Ruben Amorim is a very reputable Portuguese football coach. He has emerged as a leading personality in European football. This is impressive as he quickly evolved into a strategist and a tactical genius. He is currently the manager of one of the largest clubs in the world.
Then the analysts point out his rise to the top in coaching. They cite the period of his stay at Braga as evidence of his direct influence. Researchers pay attention to his two titles in league with Sporting CP. Such wins broke a 19-year dry spell. This victory established him as one of the best managers in Europe.
Lastly, a new dawn is marked with the arrival of Amorim. He is more than a tactician. He is an architect of belief. The challenge is immense. He has to change the team and bring a winning culture back. His journey is one to watch.
From Player to Prodigy
Ruben Filipe Marques Amorim was born on January 27, 1985, in Lisbon, Portugal. He had a respectable playing career. On the field, he was reputed to be a diligent and rational person. He started his senior career at Belenenses. He has since gone back to Benfica, where he had his boyhood club. Amorim was a technically endowed midfielder. His main talent was the retention of balls. He was a good playmaker in deep positions.
He had versatility as one of his assets. Therefore, he was able to play right-back when necessary. He also won several league championships at Benfica. He also played 14 times as a member of the Portuguese national team. His future was based on his career. It provided him with solid knowledge of the tactical aspects of football. This is what made him become such a manager.
A Rapid Managerial Ascent
The move by Amorim to management was rapid. It was also spectacular. He started as a coach in 2018 at Casa Pia, a third-tier club. Even a short-term administrative ban on coaching badges was not going to stop him. He left his job and got the relevant qualifications. Then he joined the B-team of Braga in 2019. This was supposed to be a learning stage. Fortune favoured his career, though, and made his way quicker.
Braga later advanced him to the position of first team head coach in December 2019. His influence was direct and drastic. He had simply remarkable results in 13 games. He guided Braga to win two matches over FC Porto. One of these conquests was the League Cup. His team also beat Sporting CP twice. They also won at Benfica for the first time after 65 years. This brief, winning series showed his possibilities.
The Sporting CP Revolution
The management of Sporting CP noticed. They saw a coaching prodigy. In March 2020, they made a bold move. They paid him a release clause of 10million euros to get him. This was a record fee in Portugal of a manager. It was a contentious move considering that Amorim was a former Benfica player. The religious belief in the club, however, paid handsomely.
Amorim had a long drought amongst the Lisbon giants. He made Sporting win the first league title in 19 years in his first complete season (2020-21). This was a historic accomplishment. He disrupted the supremacy of Porto and Benfica. He did not stop there. In the 2023-24 season, he led the club to another championship in the league. His success ensured that he was considered one of the brightest young managers in Europe.
Amorim’s Tactical Philosophy
Ruben Amorim has a reputation for being tactically disciplined. He mostly employs a 3-4-3 setup. This is a possession-based system and highly structured. Critics term this kind of unswerving faithfulness to a single setup as dogmatic on his part. The results produced by him, however, are self-explanatory. The system is a creation of careful training ground work.
Building from the Back
The defense is the beginning of his philosophy. Amorim prefers his three center-backs and goalkeeper to be at home on the ball. They play a significant role as attackers. The opposition is invited to press high by the team. This would provide space in the midfield. This takes the technical ability and calmness of his defenders.
A Balanced Midfield
There is a pairing in the midfield. These are positionally prudent players. Freedom is given to one of the midfielders to make deep runs into the box. This offers an additional attack danger. The wing-backs tend to be offensive-minded. Amorim has even employed out-and-out wingers in such positions. It is their task to give breadth and open opportunities.
Dynamic Attack
The assault is based on a key striker. There are two attacking midfielders, such as the so-called double No. 10s, who play behind the striker. They slide i, forming combinations with the wing-backs. The trick is to make the movement and space around the central forward. This system is effective in goal generation. At least Viktor Gyökeres flourished under Amorim and was a prolific scorer.
Aggressive Pressing
With the absence of the ball, the teams of Amorim teams are ferocious. On his side, Sporting became the most aggressive off the ball in Portugal. The team applies different pressing structures and traps. Once they lose the ball, they shift to a defensive position very fast. It is a reprimand, rehearsed unity of action. In case of a high press being infeasible, the team goes into a good 5 2 3 low block.
A Genuine Leader
It is not only about tactics that Amorim was successful. His people management abilities are also critical. Close individuals to the manager talk of him as authentic. He is not given any pretence. He is trusted by players, coaches, and staff. Thus, he is not boastful. He is just a good person who interacts with people.
This likeability is accompanied by power. He encourages young players on the field with a lot of assurance. Goncalo Inacio and Ousmane Diomande are witnesses to this. He elicits the best out of his whole team. This will demand a great deal of compassion. He understands human nature. This tactical intelligence and authentic leadership make him a modern manager to the full extent.
The Manchester United Challenge
Ruben Amorim made the next step in his career in November 2024. He got the position of manager of Manchester United. He goes to a club in search of stability and a definite identity. Therefore, he has a good record that indicates that he would be the right man to be hired. The formation of his choice, 3-4-3, may work well for the team.
Players such as Lisandro Martinez and Matthijs de Ligt feel at home with the ball. They are capable of carrying through his build-up play. Diogo Dalot and Luke Shaw, as wing-backs, might be effective in offensive positions. The central midfielder might be constructed by such talents as Kobbie Mainoo and Manuel Ugarte. Such creative attackers as Bruno Fernandes and Mason Mount are the ones who fit in the double No. 10 positions. The big issue is whether he is able to harness the goal-scoring talents of the team strikers.
Conclusion
The most significant contribution that Ruben Amorim has made at Manchester United might not be that of tactics. It might not be regarding constructions or clobbering elicitors. Old Trafford has resembled a museum of the long-gone days for more than a decade. The team has failed to have a cohesive soul and a mutual belief. Amorim is not only a coach of players, but he also sells them. He constructed a title-winning machine at Sporting by creating everyone, including the star striker and the academy prospect, with a single vision in mind. He turns uncertainty into training and ability into rank. His entry is not merely a fresh start with United. It is an opportunity to actually begin the task of ceasing to read history and begin anew to write it.
