First, let’s address the reality of where Amorim is now.
He was joking before the game when he said that a Sporting victory over City would make United feel like another Sir Alex Ferguson was arriving.
There was huge added interest in the Manchester game. United fans, both fans and club officials, were delighted with what they saw. To some, City’s private insistence that Amorim was not a name on their wish list for when Pep Guardiola finally leaves was a mockery.
But no one, Amorim said, should give too much importance to the events at the José Alvalade Stadium.
“I said before that you cannot transport one reality to another,” he said. “At Manchester United you can’t play exactly like that. You can’t play so defensively and there we will have to adapt. It is clear that it is very difficult to beat this team and beat Pep Guardiola. And he’s no worse manager than me.
“It will be a completely different world, a different team, we won’t have much time to train and we will start from a different starting point. “People can make their own decisions, but I say to the people of Manchester that this was something exceptional.”
Amorim’s observations about his defense deserve closer examination.
The most obvious difference that is being widely analyzed is that Amorim plays with three central defenders.
Against City, that became a back five for long stretches of the game.
However, that is one of the attractions. Within United they believe that labeling Amorim as someone who plays with three central defenders is too simplistic.
It is argued that the way that manifests itself can change. This could be through inverted full-backs, more orthodox full-backs (which is what Geovany Quenda and goalscorer Maximiliano Araujo tried to be when they weren’t being pushed back) or central defenders advancing into the midfield areas.
In front of them are two seated midfielders, beyond them two narrow forwards and above, the excellent Viktor Gyokeres.
If Amorim sticks to the training, does it have the staff to make it effective?
If not, will he have to compromise to the extent that Erik ten Hag did, where his eventual team bore no relation to the style he was supposed to bring from Ajax?
football/articles/c5y57r2el70o”>Source link
