Even after a decade of abject mediocrity, the pull of Manchester United remains strong. This was proven by the Old Trafford club’s appointment of Ruben Amorim who will take over later this month. The Sporting CP manager is regarded as one of the brightest young coaches in soccer and United was, as he puts it, “the club [he] wanted.”
There is a lot of work to be done at Old Trafford. United are currently slumped in 13th in the Premier League table. They have suffered their worst-ever start to a season in the modern era and have scored just nine goals in 10 games – only relegation-threatened Southampton and Crystal Palace have scored fewer.
Manchester United have endured several lows since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement 11 years ago, but this might be a new nadir for the club. Never before have The Red Devils been so far adrift of the top level of English soccer. There are no quick fixes that will send United back to the top even with the appointment of a new manager.
And yet there is genuine hope that this time might be different for Manchester United. There have been false dawns before, but the club is in a different place to where it was even a year ago after the arrival of Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS as minority owners at the start of 2024. Amorim might actually have a chance of turning around United’s fortunes.
INEOS might only be minority owners, but they have been given sporting control of Manchester United by the Glazers who simply didn’t care about the soccer side of the club for the best part of two decades. Ratcliffe – a boyhood United supporter – has publicly stated his desire to overhaul all areas of the club for success.
This overhaul started with the reconstruction of the front office over the summer. Dan Ashworth was lured from Newcastle United to be Manchester United’s new sporting director with Jason Wilcox joining from Southampton as technical director. On top of this, Omar Berrada came in from Manchester City as United’s new CEO.
The hope is that this expertise will point the Old Trafford outfit in the right direction after years of drifting without any real sporting structure. Manchester United needed to modernise off-the-field to improve on it, and they have at least demonstrated a desire to do this with some of the recent hires they have made.
Of course, it will take United some time to remould its squad in Amorim’s image. They gave Erik ten Hag too much influence over transfer strategy and this led to several ill-judged signings. Over £600m was spent on new signings under the previous manager and only Lisandro Martinez has been a relative success from that contingent.
Amorim has favoured a back three at Sporting CP and it’s entirely possible he could use the same shape as Manchester United manager. This could help give The Red Devils some much-needed security at the back, there are questions over who could operate in the wing back positions. This could require some squad remoulding to truly work.
It’s also uncertain how some attacking talents like Bruno Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho will fit into Amorim’s vision. Fernandes might not be mobile enough to survive in the front three Amorim likes to use while there is no role in that formation for an out-and-out winger like Garnacho. Both players will have to adapt.
With Sporting CP set to face Manchester City in the Champions League this week, Amorim will officially take over at Manchester United on November 11. He will have the international break to get his feet under the desk at Old Trafford and assess what he has within the squad he has inherited, but this will likely be the start of a years-long process.
Nonetheless, United needed to start somewhere having wasted so much time under ten Hag and the arrival of Amorim could spark a new era for the club. If The Red Devils have the right people making decisions off the field, in both the front office and the coaching department. It’s only a matter of time until improvements are made on the pitch.
