Ruben Amorim is set to take over at AC Milan, and in the process, pick a battle he lost already at Manchester United.
Football will come full circle much quicker than anyone thought at Man Utd, as Ruben Amorim will be in the opposition dugout less than two months from now.
Man Utd face AC Milan in their final pre-season game on August 15, and Amorim will be in the opposition dugout after sealing the deal to become their new manager.
It’s another fallen giant after his Utd spell, but that’s not where the similarities end.
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Ruben Amorim is walking into a similar structure at AC Milan
For all his bad results at Old Trafford, Amorim’s sacking was prompted by his explosive last-ever press conference after the Leeds game away.
He called out everyone at the club, from the CEO to the scouts and sporting director, and his position was untenable since.
The sack arrived soon after, and Amorim fell on the sword of being a “manager”, not a “head coach”.
Surprise, surprise, then, that minutes after Amorim’s Milan gig was confirmed, reports emerged that Milan had hired Markus Krosche as their new sporting director.
To be fair to Amorim, he worked under a sporting director at Sporting as well, Hugo Viana, but the identity of that club is beyond any one person.
Players join Sporting knowing they’ll eventually be sold, and the conveyor belt keeps going.
At clubs like Milan and Utd, frustration can easily seep in when first-choice targets aren’t landed, or perceived “ambition” falls short of reality.
That was Amorim’s breaking point at Old Trafford, and the same could quite easily repeat in Milan.
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Amorim will have to show growth and evolution in Italy because his United spell was so bad it has largely written off what he achieved at Sporting.
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The fact that another sleeping giant has trusted him with a project is surprising in itself, so if he fails here, he will have to take a step down on the club ladder.
Erik ten Hag’s time comes to mind, where his United job got him the Bayer Leverkusen job, but once things imploded there, he never entered management again.
He is not in a boardroom role despite joining Utd as one of Europe’s most exciting coaches.
Amorim is far too young to entertain that prospect, but to avoid taking a step down, he will have to prove himself at Milan in the exact same structure he had his breaking point in at United.
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