A student of Mourinho – is ‘crowd pleaser’ Amorim right for Man Utd?

Ruben Amorim learned how to become a football manager during an internship under Jose Mourinho at Manchester United – six years on he is being talked about as the club’s potential new manager.

The 39-year-old Portuguese has been coveted by a number of clubs during his short-managerial career in his native country, but Old Trafford could now be the destination for his new challenge.

It emerged on Monday, Manchester United are in talks about appointing Amorim as Erik ten Hag’s replacement.

He was heavily linked with Liverpool after Jurgen Klopp’s decision to leave the Reds last season, had talks with West Ham about becoming their new boss, and has even been mentioned as a possible successor to Man City’s Pep Guardiola.

But, after leading Sporting to a first league title in 19 years at the age of just 36 in 2021 and winning his second with the club last season, is Amorim now ready for the challenge of the Premier League?

‘His managerial career nearly ended before it began’

A former Benfica and Portugal midfielder, Amorim retired as a player in 2018 and first made his mark as a coach the following year, when an impressive stint in charge of Braga’s reserve team saw him promoted to first-team boss.

Ten wins in 13 games – including a first victory at Benfica for 65 years – soon caught the eye of bigger clubs and, so keen were Sporting to secure his services that they paid 10m euros, (£8.6m) to make him their manager in March 2020.

European football expert Guillem Balague told BBC Sport: “His coaching career actually began with Casa Pia, then a third-tier club, where it almost ended as soon as it had begun.

“He lost his first two games and, with his pride hurt and doubts setting in, he announced if he lost the third game he would quit. In the next match he changed the system and played a back three for the first time.

“The system worked and from then on he remained unbeaten at the club. He also felt he had found the formation that allowed him to produce the football he wanted – one invariably linked to the spectacle for the fans.

“From there, he never looked back as he went to Braga and then Sporting.”

That was the third-highest transfer fee paid for a manager but it soon proved money well spent as Amorim led the club on a 32-match unbeaten run to claim the Portuguese league cup and end their almost two-decade wait for a league title – a success they repeated last season.

Former Liverpool and Portugal defender Abel Xavier spent time with Amorim while they were taking their coaching badges and was impressed with what he saw from the outset.

“He is very humble, discreet, and has a very clear mindset,” he told BBC World Service.

“At Braga we saw an immediate impact because, with the same squad, with the same players, he transformed the team.

“He put in place his ideas, he changed the dynamic, he created empathy, and of course a big club like Sporting Lisbon paid to have him.”

Ruben Amorim won two top-flight titles with Sporting Lisbon

‘An enthusiast of spectacular, offensive football’

He may have learnt his trade under Mourinho – and is still close friends with the former Manchester United boss – but his footballing principles could not be more different.

“Amorim would admit he is still adding layers of knowledge to his methods but he still believes football only makes sense if those watching are thrilled by it,” said Balague.

“As well as those lessons from his former coach Jorge Jesus, Amorim looked closely at those who show a special quality as leaders, including Mourinho.

“He is, though, an enthusiast of spectacular, offensive football, with lots of goals, domination and control. He is a crowd pleaser.”

Amorim’s management style will be familiar to several players in the Premier League – United’s Manuel Ugarte, Manchester City’s Matheus Nunes, Tottenham’s Pedro Porro and Joao Palhinha of Bayern Munich were all part of his 2020-21 title-winning side.

At Sporting, the 39-year-old has often favoured a 3-4-3 formation, playing in a low block with attacking wing-backs pushing high up the pitch.

Off the ball they press aggressively and counter-attack quickly when in possession.

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes is also a fan.

“I think all the qualities are there to be able to succeed in English, French, or Spanish football,” he told SportTV last year.

“Obviously, we know that the Premier League is probably the most desired. The qualities [to succeed in England] are there and he has everything to take the next step, in my opinion.”

Balague added: “Amorim is like a sponge. After training and meetings, he likes to spend a couple of hours in his home office watching games, reading about football and managers, organising zooms with people he can learn new things from.”

Succeeding in Portugal and doing the same at Manchester United are two very different things.

Ten Hag leaves the club 14th in the Premier League with just three wins from their opening nine matches – so why would Amorim be the man to restore former glories when big names before him have failed?

“On the pitch, he has always delivered,” said Portuguese football writer Marcus Alves. “Not even the constant sales in the transfer market have proved to be a problem for him. Under Amorim, no player is irreplaceable and more important than the club.

“The Manchester United job may look like an impossible one right now, but so did Sporting’s when Amorim was unveiled as their head coach on 5 March 2020.

“Eloquent and outgoing, Amorim is irresistible and dominates the words in such a way that Cristiano Ronaldo used to call him ‘poet’ in the national team.

“Above all, the 39-year-old doesn’t tolerate lack of professionalism. This is a man who has pacified a team who seemed to be at war with itself once. He surely can do that twice if he’s allowed to.”

‘The feeling is Portugal has become too small for him’

So back to when it all began for Amorim.

“On Mourinho, Amorim did a post-grad[uate degree] which included a kind of internship under Mourinho, so he spent a week in Manchester with him,” said Alves.

“Think it was in 2017 and also included a class where Mourinho revealed how United beat Ajax in the Europa League final.”

Balague added: “His generosity is well-known, particularly to those that had his back in his early days of management with Casa Pia before finding themselves facing hard times.

“He does not forget those years and continues to help and pay for the housing of some Casa Pia footballers he worked with during that tenure.”

But why now – if he does indeed opt to move to Old Trafford?

Amorim could have left Sporting before now and has been strongly linked with succeeding Guardiola at Man City, should the Spaniard decide to leave Etihad Stadium this season.

Balague, said: “The feeling is that Portugal has become too small for him and he is more than prepared to move on to bigger things.

“Now there is a new-found maturity and he is keen to find out if his very close way of dealing with players, with tactics, with fans and the media, works somewhere out of his comfort zone.”