Could Ruben Amorim be Man Utd’s next Sir Alex Ferguson? Eerie similarity between both appointments emerges
RUBEN AMORIM is the latest man tasked with leading Manchester United back to glory.
The 39-year-old became the new United head coach last week following Erik ten Hag‘s departure.
Ten Hag was sacked following a poor start to the season, with the club struggling in the bottom half of the Premier League table.
Amorim quickly emerged as the priority target for Sir Jim Ratcliffe and penned a two-and-a-half year deal just a matter of days later.
The ex-Portugal midfielder will officially take the reins on November 11 – but he faces the huge challenge of hauling Man Utd up the Prem table and through the Europa League group stage.
Despite the sheer weight of the task, he can look to legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson for inspiration.
When the United icon first took over at Old Trafford back in 1986, the Red Devils had just 12 points from 10 league games.
At the time, Ferguson had only managed in Scotland.
Now, with Amorim about to step in, Man Utd sit 13th in the table with 12 points from 10 games.
And similarly, the ex-midfielder has only managed in Portugal.
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Amorim jokingly compared himself to Ferguson when looking ahead to Sporting Lisbon’s Champions League clash with Manchester City on Monday.
He said: “The focus is on winning the game for Sporting, after that, the inferences that people will draw from this game are not important to me because they could be misleading.
“If the result is negative, expectations will drop; if we win they will think that the new Alex Ferguson has arrived!
“What interests me is to win, a good farewell in Alvalade, win in Braga and start a new adventure in Manchester.
“What I want is to leave the fans and my players happy for what is to come in the new season.”
Ruben Amorim is ‘Mourinho 2.0’ who turned Sporting from ‘walking dead’ into Portuguese champs… he can revive Man Utd
WHEN Ruben Amorim took charge of Sporting Lisbon in March 2020, one club official compared their situation to the “walking dead”, writes Jordan Davies.
Optimism and hope was at an all-time low.
But the Amorim-effect was almost instantaneous, guiding the Portuguese sleeping giants to their first league title for 19 years in 2020/21, losing just once and only conceding 20 goals.
Since then, Sporting have lifted another league title in 2023/24 – as well as two League Cups – and currently sit top with nine wins from nine this term.
He may be young, but Amorim already has an eye for rebuilding and revitalising fallen super powers with his infectious charisma and intense tactical philosophy that hardly ever wavers.
The “walking dead” at Manchester United must be praying for a similar sort of revival.
And they may just get it from one of the most talented young coaches on the continent – a man accustomed to breathing new life back into crumbling institutions such as Old Trafford.
Amorim has spent the last decade dreaming of one day gracing England’s Premier League, such was his admiration for an ex-United boss in Jose Mourinho growing up.
Often nicknamed ‘Mourinho 2.0’, Amorim spent a week with his coaching idol in an internship capacity at United’s Carrington training base in 2018, going on to cite him as his “reference point”.
United should not be expecting a mini-Mourinho, as Amorim said himself: “Mourinho is one of a kind. There won’t be another Mourinho. Mourinho is unique.”
And yet, you cannot help but compare the two.
For all the mismanagement in the Old Trafford hot seats over the years, this would be a real get – finally a slap in the face United’s Prem rivals have no answer for.