Manchester United have appointed Ruben Amorim as their new head coach, but the Portuguese manager has a serious job on his hands if he is to turn around the Red Devils’ fortunes.
United currently occupy 14th place in the Premier League after recording just three wins in nine games. A clash with interim boss Chelsea awaits them on Sunday Ruud van Nistelrooy started to be in the dugout for the meeting
Although we won’t be able to see Amorim’s United in action until after the international break in Novemberthere are a few ways the former Sporting CP boss can begin to bring success to Old Trafford.
Here are four jobs for Ruben Amorim to tackle at United.
If Amorim must succeed unitedhe must first enforce tactics and a style of play, two things the club lacked.
The boss’ history in management shows he has no problem instructing his teams to play his way, often unleashing a strong presence in the dressing room.
With a relentless press, an emphasis on possession and a mobile formation, Amorim has perfected a style of play at Sporting that allows them to dominate matches and threaten the opposition.
Having conceded just two goals in nine games this season, it’s a system that works for Sporting and should be carried over to United.
In nine Premier League games this season, United have scored just eight goals. To put that into perspective, league leaders and bitter rivals Manchester City have scored 20 goals in as many games.
Clearly, this represents a bigger problem at United, but one that Amorim can solve.
So far, only Alejandro Garnacho has scored more than one goal this season. But with Amorim at the helm, it may be players like Bruno Fernandes who stand out in front of goal.
Although Amorim does not usually play in a conventional number 10, Fernandes could play a new role as a center forward or become one of the two midfielders in a double pivot.
Either way, with the team on the same page and generating more service for those up front, the goals should come more freely.
In the summer, United only six players stood out they were unwilling to part. If Amorim is to make a serious impact at the club, he needs to clear out some of the dead wood and welcome in talented stars he believes will work in his system.
United backed Ten Hag during numerous transfer windows and the former Ajax boss brought many of his former players to Manchester last summer.
Although these players only managed a handful of games under the Dutchman, the club must fully trust Amorim, just as Ten Hag did, to sign the players they want in their side.
Fast-paced centre-backs, midfielders with the ball: Amorim knows the type of players he needs and the club must trust him.
recently the sources revealed Ten Hag often gave his players extra training sessions as punishment for missing games, which could explain the constant injuries at Old Trafford.
Leny Yoro had been on the books at United for no more than two seconds when he was dropped next matches due to injuryrecently faced Luke Shaw another setback on his journey back from a calf injury: the list goes on.
The 2023/24 season highlighted the immense impact of United’s injurieswith the team often having nowhere to turn when players were unavailable.
Now, Amorim’s job is not to fix United’s injury problems, but if the boss can start to stop players from working themselves to exhaustion and invent a squad with clear roles and responsibilities, injuries may start to abate .
