Ruben Amorim is known as a fairly successful coach, starting his coaching career just in 2018 and, in December 2020, became Sporting’s preceptor. Due to Amorim’s tactical approach, defensive organization, and player development focus, Sporting became the national champion and won the Super Cup. In the 2023/24 season, Sporting also got gold medals. The team scored an average of 2.93 goals per game! No one in the top 5 European leagues has such results.
In November 2024, Manchester United announced Ruben Amorim as head coach. For Ruben, signing a contract with Manchester United is a serious step out of his comfort zone. His playing career was quite successful, but within Portugal only. Nevertheless, football fans do not doubt that he will cope with the task and are waiting for Manchester’s tactical innovation to make the most bold football predictions!
Tactical Formation Shift Under Ruben Amorim
The Portuguese comes to Manchester United not at the best time and without an environment prepared for him in advance. This is a club in crisis (according to recent seasons) without a clear style. One should agree that it’s hardly the best input data for an immediate result! However, the flexibility and high potential of Amorim seem to be primary. So, clear changes are coming! The tactical formation of 3 defenders is extremely unusual for Manchester United, and this is a distinctive feature of Ruben. Let’s highlight that due to the back three, Sporting has the highest defensive lines in the world, ahead of Arsenal and Liverpool.
There is also a change to 3-4-2-1 and 3-4-3. Although the 3-4-3 system has many attacking players, it ensures a solid balance between defense and attack. The 3-4-2-1 formation offers dominance in the center through ball possession. With Ten Hag, Manchester United used a basic 4-2-3-1 and variations of 4-3-3 formations. Their style was distinguished by combination football, high pressing, and rapid movement of the ball. Ruben can combine the qualities of the players in different ways, but formally there will be one vacant position less than in Tenhag’s 4-2-3-1. But if the player is ready to compromise, someone can be moved deeper (like Goncalves). On the other hand, there are enough contenders there too. Probably, they can’t do without cleaning up the attack. So, we are looking forward to Manchester’s structured defensive shape and dynamic attacks.
Enhanced Defensive Organization & Pressing Tactics
According to Amorim’s pressing philosophy and high defensive line, attacking structure can occur quite originally. The attacking trio can include dribblers, creators, forwards of dashes, false forwards, and players of a mixed profile. Thus, his strategy aims to reduce space for opponents and address United’s defensive weaknesses. Amorim combines qualities well! He is not dogmatic and is ready to adjust the team – both towards openness and in favor of defensive stability. Does the current Manchester United squad suit Ruben? Of course, it doesn’t! So, he will have to be creative, impacting players’ defensive roles and responsibilities. Ten Hag has never applied to a defender trio. Even if the players have potential, such a restructuring of the defensive organization will still be a challenge for many.
Player Utilization & Maximizing Potential
Amorim focuses on player development and motivation, maximizing potential of the whole team. These tactical adjustments will surely boost individual and team performance. With the management innovations and focus on interchangeability, misunderstood players like Bruno Fernandes may fit into Amorim’s vision for Manchester United. Of course, we are curious to see if key players can adapt to his style, especially striker Marcus Rashford, who may face difficulties under this new regime.
Tactical Flexibility & Adaptability
Amorim’s coaching philosophy is built around a clear 3-4-3 structure and tactical flexibility. His approach is based on a solid defense and willingness to adapt tactics based on opponent analysis and adaptability to game situations. The unpredictability in strategy can become a certain benefit for Manchester United. Amorim’s teams tend to be quite vertical and direct. They usually perform short plays to provoke the opposition to press to exploit the space ahead, switching from short-passing to direct play. Amorim’s tactical flexibility is evident in their keen observation of their opponents. Ruben was a real fighter on the football pitch and his game plans for FCUM are to make the same team. They will not only play beautifully, but they will also fight. The new coach can easily find contact with the players and convey his thoughts to them.
Building Team Cohesion & Team Spirit
Unfortunately, after the retirement of Alex Ferguson, Manchester United has no system. David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ralf Rangnick, Erik ten Hag – their coaching never brought the desired results. Thus, Manchester United is currently going through tough times, so team spirit is one of the main aspects to work on! Sporting is the best example of how a unified team approach and the right motivation could translate to on-field success. He taught the team a lot, starting with his own pressing and the ability to get out from under the opponent’s pressure, and ending with positional attacks with a large number of passes and very reliable control of the ball.
Amorim surprises the players and staff with his charisma and management style. Ruben immediately built unity and strong relationships! Everyone is important to him – the players and the training base staff. We’re sure that soon we’ll enjoy MU team cohesion due to Amorim’s ability to communicate, listen to the opposition, and analyze the player’s skills and state!
Conclusion
The main complaint about Ten Hag was that he failed to develop a recognizable style for Manchester United – its football remained tactically helpless. Thus, the football of Amorim’s teams is strikingly different from Ten Hag’s football – it is aimed at attack and high-level defense. This will require tactical innovation and, most likely, the arrival of new players. Manchester United will play their first match under Ruben Amorim on November 24 in the 12th round of the EPL against Ipswich Town. Currently, the Reds played 11 matches and took 13th place in the EPL team rankings, having scored 15 points. The fans are already excited and believe that the new era is upcoming!
