New Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim now knows which players won’t fit into his 3-4-3 system at Old Trafford after his first few training sessions, according to reports.
The former Sporting Lisbon manager took his first training session on Monday with many of his first-team players still away on international duty.
Amorim officially took over on November 11, replacing former Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag, who led the Red Devils to a disastrous start to the new Premier League season.
And now the Portuguese head coach has a big job on his hands to turn fortunes around at Old Trafford with Man Utd currently 13th in the Premier League.
The Red Devils have won just four Premier League matches all season with only Southampton, Everton and Crystal Palace scoring fewer goals than Man Utd so far this season.
It is unclear whether Amorim will get any help in the January transfer window as he looks to get his squad up to speed with his tactics and philosophy.
And now The Sun claim that Amorim has been ‘stunned by the size of the job on his hands after the first training sessions’ at Man Utd this week.
Despite missing a number of players because of international duty and injury, Amorim believes the current squad is ‘bloated’.
‘The new boss believes the expensively-assembled squad is bloated and has already pinpointed a number of individuals who he does NOT believe will fit into his 3-4-3 high-energy style of play.’
The report adds that Amorim was shocked by the lack of intensity from the players:
‘But the former Sporting Lisbon boss could not believe the lack of speed and intensity.
‘During the first sessions this week, Amorim was constantly having to tell the players to pick up the pace — and this has continued through the week.’
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Despite that, new Man Utd boss Amorim has been pleasantly ‘surprised’ by the ability of some of the players considering their poor position in the Premier League table.
‘On the positive side, Amorim has also been surprised by the quality of some players at his disposal despite United’s lowly 13th position in the Prem.’
Scoring goals has been a particular concern this season with Joshua Zirkzee, Rasmus Hojlund and Marcus Rashford all scoring just one Premier League goal each this term.
Man Utd have been heavily linked with Sporting Lisbon striker Viktor Gyokeres and former Red Devils defender Gary Pallister reckons the Swede could be the “natural goalscorer” they need.
Pallister told TG Casino: “I think Manchester United will keep looking at that centre-forward position as an area they can strengthen.
“Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee have both been there, but I’m not sure Zirkzee is an out-and-out number nine and Hojlund is still learning. At the end of the day, their centre-forwards aren’t scoring enough goals and it’s been an issue recently.
“We’ll see whether that’s a position Ruben Amorim will be able to address in January and whether he’ll be able to bring Viktor Gyökeres from Sporting in with him in the near future.
“He’s certainly enjoyed scoring a lot of goals In Portugal and for Coventry over the past couple of years and Manchester United have been waiting to have a natural goalscorer up front for a few years now, so he fits the bill in that respect.”
