Let me start this week with a question. If you could convince Pep Guardiola to cross over to Manchester and manage Manchester United’s current squad, how much better would the team be? Marginal maybe, but they still wouldn’t be the team to win the Premier League.
I ask this at the end of another week of turmoil for United, which saw Erik ten Hag sacked after being given ample time and money, and Sporting Lisbon manager Ruben Amorim confirmed as his successor.
Amorim makes a huge leap to move from Sporting to United – in many people’s eyes the biggest football club in the world, during that club’s worst Premier League period since the league’s arrival. It’s an opportunity he could never turn down, but he faces a monumental job that certainly won’t be easy.
It will be very difficult for him to be successful there because of the quality of the team he inherits. They are behind Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City so far.
Then two things need to happen. Three or four of the young children all have to do a great job and show that they can perform at the highest level. And he must have a lot of luck in the transfer window. It will take more than a few windows to fix this. And as always with big football clubs, time is not your friend.
Ruben Amorim has a huge task ahead of him after becoming Man United’s new manager
United are currently fourteenth in the Premier League and in the bottom half of the Europa League
Even eternal champion Pep Guardiola would not succeed in winning the title with Manchester United
Amorim appears to have the ability to keep his team motivated and on their toes, having won two titles in the last four years with Sporting Lisbon. And as I have said many times in this column: winning the competition says more about you than winning cups. Before he arrived, Sporting had not won the competition since 2002.
Mail Sports columnist GRAEME SOUNESS
But even if he’s the best thing since sliced bread, Amorim won’t achieve anything at United without that club upping their recruitment game. Because – as I will always say – that is the most important thing to do well at a football club.
Since Ineos joined United I don’t think they have covered themselves in glory with some of the football decisions they have made. Like showing Fergie the door and recruiting players this summer that I highly doubt will take them to the top of our Premier League or challenge the big ears for the cup. This is their first leadership appointment at United. They need to pray that they get this right. Goodwill for them is fading.
Based on their recruitment results, Amorim will want to have a major say in transfers in the future. He needs top players who can perform immediately. They will also need a certain mentality. There are too many in the dressing room who can’t handle the pressure of playing for United. Some members of the current team look like they are playing with a bag of coal on their backs. It all seems too much for them.
Bruno Fernandes (left) and Co have fallen miles behind the likes of Man City and Liverpool
Amorim wants a lot of say in transfers, but recruitment has been a problem at United in the past
I wouldn’t get carried away by what United achieved in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday against a Leicester team whose priority is Premier League survival, but the improvement in their performances for Ruud van Nistelrooy demonstrated the resilience a new manager can bring . . He certainly got a tune out of it.
I don’t think Amorim’s age is a problem. At the age of 39, he has already achieved great success and will arrive in Manchester full of confidence to repeat that in England.
The first thing he will have to do is convince that dressing room from the start. Within a week the players will have worked him out and decided whether they want him or not. His personality will be a big factor. He comes across as confident and that will serve him well.
Amorim could be fantastic for United. Or this job might be too much for him. I sincerely hope it’s the former because our game screams for a strong United. But let me close with another question. Will anyone in this current Man United group join Liverpool, Man City or Arsenal, if everyone at those clubs is fit? For me it’s a ‘no’. And that is the extent of the next manager’s challenge.
The Portuguese boss led Sporting to two league titles and three other cup victories
Ten Hag won two trophies at Man United, but did not play for the Premier League title
No friendly welcome back
I was back in the sea this week for the first time in ten months, after shoulder surgery, because what I can say is by far the worst injury I have ever had. I rejoined the team I swam in the Channel with last year, and I didn’t get the friendly welcome I expected.
They are ex-military people who consider themselves Ferraris and Porsches in the water, while I am an old diesel engine with 400,000 kilometers on the odometer.
We are preparing for our next charity swim in the Channel in May next year, after this summer was postponed due to the tides and weather. I was really encouraged by my 20 minutes in the water with our leader, Andy, gently breaking myself in.
I consider that a breakthrough. It’s been a long ten months. I felt like an old man and was brutally reminded of that by my teammates.
Rodri deserved it, but he can still get better
I’m happy that Rodri won the Ballon d’Or. So often it goes to the strikers and headline-grabbers – the Messis and Ronaldos or, in my playing days, the Keegans, Rummenigges and Platinis.
Only in recent history has the importance of the midfield position to a team’s overall success been fully appreciated. Much of their work goes unseen to the untrained eye. The best in that position do a little bit of everything, including scoring goals – which was never as important to me as protecting my two centre-backs.
I am very happy for Rodri; the Ballon d’Or so often went to the attackers and the headlines
The Manchester City midfielder should look to add more goals to his impressive display
Rodri scored 22 Premier League goals for Manchester City in four seasons. I scored 38 in seven seasons in the First Division for Liverpool. That brings us both to a fraction more than the average of five per season. But what it would have been like to have played on this modern surface, the way Rodri can.
If you land on the ball at the edge of the penalty area within striking distance of the goal, as the ball now rolls across the grass, you should get close to double figures in one of the best teams. That’s certainly what I would expect of myself if I were to play the role of Rodri today.
Real Madrid should be ashamed
The ‘Real’ in ‘Real Madrid’ means ‘Royal’ in English. I understand it dates back to when the club was blessed by the King of Spain in 1920. But the way that club has acted this week has been about as unroyal as any behavior.
Refuse to come to the Ballon d’Or ceremony because Rodri, and not one of their own players, received the individual award? What a shame.
Real Madrid’s refusal to attend the Ballon d’Or ceremony in support of Vinicius Jr. was a shame
Last weekend’s 2-2 draw against Arsenal showed that Liverpool can find another gear
The draw against Arsenal bodes well for Liverpool
Another positive sign last Sunday for my old team Liverpool, who were a goal behind Arsenal in the Emirates but found another gear to score the equalizer in a very entertaining match between two very good teams.
Liverpool didn’t try to change the way they played and believed in the system and each other. To me that is very encouraging.