Ruben Amorim: Manchester United believe they have secured a man amongst the clutch of next great managers

31 October 2024, 21:03 | Updated: 1 November 2024, 16:02

When Sporting CP parted with €10m, (£8.3m) to recruit a head coach without a UEFA Pro Licence and with only three months of top-flight experience on his CV from Braga in 2020, it was termed "absolute insanity." 

The scathing reaction from the club's fans and analysts in Portugal are still stored on message boards - the internet, after all, never forgets - and paints a sharp contrast to the sentiment now that Ruben Amorim is set to leave for Manchester United.

Back then, Sporting's hierarchy were ridiculed for sanctioning such a big spend on an unknown quantity. "Another great deal by the board, €10m for unlicensed manager," one sarcastic comment read.

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This week, as Manchester United sacked Erik ten Hag and turned at the speed of light to Amorim, that same figure was a lightning rod for Sporting's decision-makers: how dare they set the fee so low for the biggest clubs in world football to steal their special one?

The 39-year-old will be priceless to United if he has to deliver what they are convinced he has the ability to: a transformation of tactical identity, personality and proper football enjoyment.

Amorim would need to pull off what those before him - even Ten Hag whose principles at Ajax and penchant for creating a disciplined environment was heralded for - have struggled to do: successfully import their ideas, their authority, their winning ways with consistency.

Since Monday, when the Dutchman was relieved of his duties, social media has been awash with reminders that the way Amorim's coaching has been bigged up is a copy and paste of the reaction to Ten Hag's appointment as United manager.

In fairness, analysis on a playing style and methodology can only be drawn by what a man in the dugout has already done. It is not a guarantee they will be able to translate their approach - that is on them to prove.

Where United would point to departures with Ten Hag is that Ajax are the historically dominant Eredivisie team with the biggest budget and winning there was the norm.

Amorim walked into Sporting as their fourth manager of the season with them 20 points behind. He broke Sporting's 19-year wait for the title in his first full season, broke into Benfica and Porto's stranglehold on the league and had fewer resources than them in doing so.

Amorim rebuilt them into a sustainable, successful side. He has illustrated the ability to maximise the tools at his disposal, developing new talents every season.

Amorim has not just been able to spark individual improvement in his squad, but as Sporting routinely sell their star players, he has also been skilled in sharp evolutions.

Joao Palhinha, Matheus Nunes, Nuno Mendes, Pedro Porro and Manuel Ugarte - the last of which he'll be happily reunited with at Old Trafford - were all ceded, but he continued to win.

Amorim is charismatic, and as audiences that have only tuned into him this week will have noted, he can control a room even when the story is out of his control.

Amorim fits the reality of where United are. He needs to do what is already in his locker: change their fortunes under financial restrictions, unlock a massively underperforming squad, implement a progressive style making them a dominant team and create an aura around the club again.

Ugarte thrived under Amorim and should see an uptick in his output and consistency of starts. The manager will have to mine the gold from Rasmus Hojlund in the same manner as he has done with Viktor Gyokeres.

United are confident that their incoming new leader can make some of their mega buys actually look like good business.

It is helpful that two of the most influential members of the squad - Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot - the standard setters according to the dressing room, are Amorim's compatriots.

He can also connect with the Brazilians in the squad through language, has an excellent command of English, and is understood to also speak Spanish.

Those that have worked with him describe him as a great communicator with simple yet impactful messaging.

Amorim will need that at United, where the global glare will be unlike anything he's ever known and every word matters - not just what you say, but how you say it.

Ten Hag was brilliant away from the cameras and when he didn't need to be in defensive mode; an engaging and warm man, who genuinely loved and wanted to fight at all costs to make United great again.

He never actually succeeded in relaying the extent of that or verbalising the scale of mess he inherited and had to navigate during his time in charge.

Performances and results were nowhere near good enough stretching all the way back to the League Cup final triumph over Newcastle, but Ten Hag had some wins beyond the silverware; actually enforcing discipline at a club badly in need of it, and riding some hideous storms with dignity.

Amorim will not have to deal with the same amount of challenges to his authority as his predecessor cleared out many problems. He will not need to be on trial during a takeover process that lags nor hopefully deal with the kind of off-pitch incidents that coloured Ten Hag's time in charge.

Amorim should also not have such significant fingerprints on recruitment. United's leadership team have clearly defined principles to scour the market for, and like the best run elite teams, should not be pandering to a manager's wants.

There are naturally question marks. Will he stick to his penchant for three at the back? Can United's current squad cope as being a heavy possession-based side with a high press and high defensive line? Why was Amorim overlooked in the summer when Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sir Dave Brailsford oversaw a strategic review that entailed canvassing a variety of managers around Europe?

That one is easier to answer. Having been beaten to the Liverpool job by Arne Slot and having a very embarrassing public meeting with West Ham that he apologised for, which was speculated at the time to be a tactic to force the Merseysiders' hand, Amorim had reconfirmed his commitment to Sporting.

The optics around moving for him in the summer would not have been great. Suggestions that Amorim's release clause was higher if United pursued him then have been disproved by sources at Sporting and from the Premier League clubs he was linked to.

The main reason is the two people who were chief in the decision to sack Ten Hag and move for him - sporting director Dan Ashworth and chief executive Omar Berrada - were not in position yet.

Together with technical director Jason Wilcox, they did their own assessment of the Dutchman's time in charge after settling into their roles, the kind of figure the club needs in the dugout, and the long-term game model United should have.

Amorim, who was billed as a potential heir to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City and did an internship under Jose Mourinho, is simply seen as a man who can define the next generation of coaching just as that pair had done.

Man Utd's next six fixtures

• November 3: Chelsea (h) 4.30pm, Premier League - live on Sky Sports
• November 7: PAOK (h) 8pm, Europa League
• November 10: Leicester (h) 2pm, Premier League
• November 24: Ipswich (a) 4.30pm, Premier League - live on Sky Sports
• November 28: Bodo/Glimt (h) 8pm, Europa League
• November 30: Everton (h) 1.30pm, Premier League

Watch Manchester United vs Chelsea on Sunday live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event, kick-off 4.30pm.

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