Ruben Amorim has arrived in England as the latest manager tasked with bringing back Manchester United's glory days.
Amorim is the sixth permanent manager to work at Old Trafford since Sir Alex Ferguson resigned in 2013, following David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erik ten Hag.
The other five managers have all delivered mixed results, but none have been able to return United to the top of the Premier League or Champions League.
Still only 39, Amorim has built a reputation as one of Europe's best young managers after winning two domestic titles with Sporting CP. He admits his job at United will be tough, but insists he is ready for the challenge of turning around the fortunes of one of the world's biggest clubs.
As Amorim’s reign begins against Ipswich Town on November 24, there are a number of issues facing the Portuguese tactician, one of which is his choice of full-back.
Speaking after his final game in charge of Sporting, Amorim hinted at continuing to use his favoured 3-4-3 formation at Man United.
“You have to start with a structure you know,” the Portuguese tactician said. There is no reason why Amorim shouldn’t do the same, as that is how he succeeded at Sporting. The problem, however, is that Amorim is inheriting a squad built for variations of the 4-3-3.
United have six centre-backs, enough depth for three central defensive positions. However, the search for full-backs could be a little more complicated. Diogo Dalot, Noussair Mazraoui and Luke Shaw are the most obvious candidates, but what about Alejandro Garnacho and Amad Diallo?
When attacking, Amorim’s full-backs will push up high, like wingers. But when defending, his team will retreat to a 5-4-1 formation to fend off opposition attacks. This could leave Garnacho and Amad deployed as high-flying full-backs.
If so, they will have to take on more defensive responsibilities than before. Obviously, it will take a relatively long time for Garnacho or Amad to adapt to this.
Taking charge of a club lacking the personnel and foundation to suit his preferred tactical scheme is clearly a huge gamble for Amorim.
