Ruben Amorim has suggested he intends to adopt a more attacking approach at Manchester United, shifting away from the defensively-oriented tactics he has heavily favoured during his time at Sporting Lisbon.
Under Amorim, Sporting have enjoyed a lot of success, with the manager often demonstrating a clear preference for a 3-4-3 formation that emphasises a compact and defensively solid team structure.
Indeed, this was on full display on Tuesday night as the Liga Portugal outfit put Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City to the sword in a 4-1 victory at Estádio José Alvalade.
Phil Foden gave City an early lead by the Lions rallied back and eventually clinched all three points, courtesy of a hat trick by Viktor Gyokeres and a Maximiliano Araújo strike.
Amorim is set to officially take charge of United on November 11, with his first match being the meeting at Portman Road against Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich Town two weeks later.
After the final whistle vs. City, Amorim spoke to the Brazilian version of TNT Sports and admitted that there is a bigger obligation to play attacking football at United as compared to Sporting.
The 39-year-old remarked, “No, I think, as I said, the result is deceiving. We are a team outside of the big five, and we are allowed to play like this. Defensively, waiting for the counter-attack.”
“When you go to Manchester United, whether it takes a while or not, you have to face these teams, and it’s a completely different story. And so that’s the work we want to do there, which is not defending all the time.”
He added, “Manchester United have to face these clubs (head-on), and so it’s going to be a completely different story. There will be rivalry, I’m not one for big conflicts, I’m defending the team to the maximum, but let’s see what happens.”
TNT informed Amorim that Matheus Reis – who joined SPorting in 2021 – told them earlier that his relationship with the manager played a crucial role in his development as a player.
Replying to this, Amorim remarked, “I have full knowledge that I’m neither close nor far from the best, technically or tactically. I think that’s my great calling, let’s say. I like to help my players, I was a player, I went through a lot, and I treat them as human beings first and then we go to the rest, football is the rest.”
“And so I’m much happier with this compliment than anything like inventing football and new techniques and tactics, and so I’m really very flattered by Reis’ words.”
United return to Europa League action on Thursday when they host PAOK FC.
Featured image Octavio Passos via Getty Images
Derick Kinoti
Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
