Ruben Amorim's Key Challenges At Manchester United: What Needs Fixing?

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Ruben Amorim has officially taken over as manager of Manchester United. He was appointed on November 1 after Erik ten Hag's dismissal. Before joining United, Amorim completed his final games with Sporting CP, ending his tenure with a 4-2 victory over Braga. This win marked Sporting's 11th consecutive victory in the Primeira Liga this season.

Amorim's departure from Sporting came after a remarkable 4-1 win against Manchester City in the Champions League. This result left Sporting second in their group, trailing only Liverpool. Meanwhile, Manchester United showed improvement under interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy, remaining unbeaten in four matches and securing a 3-0 win over Leicester City.

Despite recent improvements, Manchester United sits 13th in the Premier League standings. Opta's supercomputer gives them just a 13.2% chance of finishing in the top six. However, they are only four points behind Chelsea, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, and Brighton, who occupy third to sixth places.

Amorim's impressive record at Sporting includes managing 231 games across all competitions, the most in the club's history. He won 164 matches and lost just 33 times, achieving a club-record win percentage of 71%. His team scored an average of 2.2 goals per game during his tenure.

Manchester United outperformed their expected goals (xG) against Leicester City by scoring three goals from chances worth only 0.76 xG. However, this contrasts with their overall performance this season. They have the seventh-highest xG in the league (17.52) but have scored only 12 goals.

This underperformance of 5.52 xG is the second-largest negative differential between xG and actual goals scored in the league, with only Crystal Palace faring worse (-5.59). United's big chance conversion rate of 18.75% is also the lowest in the Premier League.

Defensive Organisation

Since the start of the 2022-23 season, Manchester United has recorded an expected goals against (xGA) of 137.8, ranking sixth-highest in the Premier League. Under Ten Hag, they conceded too many chances despite conceding fewer goals than expected (113).

In contrast, Amorim's Sporting had the lowest xGA among ever-present Primeira Liga teams during his tenure (119.7 xGA across 158 league matches). While United's per-game xGA since early 2022 stands at 1.58, Sporting's was just 0.75 under Amorim.

Tactical Adjustments

Amorim plans to implement his successful back-three system from Lisbon at Manchester United to improve both attack and defence. Offensively, Sporting pressed high this season with a passes allowed per defensive action (PPDA) rate of 9.4—the second-lowest in Portugal’s top flight.

This contrasts with United’s PPDA rate of 11.9 for this season—joint tenth in England’s top tier—but they have forced more high turnovers than Sporting (nine per game compared to eight). However, Sporting converted these turnovers into shots more effectively than United.

Bruno Fernandes' role will be crucial as Amorim integrates him into his preferred formation while ensuring he creates consistent opportunities for teammates like Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund who have struggled to score consistently this season.

Amorim aims to instil composure and patience within possession play at Old Trafford by increasing sequences involving ten or more passes—a key factor missing during Ten Hag’s time which saw fewer such sequences compared to Sporting’s current tally.