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“Left a lot to be desired”: Sir Alex’s right-hand man blasts Ineos for “confusing” actions

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“Left a lot to be desired”: Sir Alex’s right-hand man blasts Ineos for “confusing” actions

Manchester United are in the dawn of a new era with INEOS taking control of the sporting structure at Old Trafford and the new minority owners are already making their presence felt.

Erik ten Hag has been replaced by an exciting young coach in Ruben Amorim with Ruud van Nistelrooy taking charge in the interim period.

However, this came after the new board granted Ten Hag a one-year extension to his contract in the summer, even after registering United’s lowest ever Premier League finish.

Former coach Mike Phelan, who has seen his role chopped in recent years, albeit before INEOS’ arrival, has spoken out on the process which eventually led to the club making a change in the dug-out.

Speaking to Laurie Whitwell from The Athletic, Phelan believes INOES have fumbled their first major decision with regards to sacking Ten Hag and the drawn-out public saga that saw him be granted a stay of execution in the summer.

“The decision-making has probably left a lot to be desired. It’s a strange one that they go so far, look for new managers, then win the FA Cup (last season), back him to the hilt, bring in new staff, spend a lot on players, then change their minds. It’s quite confusing,” he said.

The 62-year-old continued to question the route INEOS are going down with regard to staff cuts at the club and wonders whether the right people are being left in situ.

“It’s a completely changed environment (at United) now. They’ve got rid of a lot of people — some good people.

It needs streamlining in the right areas but has it still got that unity it had when it was successful? There is more exposure now to open up those cracks,” he added.

Phelan admitted the “the proof of the pudding will come further down the line”, but with “a lot going on”, he clearly feels INEOS have a lot of work to do.

With Amorim taking charge of first fixture after the international break, United need to navigate two further home games before the new head coach officially starts his reign as the sixth permanent manager since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.

Van Nisterlooy’s side face POAK in the Europa League on Thursday night before the visit of Leicester City in the Premier League on Sunday.

Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

Conner Botterill has been with The Peoples Person for two years. A keen match-going red with degrees in Sport and Journalism and Philosophy and Psychology, Conner still believes he has a chance of making United’s first team through his 5-a-side career.

United forward sparks injury concerns but two other stars return ahead of European clash

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United forward sparks injury concerns but two other stars return ahead of European clash

Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford has been spotted in individual training at Carrington, sparking fears that he may have picked up an injury and is not fully fit.

Rashford has so far made 15 appearances across all competitions, registering seven goals and three assists in that period.

Interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy started him in both of United’s last two matches against Leicester City and Chelsea in the Carabao Cup and Premier League respectively, but took him off before the final whistle.

Ahead of the Red Devils’ Europa League clash vs. PAOK FC, Rashford was spotted by journalists undertaking an individual session with a fitness coach at the club’s training complex.

Hopefully, it’s nothing too serious and the England international is available to Van Nistelrooy for selection against PAOK.

However, there is some good news for United fans, with Leny Yoro and Antony back in training.

This is the first time Yoro has trained with his teammates since sustaining a fractured metatarsal in pre-season, following his move from Ligue 1 outfit Lille.

He has yet to make his competitive debut for United but a recent report covered by The Peoples Person relayed that he could be available to feature immediately after the international break, when the Reds travel to Portman Road to take on Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich Town on November 24. The match is set to be Ruben Amorim’s first as head coach.

Chris Wheeler posted a video of Yoro being welcomed back by his teammates.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Amorim is eager to work with Yoro.

Antony was carried off with an ankle injury during United’s meeting with Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce on October 24.

He was seen leaving the stadium on crutches while also wearing a protective boot but it seems the issue was not too serious.

United vs. PAOK kicks off at 20:00 BST.

Feature image Michael Regan via Getty Images

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!

Ruben Amorim and the three-letter word that should excite Man Utd fans

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Ruben Amorim and the three-letter word that should excite Man Utd fans

As exhilarating as it was to watch Sporting hammer Manchester City, knowing that certain elements of the UK media would get incredibly giddy (Maybe Ruben really IS the new Sir Alex’, says the back page of The Sun), we were at pains to note that this told us absolutely nothing about how Manchester United would look under Ruben Amorim.

This is not a scenario that will ever be repeated at United. There will be no over-emotional send-off that results in such a slow start that City are allowed 80% possession to create chance after chance for an oddly misfiring Erling Haaland. United would never play so deep at Old Trafford; there would be boos raining down from the stands if they lined up with anything akin to a back seven.

And perhaps, most tellingly, Manchester United do not have a striker who has scored 48 goals in 2024; Bruno Fernandes is Man Utd’s top scorer over the same period with 13. It’s not comparing like with like, or even fish with birds, or chalk with cheese puffs.

We know the formation and instinctively know which players are going to prove too square for round holes but we can only guess at its efficacy with this squad. We know there is something rotten in the state of Manchester United, but we don’t really know if it can be fixed.

But what we did learn on Tuesday night was that Amorim absolutely knows all this. He was at pains to point out that this was a “one-off” and that “at Manchester United you cannot play exactly like this. You cannot play so defensively and so there we will have to adapt”.

This is so rare for any manager to admit, never mind one who has just engineered a 4-1 win over probably the best team in Europe. He admitted they were “lucky” and warned against extrapolating any information from that game to the Premier League.

Yes, he has a system that has proved incredibly successful in the Portuguese league, but he is taking over a team in the doldrums of 13th in the Premier League. They have no momentum. They have no learned processes. They have very little except a famous name and a rich history which has been largely untouched by anybody currently at the club.

MORE MAN UTD COVERAGE ON F365…
👉 Owen names Man Utd star who won’t play under Amorim as he predicts starting XI
👉 Man Utd insider reveals player Ruben Amorim will ‘definitely’ attempt to buy
👉 Ferdinand claims Amorim ‘will scare’ Guardiola as he’ll ‘bring’ four ‘elements’ Man Utd are ‘lacking’

And Amorim knows all this. He won’t be tricked into saying he can make Manchester United great again or that he is anything approaching special. We cannot imagine him imploring fans to ‘trust the process’. He pulled off a momentous win and immediately said ‘nope, that doesn’t tell us anything, we were lucky’. Can you imagine Erik ten Hag saying that? Mikel Arteta?

But the most important word he used on Tuesday night was ‘fun’. He is leaving a massive pair of loving arms in the midst of incredible, almost unprecedented success to move to a club in crisis with players that do not match his system and have been worn down by poor decisions made at every level, and he is talking about ‘fun’. And even ‘very fun’.

It’s been a long time since anybody saw Manchester United as potential ‘fun’. A project, yes. A challenge, yes. A Sisyphus-style utterly thankless task, yes. But fun? That gets us far more excited than a smash-and-grab victory on a night when City officially entered CRISIS mode.

“It all depends on…”: Sir Alex’s right-hand man reveals huge concern over Ruben Amorim

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“It all depends on…”: Sir Alex’s right-hand man reveals huge concern over Ruben Amorim

Mike Phelan has expressed concern over the club’s decision to appoint Ruben Amorim as manager given the his relative lack of experience and questions whether the 39-year-old will be able to implement his tactical set-up at Old Trafford.

Phelan, the right-hand man to Sir Alex Ferguson during one of the most successful periods in Manchester United’s history, believes there are striking parallels between the hiring of Amorim and the club’s previous incumbent, Erik ten Hag.

“Everything leading up to it with Amorim and Ten Hag seems like the same talk. Same qualifications, Sporting being one, Ajax the other,” the 62-year-old states. “Amorim is certainly not an unknown, he’s got experience in Europe, but it seems to be the same sort of remit. You wonder whether Manchester United need a seriously experienced manager.”

And it’s a lack of experience at the top level which Ralf Rangnick and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – the two previous managers before Ten Hag – both lacked as well, suggesting Phelan’s view holds some weight.

However, both Jose Mourinho and Louis van Gaal possessed glittering CVs with success at a host of Europe’s biggest clubs, and they too fell foul of the same fate as their less experienced successors.

Rather, it appears United need a “seriously experienced” executive structure which puts in place the correct conditions for a manager (or head coach) to succeed. And that is exactly what INEOS – who gained full control over the football operation at Old Trafford in February – have focused on in the first year of their tenure.

Omar Berrada and Dan Ashworth, the club’s Chief Executive and Sporting Director respectively, are considered two ‘best-in-class’ appointments but were only able to begin work at United in July. By this point, INEOS had already decided to stick with Ten Hag following an end-of-season review.

This choice, however, appears one borne out of a lack of viable alternatives than any meaningful belief in the Dutch manager. But it was a decision made without the Chief Executive or Sporting Director being in the building.

And following United’s dismal start to the new campaign, with the team demonstrating many of the same issues which plagued last season, Berrada and Ashworth appear to have made up for lost time by moving quickly to replace Ten Hag with a candidate who is clearly their choice.

The hope will be that the structure above Amorim at Old Trafford will provide the 39-year-old coach with everything he needs to be able to coach his new side to the best of his ability; which was on clear display in last night’s thrilling 4-1 dismantling of Manchester City in the Champions League.

Phelan believes the 3-4-3 system favoured by the Portuguese coach is “great if you can get it going”, as Sporting were able to do yesterday, but he questions whether the United squad will be able to adapt to it: “It all depends on what he has got at his disposal.”

Berrada and Ashworth, and by extension INEOS, will hope their new man will have whatever he requires at his disposal in order to succeed where so many others have failed in the post-Ferguson malaise at Old Trafford.

Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

Darragh is a writer for The Peoples Person who spent three years as a history graduate slowly realising football was by far the most interesting thing to write about.

Wright claims summer signing ‘won’t make it’ at Man Utd as Amorim responds to Gyokeres link

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Wright claims summer signing ‘won’t make it’ at Man Utd as Amorim responds to Gyokeres link

Arsenal legend Ian Wright doubts Man Utd summer signing Joshua Zirkzee will “make it” in any formation that Ruben Amorim deploys at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils appointed Amorim on Friday but the Portuguese coach will not move to Man Utd until November 11 ahead of the next international break.

Man Utd are currently 13th in the Premier League table having won just three of their ten matches, while only Crystal Palace and Southampton have scored fewer goals than them.

Increasing the Red Devils’ goalscoring output could be Amorim’s biggest challenge initially at Old Trafford with Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund unlikely to be prolific this season.

And Wright doubts Zirkzee – who signed from Bologna for £36.5m in the summer –  will ever succeed at Man Utd from what he’s seen from the Netherlands international so far.

The Arsenal legend said on his Wrighty’s House podcast: “Do you know something? When I look at the strikers at Manchester United, I look at [Rasmus] Hojlund and Zirkzee.

“Going forward, as a United player to take the club to the level they need to be – top-four, Champions League, title challengers – I can’t see in any formation Zirkzee making it from what I’ve seen so far.

“I can see it with Hojlund, he looks like a future player with better players around him. He gives me the impression that if he gets in and around the box and he gets chances, he can go hot.

“I don’t see the same with Zirkzee. I look at him and his movement, I don’t see anything in his game that makes me think, “okay, there he is, I see what he can do”.

“I see that in Hojlund and some of the others. I can see them easily levelling up but I feel for Zirkzee.

“United still need a striker. Whether they turn Marcus [Rashford] into that or they get a top striker in, they need one, to go alongside Hojlund and maybe for Hojlund to be the back-up.

MORE MAN UTD COVERAGE ON F365…
👉 Owen names Man Utd star who won’t play under Amorim as he predicts starting XI
👉 Man Utd insider reveals player Ruben Amorim will ‘definitely’ attempt to buy
👉 Ferdinand claims Amorim ‘will scare’ Guardiola as he’ll ‘bring’ four ‘elements’ Man Utd are ‘lacking’

“I’m trying to think of Ruben Amorim coming in and who he’s going to play. Zirkzee will need to go through some massive transformation to play in the team ahead of other players.

“He’s definitely not a natural goalscorer. I’m still waiting to see it from him.”

Sporting Lisbon striker Viktor Gyokeres, who scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 win over Man City on Tuesday night, is one striker who is being linked with a move to Man Utd, with rumours ramping up after Amorim’s appointment.

When asked if he is interested in bringing Gyokeres to Man Utd, Amorim replied: “I’ve just made peace with the Sporting fans, I’m not even going to make a joke about it.

“Gyokeres is a Sporting player, which is a great club, he did a lot for it, he was in the second division, he just has to stay and finish the season at Marques.”

When asked the same question in a different interview, Amorim said: “No, no, no. I cannot be funny with that in this moment.

“It was tough for me to leave, if I start joking about that with Gyokeres, I’ll have problems. This is my city, this is my country, I will respect.

“Viktor has to stay until the end of the season and then his life is going, maybe, somewhere else.”

United to welcome back former academy gem in must-win European encounter at Old Trafford

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United to welcome back former academy gem in must-win European encounter at Old Trafford

Manchester United take on PAOK Salonika FC tomorrow night in their fourth match in their Europa League campaign.

The Red Devils have drawn the opening three matches of the competition and are desperate to record their first win of the league stage, as they sit in 21st position in the table.

United have never played the Greek side before, in what will be an historic meeting between the two clubs.

With former players Facundo Pellistri playing for Panathinaikos and Anthony Martial for AEK Athens, United have more connections with Greek football than they usually do.

Here are three storylines to get fans buzzing for a crucial match and Ruud van Nistelrooy’s only European tie in charge as interim head coach.

Shola Shoretire return

The 20 year old joined the United academy in 2013 but eventually left this summer after the expiration of his contract.

Shoretire played five times for the senior side, making his debut off the bench in 2021 as a 17 year old against Newcastle United.

He was unable to get many chances in the first team and decided to sign for the Greek side in the summer, where he has played in eight matches and scored one goal.

He has had to make do with limited action in the Europa League so far, only playing seven minutes off the bench but he might expect to get more action at his former side and where he made his professional debut.

If he is to play any minute of the match tonight, he will likely receive a strong welcome from the Old Trafford crowd.

United’s wonderful home record against Greek opposition

As is to be expected, United have a very strong record against sides from Greece, especially at home.

According to The BBC, “Manchester United have won all six of their home games against Greek sides by an aggregate score of 20-1.”

In addition, the Red Devils have scored three or more goals in their last five UEFA competition matches at home against Greek teams, so will be hoping for a morale boosting victory tonight.

Previous results have included a 3-0 win over Olympiacos FC in 2014, when a Robin van Persie hat trick overcame a 2-0 defeat in Greece in the last-16 of the Champions League during the David Moyes season.

United also beat Panathinaikos at home 5-0 in 2003.

PAOK have lost five of their last six away matches in the UEFA Europa League competition proper, as they sit 30th in the league standings with one point from three matches.

United aiming to break poor European streak

The match against PAOK tomorrow night starts a run of objectively easier European fixtures after away days in Porto and Istanbul, and United certainly need it after their latest run in Europe.

They are without a win in over a year since unconvincingly beating FC Copenhagen 1-0 at Old Trafford last October, with only a last-gasp penalty save from Andre Onana preserving the three points.

“Manchester United are winless in six major European matches, drawing four and losing two, their worst run since 1980 to 1983. They have never previously gone seven without a win.”

In other words, should the Red Devils fail to win tomorrow night, they will not only make qualification an uphill task but they will also go down as the worst United team in European history.

Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.

Owen names Man Utd star who won’t play under Amorim as he predicts starting XI

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Owen names Man Utd star who won’t play under Amorim as he predicts starting XI

Michael Owen has predicted Ruben Amorim’s regular Man Utd starting XI when he begins work at Old Trafford later this month.

The Red Devils moved quickly on Friday to appoint Amorim as Erik ten Hag’s successor after the latter was sacked on the previous Monday.

Amorim’s appointment has already excited Man Utd fans who are hoping they can finally get back to challenging for Premier League titles again for the first time since 2013.

Man Utd are currently 13th in the Premier League after just three wins in ten matches, while only Crystal Palace and Southampton have scored fewer goals than the Red Devils.

And Owen predicts that Amorim will stick to the 3-4-3 formation that has been so good to him at Sporting Lisbon, moving Man Utd away from a back four.

Owen reckons Matthijs de Ligt, Lisandro Martinez and Leny Yoro will make up their back three once the latter – who has yet to play a competitive match for the Premier League club – has recovered from injury.

Predicting Amorim’s side at Man Utd, Owen told Premier League Productions: “I think that’s an important position for Ruben Amorim.

“Amorim has a reputation of having that central defender come into the midfield a little bit so that player has got to be decent on the ball.

“De Ligt and Martinez either side are aggressive defenders, they like being up against strikers, so that middle player has got to be good on the ball and Yoro fits the bill.

“I think if everyone is fit that’s the back-three he would pick.”

Some favourites under Ten Hag could be left out with Owen claiming that the new Man Utd boss will probably go with Manuel Ugarte over Casemiro.

“He can only pick 11 players and we did debate Ugarte or Casemiro, it was a bit of a toss of a coin between the two.

“But we just felt he would go with Ugarte because he’s played under him before, that might just tip it in Ugarte’s favour.”

MORE MAN UTD COVERAGE ON F365…
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👉 Man Utd star ‘bang out of order’ over shock report about summer signing who ‘regrets’ transfer
👉 ‘Fear’ that Amorim ‘wants’ to re-sign ex-Man Utd man when he arrives at Old Trafford

Former Arsenal star Aaron Ramsey added: “They won the league together at Sporting, Ugarte clearly understands the manager and will know what he expects from him in that position and in the formation he likes to play.

“Casemiro has had a great career and is still a quality player, I’m sure there’s more to come from him, but I think Ugarte just pips him given the experience he’s had with him previously.”

Owen thinks Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford will be deployed as two number 10s behind the sole striker in Amorim’s team.

The former Man Utd striker continued: “It’s important to mention that these two players play almost inside in a lot of his formations.

“They are not necessarily wide players so they come in and play more like number 10s and that plays into Bruno’s favour.

“With those players coming inside, you could ask, can Rashford play inside? I think he can. I think he’s got decent vision.

“He’s not going to play otherwise unless he ends up playing him up front instead of Hojlund. I think Rashford will start but it will be in that more inside position.”

Ramsey also gave his opinion on Rashford, he said: “Rashford has loads of quality. Hopefully he gets a new lease of life under the new manager and he can reach the levels he has in the past and be a bit more consistency.

“He’s an unbelievable player on his day. In this system, I feel he can be suited in the little pockets and holes.”

Andre Onana, Luke Shaw, Diogo Dalot, Kobbie Mainoo and Rasmus Hojlund make up the rest of Owen’s predicted line-up for when Amorim has a fully fit Man Utd squad.

“Aggressive pressing”: Ruben Amorim has United fans in fever pitch after masterclass vs Pep Guardiola

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“Aggressive pressing”: Ruben Amorim has United fans in fever pitch after masterclass vs Pep Guardiola

Manchester United’s incoming manager joked before kick off that he would be seen as the new Sir Alex Ferguson were his Sporting Lisbon to defeat the 2023 Champions League winners, Manchester City.

This joke became reality as the Portuguese coach sent the hype around him into overdrive with his side crushing the English champions 4-1 in an epic goodbye to the Estádio José Alvalade.

United fans will be even more excited by the fact that rumoured striking target Victor Gyokeres continued his prolific start to the season by adding another hat trick to his name against the club’s local rivals.

Amorim still has one more match in charge of Sporting Lisbon when they travel to Braga on Sunday night, before he will travel to Manchester to start his next role.

Here are three things we learnt about the 39 year old, as he propelled his name even further into the global spotlight.

Amorim sides can kill on the counter attack

“Amorim’s Sporting are characterised by a short-passing possession game, a three-at-the-back set-up and an aggressive pressing system facilitated by a high defensive line” according to Sky Sports, but they showed a different side to themselves last night.

As is to be expected with a significantly more talented and expensively assembled squad, City had 73% of the ball and over double the shots on goal of their hosts.

Amorim showed tactical flexibility to adapt to the situation and realise that his Sporting side could not go toe-to-toe with the English team but instead, ruthlessly picked apart the Rodri-less City on the counter.

Gyokeres levelled on the counter attack late in the first half and they won their penalty for their third goal of the game after swiftly taking advantage of Pep Guardiola’s team in transition.

United will obviously aim to dominate most teams under Amorim eventually, but as he builds his squad, it will please fans that he can show tactical flexibility to get results as the Red Devils will need to have this in their locker when they travel to the likes of Anfield and the Etihad later in the season.

Amorim’s power to change a game

One of United fans’ biggest gripes about Erik ten Hag was his seeming inability to fix issues mid-match or in fact, he would often make things worse with strange substitutions.

Amorim showed he is more than capable of firing a rocket up his team’s backside if their second half response is anything to look into.

Sporting naturally struggled to cope with City in the first half but managed to scramble their way back into the game to enter half-time level at 1-1.

The Portuguese champions came out firing in the second half, scoring seconds after the restart and converting a penalty a few moments later to race into a two goal lead.

United will hope he can show off this game-changing ability at Old Trafford as he will take charge of a very inconsistent and mentally weak dressing room.

His system benefits number nines

Another problem that Erik ten Hag never solved at Old Trafford was how to involve his striker in the match.

There were moments last season where Rasmus Hojlund was a passenger, barely touching the ball and in ways, this has continued this season.

While the forward has improved his link up play, he still struggles to get chances, demonstrated by the fact he has had only four shots on goal in the Premier League this season.

Gyokeres’ scarcely believable tally of 23 strikes to date demonstrates how Amorim’s system creates chances at will for the striker and both Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee will be licking their lips at the potential chance creation Amorim can generate for them over the course of the season.

United fans will first see their new manager in action after the international break when they travel to Portman Road to take on Ipswich Town on November 24.

Featured image Justin Setterfield via Getty Images

Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.

“Disappointed”: United unhappy with major media outlet’s “hostile” treatment of Amorim – report

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“Disappointed”: United unhappy with major media outlet’s “hostile” treatment of Amorim – report

Manchester United have been left frustrated with Sky Sports News reporter Gary Cotterill’s treatment of incoming manager Ruben Amorim.

The Portuguese manager was officially announced as the new head coach of the club last week.

This has naturally led to the global sports media focusing their attention onto the Sporting Lisbon manager but he will not become United’s head coach until after his current side’s trip to Braga on Sunday night.

Amorim gave the perfect goodbye to his home fans with a 4-1 demoliton of Manchester City last night but his pre-match press conference also hit the headlines due to the strange line of questioning from an English reporter.

The Daily Mail reports that “Manchester United are said to be disappointed with the robust approach of Sky Sports News reporter Gary Cotterill towards their new head coach Ruben Amorim in Portugal on Monday.”

“Cotterill repeatedly asked Amorim to answer a question in English at the press conference for his final home game as Sporting Lisbon boss, a Champions League tie against Manchester City, but was told by the 39-year-old and his press officer that he would only speak in Portuguese.”

Amorim has been more than happy to answer previous questions in English but felt as it was his last European press conference for Sporting in Portugal, he should reply in the country’s native tongue.

The Sky Sports reporter could bizarrely not seem to process this and scolded Amorim that “it’s like a cold shoulder to all your English fans”, even though he has already spoken in English about his move and will evidently do so in a week’s time when he is officially unveiled as the new head coach at Old Trafford.

“While there is no suggestion that United will make an official complaint to Sky Sports – with whom the club is said to have a generally positive relationship – sources tell Confidential that there was some disappointment at Old Trafford over the ‘hostile’ approach taken by the primary Premier League rights holder towards Amorim.”

This is not the first run-in the reporter has had with United managers as he pestered Erik ten Hag for a comment after watching United play Crystal Palace in the final game of the 2021/2022 season and had to be moved out of the way by the Dutchman’s bodyguard.

It was truly a bizarre moment that screamed of Sky Sports trying to create a storm in a teacup as it is incredibly reasonable that Sporting would not want the focus of their last games with Amorim to be thrown off with constant questions about Manchester United.

Amorim will certainly hope that this is not a taste of the quality of questioning he will face from the British media on the whole when he gets to work next week in his new role.

Featured image Justin Setterfield via Getty Images

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Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.

Man Utd insider reveals player Ruben Amorim will ‘definitely’ attempt to buy in January

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Man Utd insider reveals player Ruben Amorim will ‘definitely’ attempt to buy in January

New Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim will “definitely” attempt to buy Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting Lisbon, according to an Old Trafford insider.

The Red Devils sacked Erik ten Hag last week after a terrible start to the season with Man Utd currently sat in 13th place in the Premier League table.

Man Utd moved quickly to appoint Sporting Lisbon boss Amorim on Friday as Ten Hag’s successor and the Portuguese coach will start on November 11.

Amorim has a huge job on his hands with the Red Devils winning just three of their first ten matches of the Premier League season, while only Crystal Palace and newly-promoted Southampton have scored fewer goals.

There have already been lots of rumours about who Amorim could sign in January or next summer with lots of Sporting players reportedly on the agenda.

Gyokeres, who scored a hat-trick in Sporting’s 4-1 victory over Man City on Tuesday night, has taken his goals to 23 in 16 matches in all competitions this season.

When recently asked about potentially joining Amorim at Man Utd, Gyokeres replied: “Going with Amorim to Manchester United? I don’t know. I’m here. As you can see, I enjoy it at Sporting.

“It’s nothing I really think about. I’m sad about him [Amorim] leaving. We wish him all the best.”

MORE MAN UTD COVERAGE ON F365…
👉 Man Utd ‘plot fresh bid’ for PL star who ‘would suit’ Amorim’s playing style after £12.6m ‘offer’
👉 Man Utd star ‘bang out of order’ over shock report about summer signing who ‘regrets’ transfer
👉 ‘Fear’ that Amorim ‘wants’ to re-sign ex-Man Utd man when he arrives at Old Trafford

And now former Man Utd chief scout Mick Brown – who is still very well connected at Old Trafford – insists that the Red Devils will “definitely” pursue Gyokeres with Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund misfiring.

Brown told Football Insider: “He’s a proper striker, that’s what United need. He can play with the ball into his feet, he’s strong, he makes very intelligent runs, and he can finish.

“He’s definitely one they’ve been looking at, and probably even more so now. I know there are some doubts about the levels he’s played at and whether he could take the step up, but I don’t think he’d struggle.

“If you look at who United have got at the moment, Zirkzee hasn’t been anywhere near the desired level, and Hojlund is improving and trying his best but he’s not the finished article.

“But Gyokeres can provide everything United are currently missing in those two. The manager knows him better than anybody, so he’ll know the strengths and weaknesses.

“He’ll be the key to this deal getting over the line, but from what I’ve heard, it won’t be in January. It’ll be at the end of the season if it does get done.”

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