As Ruben Amorim gets ready for his first match as Manchester United manager on Sunday against Ipswich Town, there’s a lot of speculation about the kind of manager he will be behind the scenes for the club, beyond just what he will change tactically or which new players he will bring in.
At Sporting CP, Amorim built up his reputation as one of the best up-and-coming managers in world football because of his ability to build a winning culture and develop young talent.
Manchester United haven’t had that. They’ve done a woeful job at developing young players, because, beyond Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho, most of their young investments over the years have failed to reach their potential.
Blockbuster Monaco signing Anthony Martial is an obvious example, and even current starter Marcus Rashford hasn’t quite reached his potential. On a more macro scale, Manchester United, despite being the second-most valuable football club in the world, have not been relevant title contenders since Sir Alex Ferguson left.
Amorim has come in and told it like it is, assessing that Manchester United are years away from being the title contenders they used to always be in the 2000s and 2010s:
“I have two years and a half. In two years you can understand if I am the right manager to go in this process. We will need more time – if you look at the clubs who are winning this league, they are doing this process for a long time.
“I understand we will need more than two and a half years. We have to win something, somewhere, but in two years you can understand if you want to continue this part [with him] or change.
“You have here different types of coaches: the guys that won everything like Van Gaal and Mourinho, the new ones that knew the club inside out like Solskjær, then one of the best outside the top five leagues – Ten Hag. We have to improve as a club and acknowledge we have to win games. You have different coaches, the same results. We will try to do the INEOS way, my way.”
These are great quotes to both temper expectations around his players and himself as the incoming manager. Ruben Amorim is controlling the narrative and telling INEOS that this is a long-term project that they must back him for, lest they end up just like the Glazers and in a situation where they are cycling through managers who are just as talented as him without any results to speak of.
Manchester United made the wrong hire with Erik ten Hag, but when he came in, he was successful at Ajax despite having no experience at the elite level. Amorim is in the same boat, so, therefore, it is smart not to fully throw the guy he is replacing under the bus.
At the same time, Amorim, in other quotes, has made it clear that he can bring something different to the table with the current crop of players than the Dutchman did, and he isn’t making excuses preemptively (a Ten Hag favorite) or downplaying what he can do to help the team this season.
But when it comes to unseating a powerhouse on the level of Manchester City or building a squad with as much elite talent as Liverpool have, Amorim knows it is going to take time for Manchester United to do it the right way, sustainably.
If his quotes sound an awful lot like a more measured version of Ralf Rangnick’s, that’s because they are. Amorim has some similarities philosophically to Rangnick, but, unlike the German coach, he doesn’t come with the baggage of ego of being a legendary figure in a different league/setting.
Amorim may be harsh when he says that Manchester United are potentially three years away from truly competing in the Premier League, but in doing so, he’s finally being a manager who sets clear, realistic expectations and trying to bring some stability in what has been an annual fest of alarm bells at Old Trafford.
