For many, supporting Ruben Amorim’s vision is essential. For others, he is to blame for the domestic capitulation playing out. For me, he requires time and the full support of the Manchester United fanbase.
“He’ll bring the glory days again. We’ll back him from the Stretford End. He’ll turn the reds around!” Those are the words to the latest ditty from the Old Trafford faithful.
Thankfully, the young tactician enjoys the majority backing of the supporter base despite enduring a fairly mixed start to life in Manchester.
Tepid defeats to Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth, Wolves, Newcastle and Crystal Palace have been assuaged by exhilarating, determined victories over Manchester City and Arsenal – as well as a highly credible draw at Anfield against Liverpool, where they went toe-to-toe with their arch-rivals – and should have won!
These results have done enough in many eyes to illustrate signs of green shoots growing amongst everything else. However, positives have been sprinkled with some of the more negative issues since his surprising mid-season arrival from the Primeira Liga champions.
“The storm will come,” Amorim said after an impressive 4-0 win over Everton in the Premier League in early December.
“We are going to have difficult moments, and we will be found out in some games, I know that.”
Inevitably, he was proven correct and appears to be well aware of the challenges facing the squad.
He is attempting to rebuild and reshape what once was the best club side in the land – one that has fallen on hard times over the past decade or so and a side that can no longer boast such a title.
It is a mammoth task for the 40-year-old to inherit, and some might say it is the most difficult job in football right now.
But Manchester United have firmly put their faith and trust in the Lisbon native and believes him to be the man to turn things around. It is a sentiment I also share and am fully behind.
A case of ‘Now or Never’ for Omar Berrada
When United appointed Amorim in November 2024 following the sacking of Erik ten Hag, Omar Berrada gave Amorim an ultimatum: Now or Never.
The Red Devils and their best-in-class leadership team wanted their man in the door immediately, despite Amorim requesting to join at the end of the current campaign instead.
However, the former Casa Pia man decided to leave Sporting at the end of November once his final fixtures in Portugal had been completed.
This has been portrayed negatively by certain hacks, but it can also be viewed positively, as it allows the new man time to implement his philosophy immediately. Additionally, he has time to work closely with the players he currently commands, getting them accustomed to his principles and playing style.
Unfortunately, results haven’t gone as smoothly as the one-time Benfica player would have liked thus far, leading to question marks about his favoured 3-4-2-1 formation and suitability to the English game.
However, success was never achieved in a couple of months and will take far longer to be adequately judged.
There have been calls from certain fans and pundits for Amorim to ditch his three-back system and revert to a more conventional style to better suit this team. However, this would be counterproductive to what the coach aims to achieve.
The man himself said he could easily change tact following his debut game, but this would only result in the team being in the same situation in a year – ala Ten Hag – so it would be better to suffer now and adapt to the new style of play rather than compromise on his ideals.
Short-term pain before we see any long-term gain
While Ruben Amorim requires positive results for supporters to accept his methodology, he is correct to maintain his beliefs and not alter his philosophy.
This was one mistake made by predecessor Ten Hag, and the Dutchman struggled to recover from it as he flip-flopped between game models without ever truly nailing down a solid identity.
This current United side has been primarily built as a counter-attacking team, and it will require a lot of time and patience to change this mentally and tactically.
The Lisbon-born trainer is bidding to become the first truly successful manager post-Sir Alex Ferguson and the first to return the North West giants to the top of English and European football. This is a huge job and will require support from above. It needs key strategic signings to strengthen his squad and mould this side in his image.
United don’t have many players in their squad capable of adequately carrying out Amorim’s game plan. Recruitment will be crucial for him in the forthcoming summer, and he requires trust.
Comparatively, we have seen success at Liverpool and Arsenal in the not-too-distant past under the stewardship of Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta.
Both men survived early inconsistencies and 8th-place finishes in the league to completely turn the tide and become regular trophy challengers, but only after receiving the trust and backing of their respective employers.
Cultural change is desperately required at Old Trafford
Manchester United’s issues run deep, and it has been proven that quick fixes will not suffice.
It will only be through some key components such as youth development, smart recruitment and coaching excellence that we will see the foundations laid for a real cultural change at the club.
Supporters’ patience will be crucial, too. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and Klopp and Arteta’s journeys demonstrate improvement after undergoing a reset.
Amorim’s United project requires clear communication from management, an alignment with INEOS’ vision and full agreement on big decisions.
The United head coach doesn’t have much chance of success without full buy-in from all of his players, and this was one of the reasons that led to Marcus Rashford being shipped out on loan to Aston Villa for the rest of the season.
Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho were dropped from the matchday squad for the December derby win over rivals Manchester City.
This prompted the Wythenshawe native to reveal that he was seeking a new challenge away from his boyhood club, with the 27-year-old not playing under Amorim again before his temporary move was confirmed.
The stark reality is this; every manager who has attempted to follow in the footsteps of Ferguson has experienced some level of player power or unprofessionalism within the dressing room during their respective reigns in M16.
We’ve all heard the reports and seen the issues emanating from individuals like Paul Pogba, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Jadon Sancho. This has to change if United are to get back to challenging for and winning the top honours again.
No manager, not even Sir Alex himself, could be successful if their troops weren’t willing to do everything possible for them to win.
Amorim has already set about changing the culture at Old Trafford, and whether he is successful remains to be seen. Ten Hag tried his best to alter things, and, after some initial early success, he too fell short of an overall renaissance.
The charismatic Portuguese’ standards and ruthless mentality are there for all to see. When given the opportunity at Sporting, he led them to their first league title in almost 20 years, overtaking great rivals Benfica and Porto.
Let’s get behind him now and hope he can repeat the trick in Manchester, and that he is the man to finally ‘turn the reds around.’
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