Former Manchester United assistant Mike Phelan is not expecting outstanding results from Ruben Amorim straight away in the Old Trafford dugout.
He is not expecting the likely Erik ten Hag replacement to turn Manchester United into Premier League title challengers as early as 2024/25.
Phelan is not asking the man who guided Sporting Lisbon to their first domestic title in 19 years to go toe-to-toe with Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta from day one.
There is an acceptance that – despite this being arguably Man United’s most impressive squad since perhaps the early Jose Mourinho era in terms of pure quality – it will take some time to undo all the mistakes made by Erik ten Hag and the despised Glazer family, this being very much a collaborate effort these days between Ineos and their fleet of new hires with Ruben Amorim the final piece of a re-jigged jigsaw.
Mike Phelan spells out Ruben Amorim’s first task at Manchester United
One thing Phelan does want to see as Man United close in on the appointment of former Portugal international Amorim, however, is a quickfire transformation of their on-pitch approach.
And, given that the Red Devils spent much of the Erik ten Hag era lurching blindly from game to game without any hint of a set style except kick-and-rush chaos, it should not be beyond Amorim to instil some order and maybe even a few patterns of play.
Imagine that.
“With the group of players, he will probably have to do his homework. He will know results have not been great,” Phelan, who worked under Sir Alex Ferguson, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick at Man United, tells talkSPORT [30 October, 11am].
“He has to create some sort of performance. An identity on the pitch.
“That has to be a relatively immediate effect, because that is what he will be judged on pretty early. And then [United can] build from there.”
Phelan explains the Ole Gunnar Solksjaer impact at Old Trafford
One thing you cannot accuse Ruben Amorim’s teams of lacking is an identity.
Gary Neville feels this Man United roster is well-suited to a three-at-the-back system. A defensive shift which could suit Lisandro Martinez and Diogo Dalot, in particular, down to the ground.
Neville will be delighted to learn, then, that Amorim has used wing-backs to largely exceptional results ever since taking charge of Sporting Lisbon back in 2020.
And while Amorim has a lot on his plate if he is to salvage a season which could hardly have started much worse – United are 14th in the Premier League and 21st in the Europa League table – it is not entirely unheard of for a new face and a clean slate to instil stunning improvements amongst a disillusioned squad crying out for some novel ideas.
Phelan was part of Solskjaer’s backroom staff when the club legend replaced Jose Mourinho in late-2018 and set United on a thrilling run of 14 wins from 17 games.
“I think [the Man United players] have got washed up a little bit in the way they’ve played. Consistency has been lacking,” adds Phelan. “I look back to Ole. Straight away, he got off to a flyer.
“Building that atmosphere, building that camaraderie [is vital for a new manager].”
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