Ruben Amorim: What Manchester United can expect as Old Trafford braced for tactical revolution

Manchester United are edging closer to hiring a relatively inexperienced manager who is still in his 30s, yet it says something of Ruben Amorim’s meteoric rise that his appointment does not feel like an ill-calculated risk.

The Red Devils enter another new era, with Ruud van Nistelrooy in interim charge after the club’s hierarchy finally cut ties with Erik ten Hag by sacking the Dutchman on Monday.

United have moved fast, approaching one of Europe’s most sought-after coaches in the form of Amorim. The Portuguese is open to the move, and the finances of a compensation deal are all that must still be completed. His £16.7million release clause reduces to £8.3m for top European clubs, and United find themselves within that bracket.

Here’s what Manchester United fans can expect from Ruben Amorim...

Tactics

Amorim has been manager of Sporting CP for more than four years now, and the proof is in the pudding where his tactical understanding of the game is concerned. On a more limited budget than fellow Portuguese giants Benfica and Porto, his Sporting side have become a formidable beast.

Primeira Liga champions by 10 points last season, they have roared to the summit in the early weeks of the new campaign, too. They currently sit top with nine wins from nine this term, with 30 goals scored and only two conceded.

Amorim is wedded to the 3-4-3 system, something which may take a while to bed in at United given that a back four has long been the selected approach there.

Amorim is a tactical pragmatist, willing to set his team up in a low defensive block if required. But possession-based football with aggressive high pressing off the ball is his favoured way of playing.

In his 3-4-3, the wing-backs stay extremely high and wide, and it will remain to be seen whether Noussair Mazraoui and Diogo Dalot are the answers. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the club target new options there in the transfer window if Amorim is appointed. He has also been known to play wingers as wing-backs, feeling he can trust their first touch and attacking instincts.

His centre-backs are told to play into the feet of the two midfielders as often as possible, and already knowing Manuel Ugarte from the Uruguayan’s time at Sporting could see him go straight into Amorim’s plans. Huge demands are placed on his double pivot to cover great distances in the centre of the pitch.

Personality

Amorim is a keen learner and his reputation in Portugal is as a charismatic talker with excellent leadership qualities.

The 39-year-old inspires his players with rousing speeches in the dressing room before matches, and, like his idol Jose Mourinho, he believes that beating the opposition begins not in the first minute of the game but by the way he conducts himself in front of the media.

Said to enjoy press conferences, Amorim takes every question head on, and he has become known as somewhat of a ‘master trash-talker’.

His man-management skills also set him apart from other top managers. Amorim does not dig players out in public, whereas Ten Hag was more willing to do so and alienated the likes of Jadon Sancho as a result.

Reputation

To borrow a cliché, Amorim’s reputation speaks for itself.

The former Portugal international held talks with Tottenham when Antonio Conte left in March 2023, and he and his agent Raul Costa were flown over by West Ham in a private jet to meet chairman David Sullivan at his house in April this year as the Hammers plotted life after David Moyes. Amorim soon felt he had disrespected Sporting while under contract, and apologised for his “mistake”.

This summer he was then linked to the managerial vacancies at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Liverpool, while Manchester City may have earmarked him as a potential successor to Pep Guardiola.

Interest this summer in Amorim, who speaks great English, came off the back of his second league title as Sporting head coach. The maiden one, in 2020/21, was the Lisbon club’s first in 19 years.

Personal life

Amorim is a father of two, and in 2013 married Maria Joao Diogo, who has her own interior design business. His brother, Antero Henrique, was once sporting director at Paris Saint-Germain.

While he now admits that Guardiola is the greatest manager in the world, it is Mourinho whom he has always looked up to, and he even visited his compatriot and mentor when Mourinho was at the helm at Old Trafford.

Amorim’s very first job in management almost drove him away from his second career, because he was forced to resign as Casa Pia manager due to not having the required coaching badges. But a period of reflection led him straight back to the dugout, and he was soon in charge of Braga.

He was hurt when his appointment as Sporting boss in 2020 was met with derision from many in Lisbon. He was in his mid-30s, had only taken charge of 13 Braga matches, and plenty felt Sporting ought to have looked for greater experience. How poorly that sentiment has aged.