“I will reshape his career and turn him to Ballon d’Or contender… He’s so amazing”: Man United’s new coach Ruben Amorim has vows to change ONE Man United’s player for good
There won’t be many times when Manchester United fans watch a Manchester City game with full attention but their time was repaid many times over in Sporting’s 4-1 victory over Pep Guardiola’s men.
Amorim said before the game that the people will think he’s Sir Alex Ferguson if he beats City and while that’s a statement clearly in jest, there was a huge Sir Alex handprint all over the win.
Unfairly billed as Ruben Amorim’s test as Sporting were huge underdogs, nobody gave them the script as they thrashed City on transitions, with Viktor Gyokeres helping himself to another hat-trick.
They didn’t start off well, as City picked them off at will while Sporting tried to play out of the back and kept losing possession.
They quickly realised that the way to get at the opposition was to play vertical, direct, and hit them on the counter by hitting the ball in spaces.
The result was an irresistible second half when Sporting could have scored even more and City could count themselves lucky to lose only 4-1.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s playbook to win the title
The year is 2012 and it’s summer. Manchester United have just lost the Premier League title on the last day in agonising circumstances.
Sir Alex is determined to correct the course and add goals to the team so he goes out and gets the best goalscorer in the country.
Robin van Persie arrives, gets the Golden Boot, and Sir Alex rides off on his retirement chariot with his 13th Premier League title but a chat by Sir Alex Ferguson changed everything for United that season.
When Van Persie arrived, it became a tale of legend that he told every single player in the dressing room that they wouldn’t play if they didn’t immediately seek where Van Persie was and play the ball to him quickly in possession.
He knew the difference Van Persie would make if he just received the ball in the right areas and make a difference is what he did in that remarkable campaign.
So, where does Amorim come into this story? That’s how his Sporting side beat Manchester City on the day.
Ruben Amorim unleashes Viktor Gyokeres on Man City
Sporting started out tentatively and tried to play out from the back but as soon as their pockets started getting picked, Amorim adjusted.
In came a deep and compact block, the wingbacks and the striker was left higher up the field, and the instruction was to play the ball over City’s press and find Gyokeres in space as soon as possible.
Trincao ran in acres of space as they abandoned any passing game to just play with extreme verticality, a tactic which unleashed Gyokeres and Co.
Quenda, Trincao, Araujo, and Gyokeres tore through the City defence, rendering their press useless as they bypassed it with quick exchanges, focusing on getting the ball forward as quickly as possible near the City box.
From there, the trickery of their players and the ruthlessness of Gyokeres took over as they put City to the sword in a game that will long be remembered in Portugal.
Nobody is mistaking Amorim for Sir Alex, of course, but on this day, with many United fans watching, he used his trick to thrash United’s city rivals.
Rasmus Hojlund is probably beaming right now!
