The Manchester United head coach is relishing a first full pre-season with his squad, having wanted to wait until this summer to take over, but being forced to take over midway through last term
Ruben Amorim is wasting no time in ensuring last season’s worst-ever Premier League campaign for Manchester United was a one-off.
Amorim has been up at 6am on United’s pre-season tour of the US, wasting no time and using every minute to plan with his coaching staff ahead of the new campaign.
The United head coach is relishing a first full pre-season with his squad, having wanted to wait until this summer to take over, but being forced to take over midway through last term.
Taking charge midway through a season is never ideal, not least when Amorim changed United’s system from 4-2-3-1 to 3-4-3, a radical departure from what the players were used to. United’s players struggled to get to grips with the new formation, the upshot a 15th-placed finish, the club’s worst position for 51 years, while they also missed out on Europe after losing the Europa League final to Tottenham.
But the doom and gloom of last season has been replaced by a tangible air of optimism and excitement among the United squad and management during the first week of their three-game US tour.
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Amorim has left behind those players who want out of United and who could spread a negative influence within the US tour party, namely Alejandro Garnacho, Jadon Sancho, Antony and Tyrrell Malacia. Marcus Rashford, who fell out with Amorim within weeks of the new manager’s arrival, has begun a new chapter at Barcelona, and only players fully committed to the team are present in the US.
Amorim underlined that message ahead of United’s tour opener, against Premier League rivals West Ham, in New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, where next year’s World Cup final will be held. The United boss stressed the importance of his first pre-season in terms of building a bond with his players, for them to strengthen existing relationships and build new ones with Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Diego Leon.
The connection between £133.5million duo Cunha and Mbeumo will be crucial as Amorim looks to solve United’s goal scoring problems, his side having only managed to find the net 44 times in the league last season.
Amorim still wants to recruit a new No.9 to lead United’s attack, but knows that in Cunha and Mbeumo, he has two players with a proven ability to score in the league, the pair netting 15 and 20 goals respectively last season.
“They can both play as a striker,” said Amorim. “But we also have Josh [Zirkzee], we have Rasmus [Hojlund], so our focus is to improve the connection between them. I don’t know if the position is there for them. They have to work and they have other players who are fighting for that position.
“But again, I’m really pleased, because they proved that the qualities that they have, they are really humble, which is really important, and the best thing is that they chose to be here. In our club at the moment, we need to be really careful when we sign a player. So if we have to start the season with this squad, I’m happy, because all the players who are here want to be here – that for me is the most important thing.
“With Matheus and Brian – also Diego, but Diego is a different situation because he’s a potential player. But with Matheus and Bryan, we are clearly a better team.”
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