Ruben Amorim has his feet under the table at Manchester United’s Carrington training ground as he begins work in earnest after officially taking charge of the club.
Amorim has been quick to get to work with the players readily at his disposal during the international break, which include a mish-mash of those recently recovered from injury, like Luke Shaw and Leny Yoro, and those who have fallen out of the international picture, such as Marcus Rashford and Mason Mount.
Ahead of his first game in charge this weekend against Ipswich Town, here is what we learned from Amorim’s early days on the training ground.
3-4-3 is locked in
Clips from Amorim’s first training session show United’s players set up in the same 3-4-3 shape he deployed for almost his entire career as Sporting manager, with an outfield line-up of: Leny Yoro, Jonny Evans, Luke Shaw; Antony, Casemiro, Kobbie Mainoo, Tyrell Malacia; Amad Diallo, Marcus Rashford, Mason Mount.
Amorim had hinted in an interview last week that he had decided on his initial system and that it would be something familiar to begin with, and evidently that familiarity referred to himself and his coaching staff, rather than the players. They must prove their place in the new setup or it could be a long season on the fringes.
Get ready to run
The training footage released by the club showed clear examples of Amorim demanded hard running from his players, particularly in a drill where they lost the ball while attacking and had to sprint back to their own half.
While the segment may well have been edited to show off the players’ appetite for hard work under the new manager, and perhaps send a positive message to fans watching, there’s no doubt Amorim will be highly demanding of his players and will require huge physical effort.
Rashford has competition
Rashford is positioned as the No 9 in the clips, suggesting Amorim sees him as a striker rather than one of the two No 10s. With no classic left-wing role in the manager’s favoured formation, Rashford may have to show that he can lead the line like Sporting’s sensation Viktor Gyokeres to win Amorim’s affections.
But he faces competition for the striker berth from Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee. It is perhaps the most competitive part of the pitch, and Rashford’s future as a United player may well rest on winning the battle with his younger teammates.
The reinvention of Antony?
The player synonymous with Erik ten Hag’s drab tenure is £86m Antony, the Brazilian winger singed from Ajax who struggled to replicate his Eredivisie form in the Premier League. Here Antony was used as a right wing-back, and while United fans might raise their eyebrows at the thought, Amorim has plenty of experience transforming wingers into wing-backs during his four years at Sporting. Could this be a new lease of life for United’s maligned man?
Shaw’s centre-back role
Shaw would appear the most natural option at left wingback when fully fit, but he was positioned at left centre-back in the clips, a role he has occasionally played before. While it may have simply been the result of finding a suitable space on the training field for the defender to fill, could Amorim play Shaw in the back three at first? With Lisandro Martinez currently injured, perhaps Shaw – who has missed most of the season through injury – could be eased back into the team in that role.
