Mourinho tells Amorim what he has to CHANGE to be a Man Utd success

Robin Bairner

• 31 Oct 2024 12:30 GMT
• 3 min read

Jose Mourinho has told Ruben Amorim what he must do in order to be a success at Manchester United – and it involves altering his tactics to suit working at Old Trafford.

Amorim will take over from the sacked Erik ten Hag, with the Sporting CP boss liable to take the reins from interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy following the November international break.

He will become the club’s second permanent Portuguese manager, following in the footsteps of Mourinho, who coached the Red Devils between 2016-18.

READ MORE: Amorim requests TRIPLE Sporting swoop – including Antony replacement

And ‘Mou’ has already endorsed Amorim as a worthy replacement for Ten Hag, saying that he is capable of coaching at any club in the world.

Equally, though, the Manchester Evening News reports that Mourinho has given a warning to the incoming Man Utd boss about his tactical approach at Old Trafford.

In particular, the veteran boss, who is now with Fenerbahce, thinks that Amorim will have to adopt a new formation.

“Mourinho believes Amorim will not be as gung-ho as his favoured 3-4-3 formation suggests as he switches to a 5-4-1 shape out of possession with a low block,” according to the MEN.

“Mourinho insists Amorim never changes his approach regardless of the opposition and his tactics provide depth for the wingers and the striker. He described his style as ‘always intense’.”

What formation does Amorim play?

Amorim is a disciple of the 3-4-3 system, having used it almost exclusively throughout his coaching career, which saw him fast-tracked at Braga from the ‘B’ team to the top job, then quickly picked up by Sporting CP.

Remarkably, he has started with a back four only once in his entire time at Sporting, which has seen him take charge of well over 200 matches. This rare occurrence was also in a cup match against a lower-league opponent.

Man Utd fans will be eager to see a manager with this sense of identity after struggling to get to grips with what Ten Hag was trying to do with his team.