Manchester United legend Gary Neville has admitted he has one concern about new head coach Ruben Amorim, but this has been rebuffed by David Moyes.
Man Utd co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his recruitment team have appointed Amorim to replace Erik ten Hag, who was sacked after their disappointing 2-1 loss at West Ham.
Amorim was targeted by Liverpool and West Ham in the summer but he stuck with Sporting Lisbon after the two Premier League clubs went in a different direction.
The 39-year-old has done a brilliant job at Sporting Lisbon since arriving in 2020. He has helped them win the Primeira Liga twice and they have won their first ten league matches this season.
Rio Ferdinand got overly giddy about his arrival after Amorim’s Sporting Lisbon came back from behind to beat Manchester City 4-1 on Tuesday night.
Despite this, Neville has one concern regarding Amorim’s preferred 3-4-3 formation.
“You’re always optimistic about a new manager coming in,” Neville said during the latest episode of The Overlap.
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“I can see why he [Rúben Amorim] wanted the job next summer because he would rather have pre-season to implement the brand-new system. Those players have not played three at the back at all, some of them might never have played it.”
However, former Man Utd manager David Moyes does not think the players “will take too long” to adapt to Amorim.
“Players are more flexible nowadays. Players from your day [to Gary Neville] might have taken a bit more time. Players now are used to it,” Moyes added.
“[Manchester] United have got enough central defenders and more wing-backs. I don’t think the adaptation for Manchester United will take too long.
“It might a while for it to get to where he [Rúben Amorim] wants it, but I think Manchester United will be fine.”
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Arsenal legend Ian Wright meanwhile thinks INEOS made a “brilliant” move when they gave Amorim an ultimatum.
“For him [Rúben Amorim] coming in at this stage, where they said he comes now or it’s off the table – that’s brilliant from them [Manchester United],” Wright claimed.
“It’s the first time seeing them actually do something with such intensity. Nobody was expecting anything from [Manchester] United this season.
“For him to have them from now to the end of the season, rather than at the end of the season – like he said he wanted to and get to the summer and then start bringing people in, he can see exactly what he has got on a day-to-day basis.
“Now seeing what he did to [Manchester] City last night, you don’t know what he’s capable of doing.”
