After a less than ideal draw at Ipswich in his debut, new Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim guided the club to a Europa League win over Bodo/Glimt last week and followed that up with a convincing 4-0 thrashing of Everton on Sunday.
Ruben Amorin: The Man to Change the Curse of Manchester United
After a less than ideal draw at Ipswich in his debut, new Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim guided the club to a Europa League win over Bodo/Glimt last week and followed that up with a convincing 4-0 thrashing of Everton on Sunday.
With five wins and two draws since predecessor Erik ten Hag departed, this Red Devils side is already a far cry from the one that the Dutchman was in charge of earlier this season, but what has the former Sporting boss changed at the club and what are some of the challenges he still has to tackle?
Ruben Amorin: The Dressing Room
The first task on Amorim’s plate was to recover some semblance of morale after a disastrous start to the campaign. Fortunately for the 39-year-old, he was given a headstart thanks to interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy, who guided the club to three wins and a draw in his four games in charge. The new manager has ridden this wave of positivity, implementing a new 3-4-3 formation with only the minor blip of a draw at Portman Road.
Amorim’s new set-up has, unsurprisingly, been one of the main talking points, but he has reiterated that fans and pundits should avoid getting too wrapped up in his tactical changes, instead focusing on the overarching idea he is trying to implement – the idea of belief. Press conferences from the Portuguese indicate that his attention is on teaching his players how to respond in the face of adversity, and they showed improvement in that aspect as they recovered from a quick Bodo/Glimt double last week to win 3-2.
Ruben Amorin: Culture Change
Aside from the mentality aspect, the squad’s physicality is a far cry from the athletic beasts Amorim had nurtured in Lisbon, and bringing them up to speed will be a priority for the new gaffer, as will drilling his tactical ideas into the squad. One of the biggest changes to the tactical set-up is the utilisation of wing-backs, and one player has shone particularly bright since Amorim arrived.
Amad Diallo, operating on the right side of the pitch, has been a constant threat going forward – he has already assisted three times under the new manager – and has shown a fantastic workrate without the ball, with a constant harrying of the opposition.
Ruben Amorin: Attacking Threats
Further up the pitch, Amorim is yet to settle on a first-choice centre-forward, with Marcus Rashford, Rasmus Hojlund, and Joshua Zirzkee all being employed up front and scoring in his first three games in charge. Hojlund and Zirkzee are the frontrunners to take the number nine berth, but who will get their foot in the door is up for debate.
Hojlund’s profile is similar to that of the prolific Viktor Gyokeres, who has scored 45 goals in 45 league appearances since signing for Amorim’s Sporting, but Zirkzee’s technicality was preferred against the strong Everton centre-backs on Sunday, with the attacking play characterised by him dropping deep and allowing Rashford and Bruno Fernandes, both operating in number ten roles, to run in behind the defence.
With both Zirkzee and Rashford bagging a brace and Fernandes assisting twice, this sequence was clearly a success, but Amorim did lament the lack of control his team showed for long periods of the first half, and he had similar concerns in his opening two matches. That consistent level of control is clearly what he is aiming for and is in need of drastic improvement after a season of chaos under Ten Hag. That, along with the athletic improvement, will take time to come to fruition, but their mentality in the face of adversity is already improving, and it may be tested to the limit when they visit the Emirates on Wednesday.
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