Is Rúben Amorim the Savior Manchester United Needs?

Erik ten Hag was sacked following yet another disappointing match against a struggling West Ham side. Despite a solid first half, Manchester United lost their grip in the second, exposing deep-seated issues that have plagued the club all season.

In response to this setback, United’s management swiftly decided to hire Rúben Amorim, the dynamic coach behind Sporting’s recent successes.

In this article, we will explore the reasons behind this decision and examine whether the new coach has the potential to fundamentally change the current situation at Manchester United.

Ten Hag’s United: A Disappointing Decline

Under Erik ten Hag’s leadership, Manchester United slumped to mid-table mediocrity, both in terms of actual points and expected points, with little hope for improvement. 

Last season, the club suffered a humiliating exit from the Champions League, finishing at the bottom of their group alongside Galatasaray and FC København, a debacle that sent shockwaves through the fanbase.

In the current season, despite boasting one of the strongest squads in the Europa League, United languish in 15th place out of 36 teams, a position far beneath the club’s standards.

Ten Hag’s team has faced big challenges with balance, stability, and coherent strategies in both defense and attack. Under his leadership, the players have not progressed; in fact, they have regressed, particularly in the second and third seasons.

Only a few matches showed glimpses of the distinctive style Ten Hag successfully implemented at Ajax, but these instances have been far too limited to counter the growing sentiment of disappointment. Overall, Ten Hag’s tenure can be regarded as relatively unsuccessful amidst a steady decline in performance over the past three seasons.

The Coach Hunt: United’s Search for the Perfect Fit

United had the chance to bring in Thomas Tuchel, but that opportunity was missed as the club opted for Erik ten Hag, a decision that allowed Tuchel to take charge of the England national team.

With Zinedine Zidane reportedly uninterested in moving to England, Manchester United had the option to hire a promising coach from a mid-table Premier League team or to focus on one of the most talented coaches in Europe, albeit without experience in the top five leagues, namely Rúben Amorim.

It is difficult to determine how quickly, for example, Thomas Frank would have been able to adapt his playing style to suit Manchester United, especially considering that the club’s management is wary of repeating the mistakes made with David Moyes.

Similarly, the challenge with Amorim lies in his limited exposure to high-stakes matches against Europe’s elite and his lack of experience in top-tier leagues.

Overall, while Portuguese coaches have generally found success managing Premier League clubs in recent years, the same cannot be said for Dutch coaches. 

Rúben Amorim attracted Manchester United’s attention due to his remarkable transformation of Sporting. He turned the club from the third strongest in Portugal into the best team in the country, leading them to win two championship titles in four years. Prior to his tenure, Sporting had not won the Portuguese league in 18 years.

Name	Rúben Amorim
Date of Birth	27 January 1985 (39 y/o)
Nationality	Portuguese
Position as a Player	Midfielder
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10)
Current Club	Manchester United (contract until June 2027)
Playing Career	Belenenses, Benfica, Braga, Al-Wakrah
Coaching Career	Braga B, Braga, Sporting CP
Coaching Honors	Primeira Liga: 2020–21, 2023–24 Taça da Liga: 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22  Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2021

Amorim’s Mission: Rebuild and Reignite United

One of Amorim’s main achievements at Sporting is his ability to ensure consistent progress, even amidst frequent player turnover. Sporting is very active in the transfer market, often involving the sale of star players and the integration of young, unproven talents.

Despite the constant squad changes, Amorim improved the team’s defensive play, leading to Sporting’s first championship title, which they won by mastering a defensive counter-attacking style. 

This aspect is particularly important for Manchester United, as their defensive performance, based on actual and expected goals conceded, has been consistently worse than that of at least 5-6 teams in the Premier League throughout the season. This problem has persisted for many years, partly due to poor transfer policies. 

Amorim will need to stabilize the defense not just in matches with significant detriment to the attack, as previous coaches did, but over the long term as well.

Despite the frequent player changes at Sporting due to transfers, Rúben Amorim gradually improved the team’s positional attacking play. Last season, his team scored 96 goals in 34 matches, capturing a second league title in four years.

At Manchester United, it has been a long time since a coach established a structured positional attacking game with sufficient creative ideas. Amorim will need to help several struggling attackers regain their form and develop a quality system for positional attacks.

It remains uncertain whether the Portuguese coach can effectively communicate his ideas and enhance the organization of the team, especially given that many players have become accustomed to a chaotic and unstructured style of play in attack.

Is Amorim the Right Man for the Job?

Rúben Amorim is a coach with a clear tactical approach and well-defined attacking ideas, while also placing special emphasis on defensive organization. The Portuguese coach clearly possesses the skills to adapt to the strengths of his players while building a game system that can gradually evolve into a more attacking style.

Both Erik ten Hag and Ole Gunnar Solskjær were unable to establish a consistent, structured attacking system at Manchester United despite the firepower at their disposal.

They often relied on counter-attacking vertical play and experimented with pressing tactics, which yielded positive results at times. However, in the long run, Manchester United continued to display average performances, finishing in mid-table of the Premier League.

Whether Amorim can be pragmatic enough to quickly pull Manchester United out of their current crisis remains uncertain. However, he has the potential to bring the spark back to Old Trafford.