The excitement around Ruben Amorim’s arrival at Manchester United heightened after Sporting Lisbon’s dominant win over Manchester City.
In his final home game in charge of Sporting Lisbon, Ruben Amorim led his side to a 4-1 victory over Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
It was City’s heaviest Champions League defeat since 2016, with Amorim giving United fans a glimpse of what to expect when he takes charge of the Red Devils on November 11th.
United fans were blown away by Viktor Gyokeres, who scored a hat-trick to help Sporting come back from going a goal down to City early on.
It was a fairytale ending for Amorim as he prepares to leave the Portuguese side, but he made a startling admission after the full-time whistle.
Ruben Amorim admits style of play will change at Man United
One of the biggest criticisms of Erik ten Hag’s tenure at Old Trafford was that his United side never had a clear identity or style of play.
The Dutchman turned against the style of play he implemented at Ajax which helped him land the United job in the first place.
Despite being underdogs against City, Amorim stuck to his 3-4-3 system which suggests United will finally have a playing style under the young Portuguese coach.
After the match, however, Amorim claimed that United “cannot play the way we play”.
They are the exact words that United fans heard from Ten Hag, but before supporters sigh and say ‘here we go again’, it is actually great news for supporters that Amorim is planning to evolve.
Ruben Amorim wants his Man United side to dominate
Amorim is not suggesting a complete overhaul of his tactics.
Amorim’s full quotes read: “United cannot play the way we play, they cannot be so defensive. We will have to adapt.”
Despite beating City 4-1, Amorim is already looking at ways that his side could have controlled the game more.
Sporting ended Tuesday’s match with 27 percent possession – ultimately that stat is futile when they ended up as 4-1 victors, but clearly Amorim wants his United side to dominate the ball and not rely on counter-attacks.
Amorim continued: “Of course it’s good to beat City. But I’ll be living in a different world in Manchester, we’ll have to start from a different point.
“This was a one-off and we had luck on our side. I will take this to the Premier League, but it will be different in Manchester. It will be fun and I am ready for the challenge.”
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
