Ruben Amorim has built a reputation for many talents during a relatively short coaching career. Tactician, motivator and even poet, if you listen to Cristiano Ronaldo.
As Manchester United’s new head coach braced for his fourth game in charge, he added a new string to his bow. Meteorologist. “The storm will come,” Amorim predicted rather ominously, and perhaps he had Wednesday night’s visit to Arsenal in mind when he said that.
The 39-year-old knows he can’t get away with it all the time as he makes mid-season repairs to this United team, sometimes plugging round holes with square pegs. “We will be discovered in some matches,” he warned.
Few teams are as ruthless as Arsenal at the moment. Mikel Arteta’s side have scored 13 goals in their last three games, including five before half-time at West Ham last weekend and, worryingly for Amorim, a further five goals against the formidable Sporting Lisbon who he left behind last month to take the job at United to take over.
Sporting had a run of seventeen wins and a draw in eighteen games since losing the Portuguese Super Cup to Porto in August. Unbeaten in normal time, Arsenal took a 3-0 first-half lead in a 5-1 Champions League defeat at the Jose Alvalade Stadium last week. Does that highlight the task that awaits United at the Emirates on Wednesday night?
“I already knew,” Amorim replied, smiling. ‘I think he (Arteta) has done a great job. Sometimes coaches are only judged by titles, but what he has done at Arsenal is fantastic. It has transformed the team.
Ruben Amorim has warned his Man United players that a ‘storm is coming’
United have made a positive start under Amorim but have their first big test on Wednesday
United are set to take on Arsenal who have scored 13 goals in their last three games
‘He bought a few youngsters who are now the great talents of this country. I hope to have the same mentality as him in the difficult moments, because I have followed the Premier League for a long time. It is a very good characteristic of Mikel.’
Amorim can at least take some solace from victory over Arteta at the Emirates last year, even if it took a penalty shootout to settle a Europa League last-16 tie after a 3-3 aggregate draw.
But on Wednesday night he won’t have the comforting blanket of selecting a team he has built and trusts, after admitting he is worried at United because he simply doesn’t know what will happen from one minute to the next to happen.
He also fears Arteta’s team is even better now; Also less predictable with Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber at wing-backs and Martin Odegaard roaming free.
The Arsenal captain was an extra-time substitute as Amorim won at the Emirates, but Odegaard’s return after a 12-match absence due to an ankle injury has given the Gunners an extra dimension in recent weeks.
‘Arsenal is playing a little differently this year. They are more fluid,” Amorim added. ‘For example, when we met them at Sporting, you knew how to apply pressure because you understand the structure better. Now it’s more fluid with Calafiori and Timber on different sides; one comes in, the other goes out. Moreover, Odegaard has changed the team, and you can feel that throughout the season. Every match is different and you already know that you are up against a very good team.’
Stopping Odegaard from pulling the strings will be crucial for United if they are to get anything out of the match, but one player Amorim did not mention was Bukayo Saka. The England winger terrorized Sporting’s back three last week, helped by Maximiliano Araujo pushing too high and leaving Goncalo Inacio isolated.
Amorim will need his left wing-back, likely Diogo Dalot, to provide more protection for his back three against Saka on Wednesday night, and especially whoever replaces the suspended Lisandro Martinez on the left.
Harry Maguire is fit again and is likely to start, while Leny Yoro traveled with the team. Jonny Evans has missed the last two games.
There was frustration when it was confirmed on Tuesday that Luke Shaw had suffered another injury after making a comeback from just three substitute appearances. Shaw wrote on social media that he was “devastated.”
Amorim’s assistant Carlos Fernandes (left) will try to ensure United keep Arsenal at bay from set pieces
The in-form Amad Diallo could also be a big signing for United in the Emirates
Riccardo Calafiori is bothered by fast wingers and Diallo will assess his chances against the Italian
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United need no warning about the threat posed by Arsenal’s set-piece specialists, but it will be interesting to see how Amorim’s assistant Carlos Fernandes tries to combat it after replacing Andreas Georgson as the set-piece coach from United. Expect Matthijs de Ligt to keep a close eye on Gabriel.
With Kobbie Mainoo also suspended after just one game back from injury, Amorim must weigh his options in midfield, but Manuel Ugarte – sent off to Sporting at the Emirates last year – will likely be tasked with marking Odegaard.
While United’s priority on Wednesday night is keeping Arsenal quiet, one area where they can expose the Gunners is at left-back. Calafiori may feel uncomfortable against fast wingers who like to cut inside, which Amad Diallo could take advantage of. The diminutive Ivorian has done more than any other United player under Amorim, and is likely to start on the right flank again.
“You try to choose players who you can put in that position and the technical characteristics are perfect for him,” Amorim said. ‘Because of his left foot. If you are right-footed, sometimes you don’t have the space to get in.
‘In that position you must have good physicality. Good physicality isn’t size, but he can run. And that’s an important point in that position. He has good control and seems faster with the ball than without it. He can play in different systems. In the future we may play in a different system, so it is that kind of player we will need in the team.”
It is therefore not surprising that United have been working on a new contract for Diallo. Unless the club offers him a new contract or activates the extension of his current contract, he will be a free agent this summer and can talk to foreign clubs from next month.
“I think he wants to stay and we want him to stay, so that’s clear and we will find a solution,” Amorim said.
For now, United’s new head coach is focused on navigating his toughest challenge yet in what has been a steep learning curve for him and his players.
Did the scope of the job exceed his expectations?
Amorim will look to outwit Mikel Arteta to maintain his unbeaten start at Old Trafford
‘A bit,’ Amorim admitted, ‘because you don’t know what life is like in such a club. So it’s always a surprise. I can do that, but you have to do so much more than just coach the team.
‘You have to deal with time in a different way. You have less time to prepare the games, not only because you play after two days, but also because you have a lot to do. I can say I was a little surprised.
‘We are improving slowly, but we have no training. So I’m very happy with all the work and effort that the players are putting in at the moment.
“It is what it is and we will try to win, and we will go to victory with confidence, but we know we have to play very well to win the next game.”