG even makes it to the end of his 2nd season without Rashford.
Don't think Mourinho really improved him.
I like and rate Ole, and I think Rashford did improve under him, but I don't like the fact that he played him through injury so often.
And then under ETH, Rashford gave him a 30 G/A season when deployed as an inside forward on the left and probably saved him from being sacked during his very first season in charge of United. After that, ETH deployed him into a weird, touchline hugging role, much further and deeper away from the opponent's goal, which basically rendered Rashford's strengths irrelevant, in what was an already very dysfunctional tactical setup.
However, a big portion of the United fanbase has this weird fetish, not just with Rashford, that they want our best and most important players benched when they're not in good form...but even that has often been down to the environment and tactical system being awful, to put it lightly, and not just in Rashford's case, obviously.
I hope Amorim can work with the players we have and implement a playing style that suits most of them and bring the best of out them. Bring in a few players to complete it. Rather than forcing the players into a playing style which may not suit most of them and needing to replace all 11. That seems to be what happened with ETH. Though he didn't even use some of the players he bought.
Thank you for this good post. Concerning Amorim, I never saw such unanimity about how great he is from the fans of his previous club.Hello guys.
I'm a Sporting fan and I thought I might as well give you a little insight about Ruben's qualities and system.
First of all, the qualities: the guy is a phenomenal manager, for me one of the best coaches in Europe. You might laugh reading this, but forget the context (portuguese league), the curriculum (the titles he won in Portugal), all that. I don't say this because he won a lot in Portugal, i say this because of the way he develops and structures a team. And also because of the way he communicates, so clear and with such charisma that the fans will love them and the players will "buy" every single aspect of his idea. Because he is direct, clear, smart, it's easy to believe him. And that goes to the locker room as well.
I haven't seen many coaches with such a fingerprint, so clear and definied, as his on a team. You saw Sporting playing one week, and if you saw it the week before, and 2 weeks before, and 3 weeks before, you could the see pretty much the same. The tactical patterns are so clear, so well-worked and so structured that you see team's intentions - the construction from behind, the movements off the ball from the players and the paths used to get to the goal - repeatedly. He got to a point where Sporting fans pretty much knew what to expect before each game, and were confident with what they would see in the following game: such a dominance and tactical supremacy that everyone was calm and relaxed about the game before it started.
Of course, context matters, but I've seen many, many coaches in this context. Some have won as much as him (none in Sporting, and that's not a detail I would say), some have had good win percentagens, but very very few had this control over the game, the tactics. This year and last year, the impression one had was that the team would play exactly the same if all the players were blindfolded. It was so mechanized, so developed and for the players the proposal was so clear that the adjective I would is use fluid - every move, every action, every collective intent was so fluid.
In terms of the system, I would say:
Back three - This is how he always played. The center-back from the middle is someone who has to keep it simple. He has to have good control over the ball, he can't be sloppy and has to remain the calm and composure on the ball when he's pressed, but he has to pass it and play it simply. It's also important to have good aerial capabilities and be physically dominant. The center-backs from the sides have to do it a bit different. They have to have the best ball control possible, they have to feel confident and calm with the ball, be able to progress with it to open up spaces and create numerical advantages and they have to be able to keep doing good vertical passes. To say it simply, they have to be playmakers with the ball. I'm not sure about it's contractual situation, and its status currently on the team, but Lindelof would be a guy that could grow into a specific system like this. Dalot, also. Lisandro, I don't know - does he have the composure, creativity and vision with the ball to construct the plays from behind and for the team to be so "dependeable" on his playmaking with the ball? I guess we'll see.
The wing backs - Ruben had success with good offensive full-backs playing as wing-back, such as Porro and Nuno Mendes. But over the years, the system evolved so that the characteristics of the guys playing here changed. He started favouring "pure dribblers" here: normally small guys, but very fast, very good on the gear change and acceleration and specially (essential) very good 1x1 offensive skills. Guys like Diallo (on the right) and Garnacho (on the left), I would say, would play in these positions. Because everyone, from the midlefield to the attack, plays so much in central roles, these guys seem "abandoned" on the wing. It's on purpose: suddenly a colleague passes the ball on the wing and these guys have to have the shamelessness and technical and physical skills to crush the full-back 1x1.
Midlefield - Two guys, nothing much to say about it. He has used different kind of defensive midlefields (Palhinha and Ugarte are very different from Hjulmand, who is a calm playmaker) and different kind of central midlefields (Morita is very different from Bragança, he used Joao Mario also, but also Matheus Nunes, who has very different characteristics from the former 3). What will they need? Class and quality with the ball - the rest, Ruben will work with them on positioning, movements and confidence. Ugarte will thrive with him, I'm sure (he already has in Sporting).
Then, there's two essential positions, maybe the most important in his system: the "false wingers". They are not wingers, they play within the lines, in the interior areas, and they have to be a mix of a classical number 10 (with a great first touch, vision to assist and elegance) and a kind of interior winger (with dribble, gear chance, acceleration and capacity to finish and score). Check Trincao and Pote - those are the type of players that succeed in these system. Maybe Bruno can play here, with creative duties. But you'll also need a different type of player than Garnacho, Antony or Diallo, a guy comfortable with receiving the ball in interior areas, that great first touch and capacity to change the game and the attack with one/two touches. One example: Fatawu (Leicester) didn't thrive here because he was a player who liked to fix the oponent, wait and then trying to drible him. It has to be more "practical" players, with the quality, elegance and smartness to play well in central crowded spaces.
Attack - I personally believe Hojlund will thrive. Gyokeres is outstanding, but please don't take him away from us
Hope someone finds this insight helpful. Best to all!
Many of Ajax fans had doubts about ETH, which is not the case about Amorim.
Miguel Delaney and others now saying the dippers turned down Amorim for Slott. I thought at the time Amorim turned down the dippers and they were being butthurt?
Either way it’s working out pretty well for them.
I guarantee you Bruno will be a part of his plans and it has nothing to do with nationality. He is a top quality footballer and almost any manager that we get would have Bruno as part of their plans.
It's absolute fantasy the people thinking he's going to be ousted from the club.
No we haven’t and I wish people would stop repeating this. ETH replaced 75% of the squad.
Record says that the two clubs that wanted to pay his clause were Chelsea and West Ham
https://www.record.pt/futebol/futeb...la-de-ruben-amorim?ref=HP_DestaquesPrincipais
Who knows with Portuguese media.
Apparently West Ham wanted him to replace Moyesey in 2023/24 and Chelsea was a bit sooner in 2021/22
https://www.record.pt/futebol/futeb...la-de-ruben-amorim?ref=HP_DestaquesPrincipais
Who knows with Portuguese media.
Apparently West Ham wanted him to replace Moyesey in 2023/24 and Chelsea was a bit sooner in 2021/22
They really asked every manager for their opinion
In this system, Bruno will be what Pedro Gonçalves (Pote) is for Sporting.
A false winger/#10 with good work rate that has the inteligence to compensate the team when needed by defending as a 3rd CM.
Pote was a CM and Amorim moved him forward and improved immensely his game (he was the league top scorer in 2021 with 23 goals)
A false winger/#10 with good work rate that has the inteligence to compensate the team when needed by defending as a 3rd CM.
Pote was a CM and Amorim moved him forward and improved immensely his game (he was the league top scorer in 2021 with 23 goals)
Yes, he is probably our best player even if he wasn’t in his greatest form lately. But some prefer Amad for some reason while he didn’t show much. But hey, potential and all that. And it’s not a way to dismiss Amad.