Whilst my opinion on whether we should stick with Amorim going into the new season has wavered at times, I still feel that we must give him the opportunity to show us what he can do.
Whilst on Facebook yesterday, I cam across the following post regarding Amorim on a United page, apparently from a Sporting fan:
------------------------------------
“Hey mate, I am going to message you because I now follow a few Manchester United accounts and you are one of my favorite ones.
“I know you back Amorim but I need to tell you a couple of things about him so you have a bit more insights and knowledge about the manager he really is.
“First of all, you need to understand that this man, despite being a Benfica fan all his life, is the most important person that Sporting have had (in the football department) in the past 40-50 years. We came from 3 titles in 40 years. Three! And the man set us up for 3 in 5 years.
“Second, you need to understand how that man works. He is a leader, and he uses his leadership by connecting with the players. Sporting players gave their lives on the pitch for the guy. Check his last match with us: Braga 2-4 Sporting. Our second/third most important player, Pedro Gonçalves, played injured just because he wanted to play for Amorim’s last match. He ended up being injured for the next five months.
“A lot of this important connection with the players happens in the summer. Amorim always takes the team for 2-3 weeks in the summer and he just builds a team from there. We don’t know how he does it, but when the season starts, the players just look at each other as family. The environment you feel in the locker room is something you have never seen before.
“This is another reason why he needs his time, and it’s always why that comment saying “what kind of manager needs 8-10 players to win matches?" - trust me, he does not. He needs to win the locker room. He needs a summer to implant on them the idea that they can win against anyone. And he will do exactly that.
“Lastly, understand that Amorim is much more than a coach. He is a proper boss/manager. We will restructure the whole club. It’s very important that people understand this.
“At Sporting, he made us a winning team by improving much more than the main squad - he improved the scouting, the staff, the youth teams. He created his own performance team. He simply changed this club from one point to the other.
“He went to Manchester to do exactly that. You can believe me when I say that if it was an invitation from Real Madrid, at that exact moment, he wouldn’t have leave Sporting. He wanted that exact context of Manchester United, he wanted to grab a club with massive potential and completely change it. He will do just that.
“Keep backing the guy. Don’t trust the nonsense of him needing lots of players or a lot of money… just look at his first few months at Sporting. He was the fourth (!) coach that season. We finished fourth. The next season, first match, we lost 1-4 against Lask Linz and missed the Europa League qualification.
“Then he grabbed a couple of youngsters, hired Pedro Porro + a couple of guys he had in Braga and proceeded to win our first title in 19 years. The rest is history."
------------------------------------
I think the above is probably a more insightful assessment of Amorim than most United fans are able to provide. There is no guarantee that he will be a success, but I feel that the pay-off if he does turn things around will be significant enough that we must sit tight and back him moving into the new season. If we are still this bad after 10 games of next season then there will be a decision to make.
Amorim must be given a chance
posted on 16/5/25
JSPC, LVG would probably say that he didn't change his principles, and Amorim would probably point out that he has tinkered a lot with the balance and execution of his style.
I may be very wrong, but I think the biggest adaptation for the players isn't the 3-4-3 but stuff like what you need to do in order to press effectively, discipline about relative positions in and out of possession, being decisive and brave in possession, etc. It seems to me that those are not dissimilar to the to-do list that ETH abandoned after the first three matches of his tenure.
posted on 16/5/25
Good comment from the Sporting fan, he has hit an important point in that no manager in relevent times has seemingly managed to get these players on side. Many have commented on club culture, Amorim included, so I'm fully on board with giving him the summer to try and begin what will be a long journey for the club to get back it's win at all costs mentality.
posted on 16/5/25
comment by Ji Sung Park's Cousin (U2958)
posted 3 hours, 43 minutes ago
I'm all for him carrying on, then i see us play and have second thoughts!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
It’s the hope that kills you. Pretty much after every Europa game I have looked forward to the weekend in the hope we could carry it on.
And then I get kicked in the nuts by this team.
posted on 16/5/25
I seem to remember even LVG changing his style of play after the 5-3 loss at Leicester.
…..
That was LVG’s downfall.
posted on 16/5/25
I don't think the formation is that much of an issue. Like it wouldn't have been in the 2008 CL final had we moved Brown to RCB and Hargreaves to RWB with Evra as LWB. It's IMO really more to do with the players not having the necessary qualities collectively to gel. We have such a mixed bag of profiles it's really hard to get a tune out of them.
I do think we have seen some progress though. Onana doesn't seem to have as much to do and we are creating opportunities to score. I know it's somewhat simplistic but even with an average performing centre forward we'd have garnered a lot more points.
It's not that chances are missed they're missed at key moments. We've conceded first so many times after fluffing good chances but, I think the stats would show, we've been pretty good when going in front for the most part.
It wouldn't take much of a statistical change for the results to look a whole lot better.
posted on 16/5/25
comment by manutd1982 (U6633)
posted 5 hours, 16 minutes ago
I read the other day he's given just under 500 interviews since he joined us.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I think he did pretty well in one of them as well.
posted on 16/5/25
comment by Diafol Coch 77 🏴 JA606 Class Act (U2462)
posted 53 minutes ago
I don't think the formation is that much of an issue. Like it wouldn't have been in the 2008 CL final had we moved Brown to RCB and Hargreaves to RWB with Evra as LWB. It's IMO really more to do with the players not having the necessary qualities collectively to gel. We have such a mixed bag of profiles it's really hard to get a tune out of them.
I do think we have seen some progress though. Onana doesn't seem to have as much to do and we are creating opportunities to score. I know it's somewhat simplistic but even with an average performing centre forward we'd have garnered a lot more points.
It's not that chances are missed they're missed at key moments. We've conceded first so many times after fluffing good chances but, I think the stats would show, we've been pretty good when going in front for the most part.
It wouldn't take much of a statistical change for the results to look a whole lot better.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Diafol
posted on 16/5/25
That was the thing I kept hearing about Amorim before you appointed him. People talked about his tactics as they do with all managers, but the thing that kept coming up was how good of a communicator/leader he is & it does transmit when you see him with the press. He does have a gravitating presence about him, and unusually (for modern football) it's not manic energy like Klopp or Conte, it's dignified/calm.
Whether he's the right one for you remains to be seen, but you do have to give him a proper chance. He made an extremely bold call this season, one I wouldn't have been happy with as a fan but respect from afar, of treating this half season like a 9 month pre-season - and I'm 100% sure he told Radcliffe he'd do this if he came in immediately. So if you sack him now you've literaily wasted a season! Not in a general, hyperbolically way fans normally talk about, no you rendered an entire season of your existence completely pointless.
posted on 17/5/25
Actually I will just add to that. If you have a proper rebuild this summer & he's happy with it, but still doesn't make adjustments to that primarily system on a game by game basis, then I would be slightly concerned.
I can see a point to him not doing it this season, but if it remains static next season then he might just be an inflexible and/or stubborn tactician.
posted on 17/5/25
Yes I think if he gets a full season there’s a chance you’ll be relegated.