Ruben Amorim - Manchester United Head Coach

Last sleeping on it and looking at the football back. This is what I have seen now without emotions.

1. The blueprint of 343 was extremely visible yesterday.
2. The most difference which happened yesterday was how the defence was on 10 yards ahead of previous line.
3. How CB were always stepping in and pinch the ball. Martinez first goal, he himself pinched a loose ball from Trent and stayed up front and remarkably when Bruno played him a pass in Liverpool box, he was almost unmarked.
4. Dalot really had a very good game, previously he would have his body in a WRONG Turn thus he wouldn't attack space when he has ball. But yesterday his body position was elite, he was on half turn but on a forward turn. Saka style. He gave Trent a very hard time.
5 Ugarte and Mainoo are such great footballers.


But the most glaring difference yesterday was motivation. How Amorim was able to motivate the players and extract such a performance from them was good to see. Everyone applied himself well.

The team played a very risky game, and we know high risk high reward. The rewards yesterday was in belief of the system.
Now, we can agree, we have a team that can play 343. Not this nonsense of we can't compete.
Amorim has shown he can structure and motivate a team in the highest level.
Now we can rest assured, whoever doesn't play how Amorim want should leave.
We can splash money for Amorim specific needs.


Enjoy





Hold up, haven't you been telling everyone how shit this system is and how it's not going to work? :lol:

Apologies if it was another poster, but I thought you were quite vocal about it up till yesterday.
 
He really needed the performance yesterday. The pundits were already changing their views on him and his persistence with his methods, calling for a pivot away just to get results etc. Now they seem to have done a 180 and instead changed their tone again to a lack of player consistency. Keane stopped short of saying these players will throw you under the bus but we were all back there. Now you look around and think there are at least 5 very good players/young players in the squad.
 
The big challenge isn’t the system or tactics, it’s getting the same intensity from these players.

Thing that makes being at United different is nearly every team is up for a game against us because of who we are so we need to be at it ourselves. If a player can’t do it week in week out then they don’t have the mentality to play for this club.
 
He needed that performance, a loss would have scarred it, but the draw feels like a win given the recent performances and the cloud over us going into the game.

It's clear to me that we can play well if the players put a shift in and play with absolute desire - something we don't always see but in this club, players should never go out there without doing exactly this.

This result and performance benefits the manager massively, and both he and Bruno alluded to it after the game - any sub-par performances in the near future will be squarely on the players.

Lose yes, it happens, but look like you don't care, no, I won't accept that after this performance.
 
And he seems super aware of where the problem lies. That's so encouraging.

And he delivers his messages very stern but fair in the media. A hell of a lot more encouraging than the way ETH did it.

I just hope the players and the organization as a whole jump on his train.
The organisation already has. It's the players that need to step up.
 
The big challenge isn’t the system or tactics, it’s getting the same intensity from these players.

Thing that makes being at United different is nearly every team is up for a game against us because of who we are so we need to be at it ourselves. If a player can’t do it week in week out then they don’t have the mentality to play for this club.

They are up for the game because we are always a big scalp and we have been, for a very long time, a very winnable game for any team that shows up. Those two things make teams up their game a bit.
 
Hold up, haven't you been telling everyone how shit this system is and how it's not going to work? :lol:

Apologies if it was another poster, but I thought you were quite vocal about it up till yesterday.
@pocco it can be done!!!!

343 can be done. :lol: :lol:

I think a lot of people needed convincing on the pitch. And it was delivered yesterday.

I believe any arguments about the tactics or not, has been closed.
Work now is on Amorim to construct a title winning squad. He should be given absolutely anything he needs.

Yes it was me
 
Hold up, haven't you been telling everyone how shit this system is and how it's not going to work? :lol:

Apologies if it was another poster, but I thought you were quite vocal about it up till yesterday.

Basically spent the last month doing just that.

Amazing what a decent result and performance can do to change peoples minds.
 
They are up for the game because we are always a big scalp and we have been, for a very long time, a very winnable game for any team that shows up. Those two things make teams up their game a bit.

That is very true as well, so I guess we need players that are willing to fight to get that fear factor back that has been lost too.
 
Refreshing to see us not overwhelmed and going toe to toe at Anfield. Back this guy and his ideas.
 
The big challenge isn’t the system or tactics, it’s getting the same intensity from these players.

Thing that makes being at United different is nearly every team is up for a game against us because of who we are so we need to be at it ourselves. If a player can’t do it week in week out then they don’t have the mentality to play for this club.

To be fair, motivation, intensity etc are the main things to succeed. Fair enough you can motivate yourselves in the big games, but to win long term you either need to be motivated or simply better than anyone else.

It's great to see he more than knows this. At the end of the day, you can have the 'perfect system', the 'perfect players' but if they aren't motivated and just giving it 90% then it's easy to get found out.

It's the whole reason that crap teams can beat anyone with a new manage bounce and why the FA Cup etc have had great moments, or you get a Leicester or Forest every now and again.

If you can get that right, and then improve with training, tactics and the right transfers, then that's a recipe to being unstoppable in the future. SAFs greatest strength was motivation.
 
The thing I appreciated most about yesterday's performance wasn't the intensity, although that was decent, but more it was that we were generally calm in possession, notably Bruno in particular. So much better in not giving away possession daftly in stupid areas and actually created a lot of nice chances through clever, calm passing rather than trying to force things too much. If we can have more of that we'll become a force again.
 
That is very true as well, so I guess we need players that are willing to fight to get that fear factor back that has been lost too.

You counter this by consistently beating teams and by going toe to toe with them when they are in this phase of the game. Against Newcastle people said they took their foot off the gas after 30 minutes and we got back into the game. Thats largely BS. Teams that bust a gut for the first part of a game rarely sustain that and its not because they have the game tied up. Its because you can't sustain that pace for 90 minutes. You have to settle down. Team have been richly rewarded for getting at us early in recent years because they are A) likely to score and B) they can then calm down a little because our spirit is broken.

Show teams that they can't bully us at the start of games and start beating them consistently and suddenly you find that teams aren't coming into games with the same expectations. As people said, during Unites hey day under Fergie teams would turn up already beaten. Losing 2-0 would be a good day at the office.
 
The thing I appreciated most about yesterday's performance wasn't the intensity, although that was decent, but more it was that we were generally calm in possession, notably Bruno in particular. So much better in not giving away possession daftly in stupid areas and actually created a lot of nice chances through clever, calm passing rather than trying to force things too much. If we can have more of that we'll become a force again.

We need to see a much larger sample size of this though. Particularly over the next few league games starting with Southampton at home. We've been here before.
 
Yeah he should have started Ugarte and Fernandes against Newcastle.
Not sure if people are being thick on purpose or just making up reasons to whine about Amorim. He didn't start Ugarte and Fernandes because they were both suspended for that game. So while he could have avoided having both Case and Eriksen on the field at the same time, it's not like he had much choice.
 
Liked that he waited until after a good performance to go for them a bit. They need to know the standards can't drop a millimetre if we are to keep going in the right direction.
 
Basically spent the last month doing just that.

Amazing what a decent result and performance can do to change peoples minds.

At least he admits it and is open to change his mind. A lot of football fans today seem more obsessed with having their point proven right than actually discussing football with an open mind.
 
At least he admits it and is open to change his mind. A lot of football fans today seem more obsessed with having their point proven right than actually discussing football with an open mind.
The last month has been brutal with the sacking talk, how easily they forgot the bald idiot put us against the wall after his long over welcomed stay.
 
There is surely a PHD paper on this predicament. Technique and skills available for a team to take on huge challenges, but do not have the group mentality to repeat every week.

It’s like group psychosis in complacency. We’ve got too many players who don’t have the ego needed to succeed. The arrogance to not fail every time they play. They don’t have it. Amorim does and wants to instil it.

Question is how do you get the right players to take it on and transform group mentality. Yet most of the senior players don’t seem to innately have that ego.
I don't think this was the same as the 4-3 against Liverpool at OT. People seem to forget how thoroughly we were being outplayed in that when the match was settled. Liverpool should have been out of sight but didn't take their chances. We only came into it as the game got frantic and tactics seem to go out the window.

What's encouraging about Amorim is that in these big games, we are not hanging on for dear life and trying for counter attack goals. This system appears to be providing a better platform to deliver performances. This wil breed more confidence and belief. Now we just need consistency from the players.
 
Basically spent the last month doing just that.

Amazing what a decent result and performance can do to change peoples minds.

Goes without saying it’s dumb to change your mind, one way or another, after a single game. Besides there’s been loads of evidence that this system can work before yesterday. But only for periods within games. Yesterday was just the first time we kept it up for a full 90 minutes.
 
Basically spent the last month doing just that.

Amazing what a decent result and performance can do to change peoples minds.

Maybe it was from having 6 days between games for the first time since Amorim came in.
Maybe it was Amorin telling these players some home truths after some terrible results.
Maybe it was less individual errors and more focus.
Maybe having your first choice midfielders out there helped.

Either way, the system works when the players are on it, even though we dont have all the profiles needed currently. They were on it yesterday.
You can play any formation and system you want, but if they players are off, it wont be a good day.

They were awful against Newcastle, but im adimient that had little to do with system - no first choice midfield and some bad individual mistakes / performances.

I like that the players and managers are not getting carried away, like maybe they did post City. In the long run, it may be better for us that we didn't nick it at the end with Maguire - even though that would have been legendary.
 
@pocco it can be done!!!!

343 can be done. :lol: :lol:

I think a lot of people needed convincing on the pitch. And it was delivered yesterday.

I believe any arguments about the tactics or not, has been closed.
Work now is on Amorim to construct a title winning squad. He should be given absolutely anything he needs.

Yes it was me

Ok fair enough, I hope we can all put that argument to bed then. Like you said, we need to back him and get our next few signings right and start moving in the right direction. Hopefully along the way some of these players surprise us and make a case for themselves in his team. It’d be great to talk again soon about an embarrassment of options rather than lack of.
 
The big challenge isn’t the system or tactics, it’s getting the same intensity from these players.

Thing that makes being at United different is nearly every team is up for a game against us because of who we are so we need to be at it ourselves. If a player can’t do it week in week out then they don’t have the mentality to play for this club.

Doesn't it feel so much better to watch too when the players are fired up and really going for it? That desire if we can have it in most matches would go a long way to making us a better team and one that's way more exciting for the fans.
 
Just when Liverpool are getting ready to climb back on their perch, in steams Amorim to knock em back off again. They ain't all that, we proved it yesterday.
 
Also It felt a bit different than when we used yo try hard during ETHs time here, but not sure why
More fit players on the pitch compared to last season, and upgrades like Ugarte and Mazraoui make a huge difference.

It really is mostly about performance and bravery though, and if Amorim can get them to show it in smaller games, he‘s the one.
 
the one change in his system that i don't like is the defending in the 541 with a flat 4 midfield. I would much prefer he stuck to that 523 defensive structure like he did wiht Sporting against City
 
If I was INEOS I'd back him fully in the next window. The reason is, he's different in a way that he inherited a squad at their bottom confidence/mentality issues/skill issues. But he never looked out of place against big teams. We all know we need to "refresh" the club so he's the best man for it at the moment. The losses against smaller teams were clearly down to the players. I'm not trying to draw a parallel here but Klopp went through similar phases at the start but he knew what kind of football he wanted to play. He also lost 4 times in a row (including 6 home matches in a row) during covid, was a freak season but arguably still way better than what Amorim is going through.
 
The thing I appreciated most about yesterday's performance wasn't the intensity, although that was decent, but more it was that we were generally calm in possession, notably Bruno in particular. So much better in not giving away possession daftly in stupid areas and actually created a lot of nice chances through clever, calm passing rather than trying to force things too much. If we can have more of that we'll become a force again.
Spot on.... all week he challenged the players to "be brave" on the ball. The times that Bruno, Ugarte and Mainoo broke through lines with short dribbles or forward passes was night and day to what we have seen in recent weeks.
 
Big difference for me is that we now go toe to toe with them, while before we were defending and played counter, sorry, "transition".
Not necessarily vs Liverpool in the FA Cup and Community Shield vs City earlier.

We had more than 40% possession and matched them for shots and shots on target.
 
There is a difference under EtH. Our possession was usually around 30% with lower number of strikes on target. Under Amorim, we appear to compete at the top level against these teams.
Not true for those matches apart from City final. Had over 40% possession and matched their shots number kr bettered them.

Yesterday Liverpool had significantly more shots, shots on target and xG, doesn't mean much though.
 
At last a manager who actually has high standards and doesn't just speak of them.

He needs patience. We shouldn't be massively concerned with a few dodgy results between now and the end of the season. The signs are there and have been from game one, slowly that improvement will come and with that some consistency. It's exciting to think ahead to next year with a full pre-season and a handful of signings that suit his system.
 
Not true for those matches apart from City final. Had over 40% possession and matched their shots number kr bettered them.

Yesterday Liverpool had significantly more shots, shots on target and xG, doesn't mean much though.
We deserved to win yesterday based on our intensity and desire.

If we show that in smaller games, xG will go up.