Man Utd told they must let Ruben Amorim make immediate change to fix team
Manchester United are days away from welcoming new boss Ruben Amorim to Old Trafford and have been warned by a club legend to give the 39-year-old free rein
by Ben Crawford · The MirrorManchester United legend Paul Scholes has urged patience to allow Ruben Amorim to implement his tactical vision.
With Erik ten Hag's tenure over and Ruud van Nistelrooy filling the gap, Amorim will touch down in Manchester on November 11. The soon-to-be ex-Sporting CP boss arrives already with a notch on his belt from defeating rivals Manchester City in the Champions League.
Amorim is expected to bring a different set-up: a three-at-the-back formation that is comfortable in possession but also out of it, as shown against Pep Guardiola’s side, with an emphasis on width and a high-intensity press.
Whilst this may be a significant change for many of the Red Devils’ cohort - who may have never been part of such a set-up before - Scholes, who played over 700 times for the club, has pleaded with the squad to be patient with the conversion and reap the rewards of it.
“The old-fashioned three at the back - we tried it a few times, and I reckon we lasted about 10-12 minutes before we said ‘it’s not working,’” Scholes said on The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet.
“We always went back to a back four, which is what we knew. We [United] are in a position now where you can’t look and think we’re a 4-4-2 team, or a 4-4-1-1 team – we’ve got to bow to whatever this new coach wants.
“What he’s done at Sporting has been brilliant, but the level of expectation will be a lot more at Manchester United. I just wonder – if Manchester City really wanted him, why would he take the Manchester United job?
“As a young coach, it might be his only chance to manage a big club - and if you fail at Manchester United, other managers struggle to find good jobs. Where does Ten Hag go from here? It [the United job] felt like José Mourinho’s last big job as well.”
While Scholes reiterates that it is vital that Amorim succeeds, it is equally as vital that he is given the chance to and that players accept and adapt to his three-at-the-back system.
The critical change defensively will see players like Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt need to occupy that central defensive position, while Leny Yoro and Lisandro Martinez will need to adjust to being installed as a wider centre-half.
Wing-backs are crucial to Amorim’s system, providing width in areas up the pitch, and players like Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui must now master the role.
The 39-year-old’s adaptable 3-4-3, which can shift into a 4-2-4 when building up, a 5-2-3 when defending, and a 3-2-5 when attacking, is a big ask for some players to conform to, but as Scholes states, it is pivotal that the squad and club as a whole buy into the new manager’s ideals, or risk undergoing yet another overhaul in the near future.
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