Manchester United fans are so anxious for Ruben Amorim to get back to work that a ‘sight’ of the plane carrying him from Lisbon to north-west England was posted on social media on Monday afternoon.
Luckily, the club didn’t last long shared photos of him arriving at Carrington.
A delay in granting Amorim a visa to work in the UK has pushed back his ability to get going, although with his first game not until November 24 after the international break, and many players in the first-team squad now out for the next ten days, it doesn’t change much.
Amorim is the sixth permanent managerial appointment since Sir Alex Ferguson called on his legendary career more than 11 years ago, but the first to be called “head coach”. It’s a subtle difference, but it reflects the changing structures of English top-flight football clubs.
The reason the Portuguese got the job in the first place was his record with Sporting CP. This was reported earlier this year to be enough to turn West Ham United off, a perceived lack of experience. But the Red Devils jumped at the chance to sign one of Europe’s brightest coaching talents, with Erik ten Hag right out the door as the build-up began.
Amorim is just 39, making him United’s youngest managerial appointment since 31-year-old Wilf McGuinness succeeded Sir Matt Busby in 1969. But he has packed in a lot so far, moving into third-tier management of Portugal in 2018. a year after an injury-plagued playing career ended at the age of 32. Amorim then delivered a Portuguese league cup to Braga and within a couple of months was poached by Sporting for a whopping, not just by Portuguese standards, €10 million.
Sporting reaped the rewards of that show of faith in his ability. In Amorim’s first full season, he ended a 19-year Primeira Liga title drought, and only the club’s third domestic triumph in almost 40 years after falling behind rivals Benfica and Porto. Amorim also won a league cup with Sporting that season, and another the following, before a second Primeira Liga in 2023/24.
He hasn’t matched Jose Mourinho’s Porto’s record in UEFA competitions, but Europe is much more of a closed shop these days than it was even 20 years ago. His side, however, knocked Arsenal out of the last 16 of the Europa League in 2022/23, while one of his last games in charge yielded a Shock 4-1 demolition of a walking wounded Manchester City which sent shock waves across Europe.
Required to serve on short notice at Sporting, City’s annihilation came during Amorim’s glorious farewell. On the day of Manchester United’s announcement, Sporting won 5-1 at Estrela Amadora, followed by Pep Guardiola’s City, and set up one last game at the top this past weekend. Ironically, he took him one last time to former club Braga.
Indeed, Braga took the lead midway through the first half through Ricardo Horta, a player who had thrived under Amorim. The same player then put the hosts 2-0 up at half-time, seriously threatening Sporting’s perfect start to the season.
Hidemasa Morita finally pulled back just before the hour mark. But Sporting were still ahead with ten minutes to go, until captain Morten Hjulmand leveled things up. Amorim and their players were not satisfied with the draw and continued to press until the end, taking the lead for the first time in the game in the 89th minute through Conrad Harder. The Danish striker’s second quick strike in stoppage time secured a 4-2 win.
Remarkably, it was only the second league game this season in which prolific striker Viktor Gyokeres, he is now linked with most of the big European clubsI couldn’t find the network. The Swede, from Coventry City as recently as 2022/23, had scored seven times in his previous two games and 23 this season.
Beating Braga made it 11 wins in 11 games to start Sporting’s 2024/25 Primeira Liga. Amorim leaves his successor Joao Pereira, promoted to the first team from the B squad, with a six-point lead over Porto at the top. Taking into account the end of last season, Sporting have won 14 in a row in the league, while they haven’t lost in the league since December 2023, and haven’t failed to win a league game at home since of May 2023: two. a year and a half ago
