Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has revealed the inspiration behind his tactical approach.
One frequent complaint Manchester United fans had under managers Erik ten Hag and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was that the team lacked a distinct tactical identity.
Ruben Amorim was appointed as an antidote to these gripes, but there has been a key problem under the new head coach’s reign: his tactics have not been executed very well.
United’s squad was an ill-fit for Amorim’s style, and even after a summer transfer window, the team’s results have been poor, with only two league wins from six matches.
Nonetheless, Amorim remains committed to his tactics and will go down his way, if his tenure does not work out.
Ruben Amorim explains origin of his tactics
Ruben Amorim says Dutch football legend Johan Cruyff was the inspiration by his decision to switch from coaching a 4-4-2 system, to change to his favoured 3-4-2-1.
He told TNT Sports: “In the beginning, I started with 4-4-2, but I changed because of small things you see other teams doing.
“I grew up with the Italian league, I grew up seeing old tapes from Cruyff, the build up with three, and then I remember when I started coaching, all the teams built up with three, and pushed the full-backs up, and we struggled with a back four to cover the space with five guys on top of us.
“I started thinking about what I should do, because that is the fun part, and I started doing this system, for the first years it was not normal, so it was good for me, and the good part is trying to adapt the way you see football to every system of the opponent.”
Amorim promises his tactics will continue to adapt and change, but says his system is so unique that he cannot make instant adaptations.
“I’m always saying the same thing, this is going to evolve, we are going to change the system, but it’s not a normal system, so sometimes you take longer to go from this system to another system, that is what I’m doing.”
Manchester United fans want wins
Ruben Amorim talks the talk, he has done since day one. He has been a strong communicator, and this was a breath of fresh air after Erik ten Hag’s often abrupt approach.
But there has clearly been an issue, where Amorim’s ideas either are not being communicated to his players well, or they are simply flawed.
Amorim is also not helping himself by taking sub-optimal decisions to place extra stress on his tactical setup.
One example is playing Bruno Fernandes as a deeper lying midfielder, exposing the defensive weakness in his game, and putting the whole team off-kilter.
Another is his insistence in playing Altay Bayindir in goal, who is clearly not good enough. He has been tipped to make a change this coming weekend, and it would be overdue.
United fans are tired of the poor results, and just want a run of solid wins. It is overdue.
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