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If Ruben Amorim’s task of restoring Manchester United to the champions of England looks nigh on impossible from the team’s lowly current position, at least he is a manager with form for remarkable transformation.
Amorim took charge of Sporting CP in March 2020, as a 35-year-old coach with only two months’ experience managing in the Portuguese top flight. He inherited a giant club without a league title in 18 years, in disarray on and off the field after the exits of key players Raphinha, Bas Dost and Bruno Fernandes – ironically now set to be his captain at Old Trafford.
Amorim quickly set about imprinting his own football identity. In his first full season in charge, his young side set a league record 32-game unbeaten run on their way to winning the Primeira Liga, ending the long duopoly of Porto and Benfica. Sporting lost only one league game all season, against Benfica, after already securing the title.
Amorim won another league title last season and is set to leave Sporting top of the table with nine wins from nine games played. So how did he do it, and what does his work in Lisbon say about what Manchester United can expect from their next manager?
Amorim’s favoured 3-4-2-1
Amorim first tried a back three early in his coaching career and he quickly settled upon a preferred 3-4-2-1 shape. At Sporting the system could flex into a 3-4-3 with two wide forwards rather than typical No 10s, and occasionally he played with a 3-5-2, but Amorim rarely deviated from his three-at-the-back foundation.
When Sporting built from deep, two adventurous wing-backs hugged the touchlines to stretch the pitch, leaving space for confident centre-backs to either carry the ball upfield or play passes into midfield. At United, Lisandro Martinez could slot into the left side of a three-man defence while Matthijs De Ligt would likely be the central pin.
For the wing-back roles, Amorim has good options on the right side in his fellow Portuguese Diogo Dalot and summer signing Noussair Mazraoui, who have both made bright starts to the season. Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia would be natural choices at left wing-back but both players have struggled to stay fit and this might be an area where Amorim needs a January reinforcement. He could instead turn to youth, with 17-year-old left-back Harry Amass considered one of United’s best prospects.
Sporting typically played with two complete central midfielders who were dynamic, creative and combative, and it easy to see how Kobbie Mainoo could fill one of these roles. Joao Palhinha, who later joined Fulham and then Bayern Munich, starred in Amorim’s first title-winning campaign, while more recently a partnership developed between the Danish international Mortem Hjulmand and Japan’s Hidemasa Morita, who Amorim deeply admires. “I think every manager should train at least one Japanese player,” he said last year. “A player who is always ready to help the team, apologises one thousand times a day, is very respectful, will play anywhere and just wants to learn … I only have good things to say about Hidemasa Morita.”
In attack, Amorim deployed a No 9 to stretch defences with constant probing runs in behind, and here Swedish striker Viktor Gyokeres proved to be a sensational signing after his switch from Coventry City last year, scoring 59 goals in 65 games. His profile is not unlike United striker Rasmus Hojlund, who would be a closer fit than his less mobile teammate Joshua Zirkzee.
Should Amorim go with a 3-4-2-1 formation from the outset, then perhaps the most interesting aspect of all will be how he fills the two No 10 positions. These players were given freedom to play wide, drop deep or surge beyond the striker, and they played crucial roles for Sporting both with their share of goal contributions and in their pressing without the ball.
Pedro ‘Pote’ Goncalves was key in this position over the past five seasons. Skilful and creative with intelligent movement, Goncalves racked up 102 goal contributions in 130 league games under Amorim, a right footed attacker primarily operating in the left half-space, with licence to drift wide and dribble to the byline but equally encouraged to be decisive in the penalty area. There are plenty of United players who could fill this position, including Bruno Fernandes and Mason Mount, but Alejandro Garnacho is the natural choice for Goncalves’s influential role.
Trust in youth
Amorim inherited a squad which had been ravaged by the sales of key players, with Bruno Fernandes’s move to Manchester United being the most high profile. That money was barely reinvested in the transfer market, meaning Amorim had little choice but to build a team around emerging homegrown talents such as Eduardo Quaresma, Matheus Nunes and Nuno Mendes.
He did so brilliantly, and the young stars of his first title-winning campaign have gone on to play for some of the biggest clubs in Europe. Matheus Nunes moved to Manchester City for £40m; Nuno Mendes went to PSG for £35m; Manuel Ugarte joined PSG for £50m, before moving to Old Trafford where he will be reunited with his former manager; Pedro Porro was bought by Tottenham for £30m.
Amorim not only trusted his young players but developed them, and it meant Sporting climbed to the top of Portuguese football and competed in the Champions League while at the same time making huge profits on player sales. And while there may not be such a necessity to rely on the academy at Old Trafford, that ability to hone young talent in a squad containing Leny Yoro, Amad Diallo, Mainoo, Hojlund and Garnacho will be crucial, building on the work of Erik ten Hag who showed faith in his rising stars – and perhaps going further still.
Keep the ball
Man United’s best performances under Ten Hag tended to be without an emphasis on retaining the ball – think of the rapid counter-attack to undo Manchester City in the FA Cup final. That is unlikely to be Amorim’s approach.
The numbers reveal Sporting’s style. His team dominated possession during his time in charge, averaging around 60 per cent in league games. They were careful with the ball, completing the league’s highest percentage of attempted passes (84.1 per cent, via fbref) last season and attempting the fewest long passes of any side. Their average passing distance of 16.8 yards was the second shortest in the league.
Sporting’s possession play began from the back, and they recorded the second shortest average passing distance among goalkeepers, with which United’s Andre Onana will be comfortable. They also played the second fewest number of ‘switches’, showing how Amorim preferred his side to work the ball across the pitch with precise short passes, rather than take a risk with a raking diagonal to the opposite flank.
One of the strongest criticisms during Ten Hag’s United tenure was that, unlike his Ajax side, it was hard to discern a particular style or approach. That has never been levelled at Amorim, and his new players can expect to be well drilled on the training ground over the coming weeks as he establishes the patterns of play that make his system tick.
Naturally for a successful modern team winning titles, not only did Sporting dominate the ball but they smothered their opponents high up the pitch in order to win it back in dangerous areas. Last season they ranked second in the Portuguese top flight for tackles won in the attacking and middle thirds of the pitch.
How might United set up under Amorim?
Amorim will inherit a lengthy injury list which includes Mainoo, Mount, Shaw, Yoro, Mazraoui and Harry Maguire. He will have to improvise in the opening weeks, but here is how United could set up with a fully fit squad:
