Why Man Utd want Ruben Amorim: The ‘poet’ who had an internship with Jose Mourinho and turned Portuguese football on its head can give Red Devils the shake-up they need

One of the most common criticisms of Ten Hag’s troubled last two seasons at Old Trafford was that there was a lack of a clear playing philosophy. The Dutchman was hired for everything he achieved with Ajax, where he had worked wonders with positional play. But he abandoned those principles at United, who he claimed would “never play like Ajax”. It was a strange thing to say, especially as he had signed so many of his former Ajax players.

So it’s a good thing that Amorim is renowned for his playing style. He has operated with a 3-4-3 formation throughout his career, beginning at tiny Casa Pia, whom he coached in the third division of Portuguese football, and sticking with it while in charge of Braga’s B team and first team, and at Sporting. But despite sticking with that system, he has demonstrated tactical flexibility during the course of his tenure.

Sporting effectively counter-attacked their way to the title in Amorim’s first season, relying on an outstanding defensive unit led by captain Sebastian Coates and protected by the brilliant ball-winning midfielder Joao Palhinha. Wing-backs Nuno Mendes and Pedro Porro (now at Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham, respectively) also played pivotal roles in attack as well as helping the defence, which conceded just 20 goals in 34 games. Attacking midfielder Pedro Goncalves, meanwhile, finished as the league’s top scorer with 23 goals. Sporting clinched the title with two games left while they were still unbeaten, although they went on to lose their penultimate game of the season to Benfica.

Sporting’s success inevitably attracted richer clubs to their players, and the summer of 2022 saw an exodus of their top talent. Mendes completed a permanent move to PSG after a loan spell, Palhinha joined Fulham and Matheus Nunes headed to Wolves, while Porro moved to Tottenham the following January.

Amorim successfully adapted his side, and although they finished fourth in the league, they pulled off impressive results in Europe, taking four points off Tottenham in the Champions League before then knocking Arsenal out of the Europa League to reach the quarter-finals. And last season his team started clicking again in ruthless fashion, scoring a stunning 96 goals while only conceding 29, winning the league by 10 points. They have continued their ferocious attacking form this season, netting 30 times in the opening nine league games.

Coates and Goncalo Inacio, who are both integral to the way in which Sporting build from the back, are serious threats in the opposition box, Goncalves is still a constant threat while Paulinho has proven a reliable source of goals since being prised away from Braga in 2021.

The key, though, has been Viktor Gyokeres, the former Coventry City striker who is now attracting attention from all across Europe due to his insatiable rate of goal-scoring. He struck 36 times in 39 games in all competitions last term and has already scored 12 times in this campaign.

It is little wonder then that Amorim has been attracting the attention of Europe’s top clubs for some time. He was believed to be the main rival to Arne Slot for the Liverpool job last summer, although the coach insists he never had an interview for the Anfield dugout. He did meet with West Ham about succeeding David Moyes, which he later apologised for.

The fact that he turned West Ham down speaks of the belief he has in his ability. He was clearly holding out for a bigger job, which now looks to have arrived with United acting swiftly to convince him to succeed Ten Hag, and being willing to do just as Sporting did in 2020 and pay his hefty buy-out clause.

His move to a top club has been a long time in the making. “If he takes the next step, I think the qualities are all there to be able to succeed in English, French, or Spanish football,” said Bruno Fernandes in March. “Obviously, we know that the Premier League is probably the most desired. The qualities [to succeed in England] are there. And he has everything to take the next step, in my opinion. But it will depend on the clubs, the directors, whether they want to pay the Sporting’s release clause or not. There are many components. But I think that the manager Ruben Amorim is prepared for the next leap.”

Amorim might have worked his way up from the bottom of Portuguese football, but he had a privileged coaching education, which included spending a week studying Jose Mourinho when he was at United. He also has the respect of another big United figure in Cristiano Ronaldo, who was his international team-mate with Portugal and described him as a “poet” due to his way with words.

The coach’s way of expressing himself has won him many admirers in the media, with one former journalist describing him as “transparent and straightforward”. He differs from Mourinho when it comes to handling the media and rarely gives interviews outside of his contracted duties. And unlike ‘The Special One’, he always credits the players for his achievements at Sporting rather than talking up his own credentials.

He will be scrutinised like never before at United, a club that has broken giants of the game like Mourinho and Louis van Gaal as well as Ten Hag, who was one of the most admired coaches in Europe before he took the reins of the Red Devils. Amorim now enjoys a similar status as one of the most coveted tacticians in the game, and it looks to be his turn to dive into the unforgiving waters of Old Trafford. But he has already turned one sinking ship around in Sporting, and his fresh thinking and ideas could be just what this historic fallen giant needs.