Establish playing style with a 3-defender formation
In more than 4 years in charge at Sporting Lisbon, Ruben Amorim has never used another 3-4-3 formation. From now until the time of his debut match against Ipswich Town in the Premier League, the 39-year-old coach will have very little time to find suitable personnel for this way of playing.
Man United have a lot of central defenders and could fall into a surplus crisis in this position if Amorim pursues a 3-4-3 formation. On the contrary, they have very few full-backs or pure wingers to suit the new coach's requirements. Currently, the "Red Devils" only have Noussair Mazraoui and Diogo Dalot who can play on the wing. Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia are very good but it is unknown when they will return from injury.
When applying the 3-4-3 formation, Amorim quite likes to use left-footed players on the wing. Therefore, some of the Man United wingers could be pushed away from the opponent's penalty area to play according to the Portuguese strategist's wishes.
Reviving confidence
In Ruud van Nistelrooy's 4 seasons as caretaker manager, this has been somewhat overcome. However, it is still not enough for Man United to return to their original strength. Ruben Amorim needs to complete this task as soon as possible.
When Amorim first took up the job at Sporting, this team had gone nearly 20 years without knowing the taste of winning the Primeira Liga. Then, with great enthusiasm and encouragement for the players, Amorim made history. Before he left Jose Alvalade, Sporting had won all 11 matches since the beginning of the domestic season.
Being quite young as a coach (39) is an advantage for Amorim as he will have a closer way of talking and understanding the players. When he was at Sporting, the Portuguese strategist was commented to be someone who was easy to approach the media and did not like to create scandals.
Amorim's squad inherited from Van Nistelrooy and Ten Hag is still very good, as evidenced by the ability to win titles and victory over big opponents. As long as the players are confident, superb goals like Bruno or Garnacho's last weekend can happen again at any time.
Solving the problem of Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee
Since the beginning of the season, the "Red Devils" striker pair have only scored 3 goals. Zirkzee left a disappointing performance throughout the whole period with his slow, unchanging playing style. Meanwhile, Hojlund was still very active when given the opportunity but he was too gentle in front of the opponent's goal.
During Van Nistelrooy's interim tenure, many M.U players have flourished again, but Hojlund is not among them. Last season, the Danish striker had a scoring streak in 6 consecutive matches. It will be very difficult for Man United to spend money in the transfer market to find a new striker. Therefore, Amorim must restore Hojlund's form as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, apart from the goal against Fulham in round 1 of the Premier League, Zirkzee has not had any more goals in all competitions. When pulled down to play closer to the midfield, the Dutch star seemed more useful. However, the Red Devils' midfield is too crowded and the team did not buy Zirkzee to play in this role.
Therefore, Amorim's urgent task is to revive the two "number 9s" of the team. If he can do this, Man United's attack will be very strong.
