Ruben Amorim was quick to temper expectations of his impending Manchester United reign after leading Sporting CP to a 4-1 win over Manchester City on Tuesday night.
The highly rated Portuguese coach will join United following the international break in November after agreeing to oversee three more Sporting games. In his last game at Jose Alvalade, Amorim resoundingly overcame Pep Guardiola’s visitors.
The future United boss had warned before the game that a victory would earn him the unwanted label of the “new Alex Ferguson” and tried to play down the impact of Tuesday’s triumph on his tenure at Old Trafford.
“What I can tell you is that it doesn’t mean anything in particular,” Amorim told the assembled media after the Victory 4-1. “Don’t take anything from it. We can’t transport one reality to another. Manchester United can’t play the way we play and we’ll have to adapt.”
Amorim’s Sporting lined up in a 3-4-3, a system he has stuck to dogmatically since the third game of his first senior coaching role at third-tier Casa Pia. The deceased Erik has Hag The most common set up at United was a 4-2-3-1 and the club have not consistently played with a back three since the early days of Louis van Gaal’s reign in 2014.
The midweek win over City was Amorim’s 230th game in charge of Sporting after more than four years spent shaping the squad and the club with his playing philosophy.
Despite the difficulties Amorim might face in adapting unitedhe was excited at the prospect: “It’s going to be fun, really fun, and I’m up for the challenge.”
The first Manchester derby of the season is scheduled for December 15 at City’s Etihad Stadium, less than a month after Amorim officially took charge. The rivals meet again at Old Trafford in April 2025.
