Five issues Rúben Amorim must address as Man United manager

Rúben Amorim has arrived in England as the latest coach charged with bringing back Manchester United‘s glory days. He’s the sixth permanent boss to take the top job at Old Trafford since Sir Alex Ferguson stepped down in 2013 following on from David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, José Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erik ten Hag. The other five have overseen mixed results, but no one has yet been able to take United back to the top in the Premier League or the Champions League.

Still only 39, Amorim has forged a reputation as one of the best young coaches in Europe after winning two league titles in charge of Sporting CP. He’s admitted his task at United will be “difficult,” but insists he’s ready for the challenge of flipping the fortunes of one of the biggest clubs in the world.

With his reign set to start with his first game, against Ipswich Town on Nov. 24, here are some of the big issues facing United’s new head coach.

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1. Pick his wing-backs

Speaking after his final Sporting game on Sunday, Amorim gave his strongest hint yet that he intends to play his preferred 3-4-3 system from the off at United, saying: “You have to start with a structure that you know.” There’s no reason why he shouldn’t because it’s the way he’s been successful at Sporting. The issue, however, is that he’s inheriting a squad built for variations of 4-3-3 which means, for now, he’ll have to use square pegs for round holes.

United have six senior centre-backs — plenty of depth for the three positions in the centre of defence — but finding wing-backs might be slightly more complicated, opening the door for some players to undergo a positional makeover. Diogo Dalot, Noussair Mazraoui and Luke Shaw are the most obvious candidates for the wide roles, but what about Alejandro Garnacho and Amad Diallo?

Amorim plays with two inside forwards (a pair of creative No. 10s) rather than high-and-wide wingers, which could see Garnacho and Amad accommodated as hybrid full-backs. It would mean taking on more defensive responsibility than they’re used to, something that could be learned under the right coach.

2. Find a place for Marcus Rashford

Amorim’s preference for three centre-backs rather than two means that, because of simple maths as much as anything else, United will set up with one fewer attacking player in the team. There will be a central striker (likely Rasmus Højlund or Joshua Zirkzee) with two No.10s behind him. One of those positions will go to Bruno Fernandes, but the other is up for grabs. It’s the most likely role for Marcus Rashford, but it will require compromise from a player who has made no secret of his preference to play on the left side of a front three.

Rashford can certainly do the job from an attacking point of view. Toward the end of his reign, Ten Hag used Rashford as an inside forward on the right with Garnacho pushed out on the left wing. It was from there that Rashford hit a glorious pass to Garnacho to score against Brentford. The question, though, is whether Rashford can be relied upon to do the defensive side of the job.

Amorim’s two No.10s — Francisco Trincão and Pedro Gonçalves were superb against Manchester City — are expected to press and retreat behind the ball quickly when possession turns over. One of the criticisms of Rashford from United fans is that he doesn’t always work hard enough out of possession, whether it’s tracking back or putting pressure on the ball. That won’t be tolerated by Amorim.

3. Develop Rasmus Højlund

Scoring goals was a big problem for Ten Hag throughout his time in charge and in the end, it contributed to his downfall. In his two full seasons, United scored 115 Premier League goals; to put that into context, Manchester City scored 190 over the same time period. Newcastle United scored 153. Sporting scored 96 goals on their way to the Portuguese title last season and Amorim needs someone to put the ball in the net for him at United.

Zirkzee has looked way off the pace since his summer move from Bologna, scoring once in 16 appearances. Højlund looks a better fit for Amorim’s system, but he needs to develop into a prolific goal-scorer. He’s got 18 goals in 55 games since arriving from Atalanta in 2023 and even though it’s a lot to ask for a player who is still only 21, those numbers need to improve quickly.

Amorim got the best out of Viktor Gyökeres at Sporting — he’s got 66 goals in 68 games since arriving from Coventry in 2023 — and turned the Sweden international into one of the most sought-after strikers in Europe. If he can do the same with Højlund, it will pave the way for success at United.

4. Make Old Trafford a fortress again

Amorim is picking up United from a low ebb. Sitting 13th in the table, expectations for the rest of this season are modest and he can use that to his advantage. No one is expecting the new boss to immediately start sweeping aside Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal, but making it hard for opposing teams to get results at Old Trafford is something small, but it would be a step in the right direction.

Overall, Amorim needs to change the momentum. United lost six of their 19 league games at home last season, and have already suffered heavy home defeats to Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur during this campaign.

A new coach coming in and trying to implement a new style mid-season is always going to have teething problems. But if Amorim can start churning out results at Old Trafford, it will immediately put him on the right track. Home games against Bodo/Glimt, Everton, Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth and Newcastle before the turn of the year are all winnable.

5. Play with a pattern

One of the key criticisms against Ten Hag during his two-and-a-half-year tenure was that fans struggled to see what his plan was for this team. He struggled to implement the quick, high-intensity football that made him so successful at Ajax, which left his United team without a clear identity. There’s a general acceptance among United supporters that Amorim faces an uphill task in the early months of his reign, but if he can display his tactical principles — aggressive pressing and a high defensive line — on a regular basis, it will earn him a lot of credit even if results don’t immediately follow.

It’s likely that Amorim will have to adapt his style to the Premier League and to the players he has available, but a clear way of playing will help win over the fans quickly.