Amorim IN, Ten Hag OUT: Man Utd's season has been ruined by INEOS

Cameron Smith

• 1 Nov 2024 12:17 GMT
• 4 min read

Erik ten Hag’s time at Manchester United is officially over and the club have appointed Ruben Amorim as his replacement.

The former Sporting CP boss, who will start in his new role on November 11, is one of the most highly-rated head coaches in European football and he is finally set to join the Premier League after years of interest from the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool.

Man Utd have picked up one of the best young managers on the planet and while there’s no guarantee that Amorim will be an improvement on Ten Hag, his track record is sublime.

READ MORE: Official - Man Utd appoint Ruben Amorim

Last season, the Portuguese boss guided Sporting to just their second league title since 2002, despite having far less financial backing than both Benfica and Porto.

Amorim has turned Viktor Gyokeres into one of the most feared strikers in the world, while he played a key role in the development of Joao Palhinha, Manuel Ugarte, Matheus Nunes and Pedro Porro, to name just a few.

READ MORE: How Man Utd will line up under Ruben Amorim

Man Utd’s Ruben Amorim error

INEOS certainly deserve credit for acting quickly to secure Amorim’s services, but they have arguably ruined Man Utd’s season by deciding to stick with Ten Hag for this long.

The Dutchman earned a contract extension simply due to Man Utd’s triumph in the 2024 FA Cup final, with the club’s lowest finish in Premier League history seemingly swept under the carpet by Sir Jim Ratcliffe and co.

Ten Hag should never have been Man Utd manager for the opening week of the 2024-25 campaign and INEOS’ decision to keep him until late October has ruined their chances of a successful season.

Plenty of head coaches have enjoyed an immediate resurgence upon their arrival and Amorim will likely experience a similar ‘new manager bounce’ when he officially takes charge of Man Utd.

However, he favours a 3-4-3 system, which is a formation that Man Utd have never consistently played in the Premier League era.

Of course, Thomas Tuchel was able to implement this style of play to great success upon joining Chelsea in early 2021, but the German simply built a strong defensive structure and this helped the Blues achieve Champions League glory within months of his arrival.

Man Utd, on the other hand, need all the help they can get in attack as the Red Devils have only scored eight goals in nine Premier League games this term. However, building a fluid attack is typically far more difficult than sorting out defensive issues.

If Amorim had arrived during the summer, he would’ve had ample time to implement a new formation and prevent Man Utd’s attacking woes. But, he is arriving mid-season and that is completely INEOS’ fault.

With the Red Devils currently 14th in the Premier League table, achieving European football this season already looks a longshot and INEOS must take the blame for retaining Ten Hag rather than appointing Amorim over the summer.