Ruben Amorim - Manchester United Head Coach

[MF1138]

I cannot keep up with all the videos posted but I felt this was a good watch.



Shot distance and absolute number of shots was quite interesting. It suits Hojlund quite well.

The part about the defensive issues the back 5 can cause is interesting. We have in Martinez and Shaw(lol) players that are capable of playing in the attacking shape he wants but also defending as a left back in a back 4. So when attacking the left centre back steps into midfield and the left fullback stays narrow and becomes the left center back. That would make room for Garnacho not have to defend as much and not get pinned back.

Would be interesting to see if he adjusts the system not just to suit the players we currently have but also to solve problems.

I expect he'll stick with the back 3 but there are options to play a 4 and not drastically change his set up.

 

[Westerkerk]

There's a small, ABU conspiracy orientated part of me that makes me feel the over abundance of coverage of Amorim's system is to give the rest of the league ample time to find ways to stop it.
I've never seen an incoming manager have his tactics and even personality over-analysed like this by the media.

If they are trying to jinx us then I counteract their jinx and no backsies.

It's really just a way to capitalise on a hot topic to increase click throughs to other content.

Web journos content agenda is largely driven by data analysis, and the data says that news about Manchester United generates more clicks than news any other sports team - this is a constant. I work in this area, though not for sports content. When compounded by a wider current story (such as manager change) that amounts to a large audience coming through the gate due to popular content bringing them in.

There are often comments on the BBC about how they obsess over United due to the amount of articles. They don't obsess over United, they obsess over writing articles that more people will read based on the data being presented to them.

 

[MadDogg]

If you want to compare him to Ten Hag, compare to Ten Hag in his first ~6 months. That's about it. Because after that he abandoned his plans and went to the wrong direction. So saying "but Ten Hag failed..." is not a valid comparison when you take account of a new manager. People change. Ten Hag definitely changed. He abandoned anything resembling 'structure' and 'pattern' to develop Oleball 2.0. I will never understand it.

I don't really agree with this. The only time we looked decent under ETH was when he was playing Oleball in his first season. He started off trying to do his own thing but we got ripped apart in the first couple of games, so we then basically reverted to how we played under Ole for the remainder of that season. We arguably had a better defence and midfield but a worse attack than what we had under Ole, but the general style of play was very similar.

It was when ETH truly implemented his own style in the second season that it went to complete shit. I wouldn't really compare his tactics since then to anything we saw during Ole's time. ETH had us sitting with a deeper defensive line, one man midfield, huge gaps in the middle of the park, less possession, etc.

 

[Sporting1906]

Sporting supporter here. Let me just say that you don’t know how lucky you are to have Rúben Amorim as your Head Coach.

I watch all the Sporting games live, home and away, and the mindset transformation that our club had in the past 4 years was incredible.

So tough for us seeing Ruben's leaving but that's life. Like I said, from a Sporting supporter who, besides that only owned shirts from Man Utd since I was a kid.

 

[Berbasbullet]

Sporting supporter here. Let me just say that you don’t know how lucky you are to have Rúben Amorim as your Head Coach.

I watch all the Sporting games live, home and away, and the mindset transformation that our club had in the past 4 years was incredible.

So tough for us seeing Ruben's leaving but that's life. Like I said, from a Sporting supporter who, besides that only owned shirts from Man Utd since I was a kid.

Thanks for the comment! We’re really excited to see what he can do.

How do you think he will set united up? 343? Do you think there are certain players we have that will fail/succeed?

Does he tend to dominate games with lots of possession?

 

[r0663664]

A back 3 or 5, I think works for United. We have so many central defenders and I think Urgate will help us in this respect. Always as we are hard to score against, we can score an odd goal or 2 means we can climb up the table. Looking for the Amorim's ball, hopefully we can see a distinct style come Feb.

 

[FrankDrebin]

Sporting supporter here. Let me just say that you don’t know how lucky you are to have Rúben Amorim as your Head Coach.

I watch all the Sporting games live, home and away, and the mindset transformation that our club had in the past 4 years was incredible.

So tough for us seeing Ruben's leaving but that's life. Like I said, from a Sporting supporter who, besides that only owned shirts from Man Utd since I was a kid.

Any news on who the front runner is for the Sporting job?

 

[Sporting1906]

Thanks for the comment! We’re really excited to see what he can do.

How do you think he will set united up? 343? Do you think there are certain players we have that will fail/succeed?

Does he tend to dominate games with lots of possession?

Teams coached by Rúben Amorim always play with the same structure: 343. While formations may shift with or without the ball, the foundation remains the same. Amorim prefers a three-center-back setup, with the central defender leading the line—this player doesn’t necessarily need to be quick but should have leadership qualities and, ideally, be tall. Although fans may have doubts about Harry Maguire, he could actually suit this role well. But I bet in De Ligt. The left and right center-backs need to be comfortable on the ball, as they often initiate play and sometimes cover wide areas like full-backs. This system takes time to perfect, but with practice, it can be highly effective.

On the wings, during our championship season (2020/2021), we had Nuno Mendes (now at PSG) and Pedro Porro (now with Tottenham). Currently, we’re relying on Quenda, a 17-year-old former winger, and rotate the left side with Geny, Nuno Santos, and Maxi—also all originally wingers. Recently, Amorim has leaned towards using inverted wingers, with a left-footed player on the right and occasionally a right-footed player on the left.

I’m curious about how he’ll use Bruno Fernandes, whether in a central midfield pairing or on the left side of the attack. Regarding possession, Sporting often finishes with over 60% possession, as shown by statistical analyses on https://goalpoint.pt/todos-os-ratings-24-25_197127 (in Portuguese).

Amorim may surprise you by maximizing performance from players who aren’t currently shining. If I had to bet on his first potential signing (hopefully only after the season ends), it would be Pedro Gonçalves. Amorim has worked with him from day one at Sporting and sees him as essential, even recently saying that Gonçalves would be his priority if he ever left Sporting.

As for our future coach, João Pereira, currently coaching Sporting’s B team, is set to take over. Although he’s not the most thrilling choice, he’s been with Sporting since 2021, initially as a player and then as a coach. He has been groomed for this role, waiting for the right moment when Amorim would move on. https://www.zerozero.pt/treinador/joao-pereira/52119

I hope this helps clarify some details,

 

[Smashin]

Any news on who the front runner is for the Sporting job?

Would be a big surprise (unfortunately) if it isnt our B team coach, João Pereira. He's also a former player.

Amorim did test a 4 man defense this pre-season, as an alternative, but we didnt get to see any of it.

 

[Top_Bins]

It's really just a way to capitalise on a hot topic to increase click throughs to other content.

Web journos content agenda is largely driven by data analysis, and the data says that news about Manchester United generates more clicks than news any other sports team - this is a constant. I work in this area, though not for sports content. When compounded by a wider current story (such as manager change) that amounts to a large audience coming through the gate due to popular content bringing them in.

There are often comments on the BBC about how they obsess over United due to the amount of articles. They don't obsess over United, they obsess over writing articles that more people will read based on the data being presented to them.

Who paid you to say this? Was it the Pepfather or perhaps the bin dip gang?

 

[Berbasbullet]

Teams coached by Rúben Amorim always play with the same structure: 343. While formations may shift with or without the ball, the foundation remains the same. Amorim prefers a three-center-back setup, with the central defender leading the line—this player doesn’t necessarily need to be quick but should have leadership qualities and, ideally, be tall. Although fans may have doubts about Harry Maguire, he could actually suit this role well. But I bet in De Ligt. The left and right center-backs need to be comfortable on the ball, as they often initiate play and sometimes cover wide areas like full-backs. This system takes time to perfect, but with practice, it can be highly effective.

On the wings, during our championship season (2020/2021), we had Nuno Mendes (now at PSG) and Pedro Porro (now with Tottenham). Currently, we’re relying on Quenda, a 17-year-old former winger, and rotate the left side with Geny, Nuno Santos, and Maxi—also all originally wingers. Recently, Amorim has leaned towards using inverted wingers, with a left-footed player on the right and occasionally a right-footed player on the left.

I’m curious about how he’ll use Bruno Fernandes, whether in a central midfield pairing or on the left side of the attack. Regarding possession, Sporting often finishes with over 60% possession, as shown by statistical analyses on https://goalpoint.pt/todos-os-ratings-24-25_197127 (in Portuguese).

Amorim may surprise you by maximizing performance from players who aren’t currently shining. If I had to bet on his first potential signing (hopefully only after the season ends), it would be Pedro Gonçalves. Amorim has worked with him from day one at Sporting and sees him as essential, even recently saying that Gonçalves would be his priority if he ever left Sporting.

As for our future coach, João Pereira, currently coaching Sporting’s B team, is set to take over. Although he’s not the most thrilling choice, he’s been with Sporting since 2021, initially as a player and then as a coach. He has been groomed for this role, waiting for the right moment when Amorim would move on. https://www.zerozero.pt/treinador/joao-pereira/52119

I hope this helps clarify some details,

Great read, thank you!

One more obvious question. Do you think we end up also pinching your striker? (Sorry if we do!!)

 

[Vidooq]

What I really like about him so far is that he seems unfazed by everything that is going on. He just had one of the most memorable wins in Sporting history, and he was so down to earth, by the touchline, and in the interviews after, it's actually unbelievable. Not a glimpse of excitement.

 

[NLunited]

Gyökeres isn’t elite, certainly not 100 million level elite.

 

[always_hoping]

In fairness, isn't Rashford our "star" player?
I realise that his form is up and down, but he is our most valuable attacker and I think it would've been foolish to leave him out.
ETH's tactics were broadly terrible and it wasn't because of Rashford that we finished in 8th last season and are closer to the bottom of the table, than the top of the table, this season.

I know he might be talked up different with the English media but he hasn't been contistent enough to be labelled a star player.

He's into his 10th season with United now and his highest goal scoring seasons was 20,21 and 30 goals, the latter was done under Ten Hag with "broadly terrible" tactics.

 

[santeria13]

Unfortunately, Garnacho and Rashford do not suit Hojlund at all with their absolute refusal to pass the ball to him. Actually, it's not just to him - it's to anyone at all. The ball gets sucked into a black hole whenever it reaches one of them, and barely (if ever) comes back out.

It's actually quite a simple problem to solve. You tell the player to start passing more or spend an extended period on the bench. Eth refused to bench players who needed it and its something I hope we start doing. Playing with the knowledge you can be dropped should make players play better.

 

[JBG]

It's actually quite a simple problem to solve. You tell the player to start passing more or spend an extended period on the bench. Eth refused to bench players who needed it and its something I hope we start doing. Playing with the knowledge you can be dropped should make players play better.

100% that ETH should have been more strict with this... but also he seemingly wanted his wingers to be his main attackers/scorers and Højlund as a target man or support player for them. So no wonder Rashford and Garnacho mostly played.

 

[the_cliff]

Teams coached by Rúben Amorim always play with the same structure: 343. While formations may shift with or without the ball, the foundation remains the same. Amorim prefers a three-center-back setup, with the central defender leading the line—this player doesn’t necessarily need to be quick but should have leadership qualities and, ideally, be tall. Although fans may have doubts about Harry Maguire, he could actually suit this role well. But I bet in De Ligt. The left and right center-backs need to be comfortable on the ball, as they often initiate play and sometimes cover wide areas like full-backs. This system takes time to perfect, but with practice, it can be highly effective.

On the wings, during our championship season (2020/2021), we had Nuno Mendes (now at PSG) and Pedro Porro (now with Tottenham). Currently, we’re relying on Quenda, a 17-year-old former winger, and rotate the left side with Geny, Nuno Santos, and Maxi—also all originally wingers. Recently, Amorim has leaned towards using inverted wingers, with a left-footed player on the right and occasionally a right-footed player on the left.

I’m curious about how he’ll use Bruno Fernandes, whether in a central midfield pairing or on the left side of the attack. Regarding possession, Sporting often finishes with over 60% possession, as shown by statistical analyses on https://goalpoint.pt/todos-os-ratings-24-25_197127 (in Portuguese).

Amorim may surprise you by maximizing performance from players who aren’t currently shining. If I had to bet on his first potential signing (hopefully only after the season ends), it would be Pedro Gonçalves. Amorim has worked with him from day one at Sporting and sees him as essential, even recently saying that Gonçalves would be his priority if he ever left Sporting.

As for our future coach, João Pereira, currently coaching Sporting’s B team, is set to take over. Although he’s not the most thrilling choice, he’s been with Sporting since 2021, initially as a player and then as a coach. He has been groomed for this role, waiting for the right moment when Amorim would move on. https://www.zerozero.pt/treinador/joao-pereira/52119

I hope this helps clarify some details,

Thanks for your comment. Was a good read.

The bolded part interests me and excites me the most about him becoming manager tbh. Contrary to popular belief in this forum especially, I don't think our players are as bad as made out to be. I think we're plenty capable of giving any of the top teams a good game just by our players performing to their max potential.

 

[Bon1803]

Just watched the highlights of sporting and city and one thing that stood out was the intensity sporting played with, it was maximum effort to a man. Give us some of that.

 

[Bastian]

Teams coached by Rúben Amorim always play with the same structure: 343. While formations may shift with or without the ball, the foundation remains the same. Amorim prefers a three-center-back setup, with the central defender leading the line—this player doesn’t necessarily need to be quick but should have leadership qualities and, ideally, be tall. Although fans may have doubts about Harry Maguire, he could actually suit this role well. But I bet in De Ligt. The left and right center-backs need to be comfortable on the ball, as they often initiate play and sometimes cover wide areas like full-backs. This system takes time to perfect, but with practice, it can be highly effective.

On the wings, during our championship season (2020/2021), we had Nuno Mendes (now at PSG) and Pedro Porro (now with Tottenham). Currently, we’re relying on Quenda, a 17-year-old former winger, and rotate the left side with Geny, Nuno Santos, and Maxi—also all originally wingers. Recently, Amorim has leaned towards using inverted wingers, with a left-footed player on the right and occasionally a right-footed player on the left.

I’m curious about how he’ll use Bruno Fernandes, whether in a central midfield pairing or on the left side of the attack. Regarding possession, Sporting often finishes with over 60% possession, as shown by statistical analyses on https://goalpoint.pt/todos-os-ratings-24-25_197127 (in Portuguese).

Amorim may surprise you by maximizing performance from players who aren’t currently shining. If I had to bet on his first potential signing (hopefully only after the season ends), it would be Pedro Gonçalves. Amorim has worked with him from day one at Sporting and sees him as essential, even recently saying that Gonçalves would be his priority if he ever left Sporting.

As for our future coach, João Pereira, currently coaching Sporting’s B team, is set to take over. Although he’s not the most thrilling choice, he’s been with Sporting since 2021, initially as a player and then as a coach. He has been groomed for this role, waiting for the right moment when Amorim would move on. https://www.zerozero.pt/treinador/joao-pereira/52119

I hope this helps clarify some details,

Thank you for your informed input here. Promote this guy.

 

[Westerkerk]

Who paid you to say this? Was it the Pepfather or perhaps the bin dip gang?

Why would one of them pay me to oppose an incorrect view that the press obsess over United.

I'm literally saying they write a lot of content about us (mostly trash) because people want to read about us.

 

[Bastian]

Why did we only do a 2 and a half year deal?

 

[Top_Bins]

Why would one of them pay me to oppose an incorrect view that the press obsess over United.

I'm literally saying they write a lot of content about us (mostly trash) because people want to read about us.

They paid you to reverse my reverse jinx no backsies.

I'm just playing, no big deal.

 

[AndySmith1990]

Why did we only do a 2 and a half year deal?

Because handing out 5 year contracts to new managers is bloody stupid

 

[Shark]

Why did we only do a 2 and a half year deal?

Because we're finally doing things right now.

 

[Ludens the Red]

Man this guy has a big job on his hands.

This team in the final third is easily the worse United side I have ever seen in my lifetime. Out of all our managers post Fergie, he’s inheriting the worse performing team by a distance.
God help him but he’s going to be in for a shock.

 

[Bastian]

Because handing out 5 year contracts to new managers is bloody stupid

Because we're finally doing things right now.

Maybe.

 

[Shark]

Man this guy has a big job on his hands.

This team in the final third is easily the worse United side I have ever seen in my lifetime. Out of all our managers post Fergie, he’s inheriting the worse performing team by a distance.
God help him but he’s going to be in for a shock.

Maybe the coaching has been so pathetically bad, or it's somewhere in between.

 

[altodevil]

Teams coached by Rúben Amorim always play with the same structure: 343. While formations may shift with or without the ball, the foundation remains the same. Amorim prefers a three-center-back setup, with the central defender leading the line—this player doesn’t necessarily need to be quick but should have leadership qualities and, ideally, be tall. Although fans may have doubts about Harry Maguire, he could actually suit this role well. But I bet in De Ligt. The left and right center-backs need to be comfortable on the ball, as they often initiate play and sometimes cover wide areas like full-backs. This system takes time to perfect, but with practice, it can be highly effective.

On the wings, during our championship season (2020/2021), we had Nuno Mendes (now at PSG) and Pedro Porro (now with Tottenham). Currently, we’re relying on Quenda, a 17-year-old former winger, and rotate the left side with Geny, Nuno Santos, and Maxi—also all originally wingers. Recently, Amorim has leaned towards using inverted wingers, with a left-footed player on the right and occasionally a right-footed player on the left.

I’m curious about how he’ll use Bruno Fernandes, whether in a central midfield pairing or on the left side of the attack. Regarding possession, Sporting often finishes with over 60% possession, as shown by statistical analyses on https://goalpoint.pt/todos-os-ratings-24-25_197127 (in Portuguese).

Amorim may surprise you by maximizing performance from players who aren’t currently shining. If I had to bet on his first potential signing (hopefully only after the season ends), it would be Pedro Gonçalves. Amorim has worked with him from day one at Sporting and sees him as essential, even recently saying that Gonçalves would be his priority if he ever left Sporting.

As for our future coach, João Pereira, currently coaching Sporting’s B team, is set to take over. Although he’s not the most thrilling choice, he’s been with Sporting since 2021, initially as a player and then as a coach. He has been groomed for this role, waiting for the right moment when Amorim would move on. https://www.zerozero.pt/treinador/joao-pereira/52119

I hope this helps clarify some details,

Just promote this guy already.

 

[Ludens the Red]

Maybe the coaching has been so pathetically bad, or it's somewhere in between.

Of course it’s a bit of both but I also hold Ten Hag largely responsible for us having this team. All that money and this is the shite we’re left with. Honestly damn him.

 

[Abhinav]

Man this guy has a big job on his hands.

This team in the final third is easily the worse United side I have ever seen in my lifetime. Out of all our managers post Fergie, he’s inheriting the worse performing team by a distance.
God help him but he’s going to be in for a shock.

Completely agree. One more star on Ten Hag’s legacy, overseeing the assembly of the most expensive dross that we have seen.

This team has no players that can strike fear in the heart of the defenders. So many passages of sloppy plays, missed place passes, wrong decisions in the final third.

I will consider him a miracle worker if he can get this team looking threatening without any new additions.

 

[Godfather]

Good luck to the lad he will need it. That frontline we have makes one cry

 

[FrankDrebin]

He'll be grey by the end of the month.

 

[Godfather]

Man this guy has a big job on his hands.

This team in the final third is easily the worse United side I have ever seen in my lifetime. Out of all our managers post Fergie, he’s inheriting the worse performing team by a distance.
God help him but he’s going to be in for a shock.

We somehow managed to spend hundreds of millions on players consistently worse than the ones they replaced.
Fred, Pogba, Ronaldo, Lukaku etc. All better than the crap we field now

 

[Insanity]

If I was him I'd insist on two attacking players as soon as possible. We desperately need a top striker and a top wide player.

 

[Gonçalo Motta]

I don't want to be that guy but ETH ruined the club for the next couple of years (or whoever made the signings during his era here).
Pretty much everyone we sold, we got a way worse replacement (and things were already bad as they were).
Never seen a Man Utd team as mediocre as this one.

Not sure if Amorim can work with this team. They can't defend, score, pass the ball, play at a high tempo, cross a ball, etc.

 

[macheda14]

I don't want to be that guy but ETH ruined the club for the next couple of years (or whoever made the signings during his era here).
Pretty much everyone we sold, we got a way worse replacement (and things were already bad as they were).
Never seen a Man Utd team as mediocre as this one.

Not sure if Amorim can work with this team. They can't defend, score, pass the ball, play at a high tempo, cross a ball, etc.

I just don’t think that’s the case.

There were the midfield stop gaps in eriksen and Casemiro (who I think is good to have around and will be able to do a job in a more compact midfield).

Jonny Evans is good depth and has proven to be still a solid defender. Obviously a good person in the dressing room.

Onana has been great this season and is very good with his feet for Amorim’s style.

Malacia would have been good LB cover but who could have known he would have had a botched surgery.

Højlund is a very good young centre forward.

Mazraoui looks fantastic, but may be injury prone.

Mount has shown to be fantastic in an inside forward 353. It’s on the medical staff to have Oked him. But if he fixes his injury problems that’s not a bad player to have in the squad at all.

Martinez is a very very good player.

Zirkzee - jury out.

Ugarte has played under Amorim.

De Ligt is a very good experienced and still young defender.

Yoro the highest rated young CB in Europe.

Antony well there’s the absolute definite dud.

There’s a good enough squad here to be at the very least challenging for the top 6. The confidence is through the floor and the motivation disappeared.

 

[Josep Dowling]

All the tactics in the world won’t help this lot. We need better players. Strength, pace, stamina, desire, ball retention. There is only a handful of players that meet this requirement.

 

[kidbob]

Have a feeling he’ll love Amad in one of those inside forward positions and actually think he’ll be able to develop Garnacho nicely for the other.

 

[Cathy Ferguson]

All the tactics in the world won’t help this lot. We need better players. Strength, pace, stamina, desire, ball retention. There is only a handful of players that meet this requirement.

Agreed. That is why every manager fails. This bunch can only play on the counter, nothing else. Very few players combine technical and physical qualities.

 

[SparcMac]

Cental defenders and GK is only position that's capable to adapt. The whole other lot is so many question marks it's scary. If he manages to put this lot to play a high dominant football, he is THE GUY.