So far, Amorim has been coaching Manchester United for one year. Laurie Whitwell, author of The Athletic, reveals in-depth the inside story of Amorim's first year coaching Manchester United, revealing locker room conflicts, training details and...
So far, Amorim has been coaching Manchester United for one year. Laurie Whitwell, author of The Athletic, reveals in-depth the inside story of Amorim's first year coaching Manchester United, revealing locker room conflicts, training details and real feedback from players.
On November 11, 2024, Amorim flew to Manchester and stepped into the Carrington training base for the first time as Manchester United head coach.
In the blink of an eye, a whole year has passed.
The past twelve months have been turbulent. The team has experienced many lows and brief highs, and only recently has a glimmer of hope emerged. But then again, he took over a team that was in deep turmoil.
Let us turn our attention to the locker room after Manchester United drew 3-3 with Porto in the Europa League on October 3 last year. That scene was never exposed by the media (Ten Hakh was still in power at the time). In that game, Manchester United took a 2-0 lead but was reversed due to lax defense and saw three points lost. In the end, it was only Maguire who stepped forward in injury time to barely equalize the score.
After the final whistle, Ten Hag was worried about the team's sluggish state, and his emotions broke out in the tunnel of the Dragon Stadium. He sternly reprimanded the players, emphasizing that they must completely change their mentality and strictly observe on-field discipline to achieve success. This review lasted for a long time.
Surprisingly, after the training session, several senior players, led by B Fee, stood up and politely asked Ten Hag and his assistants to leave the locker room temporarily so that the players could review the game on their own.
Such a scene is not the first time. A similar scene happened after the team lost 2-0 to Newcastle in April 2023, and Lima also spoke out at the time. Manchester United, which had just won the League Cup, took a turn for the worse, but then used three consecutive wins in the Premier League to secure a spot in the Champions League, eventually ranking third.
But according to people familiar with the matter, the atmosphere in Porto at night is completely different. After the coaching staff left the field, the players immediately started a heated discussion. Many players expressed dissatisfaction with Ten Hag's critical tone. Among them, Dalot stood up emotionally and gave a speech with fierce words. He emphasized to his teammates: No matter what some people think of the coach, everyone must give their best.
Creative friction between generals can indeed create miracles - in 2016, Ranieri led Leicester City to stage a Premier League championship despite high tensions with the players. But the turmoil in Portugal undoubtedly brought an end to Ten Hag's era.
Five days after the Porto battle, Ratcliffe came to watch Manchester United's 0-0 draw with Villa. Subsequently, Manchester United's decision-makers gathered at the Ineos headquarters in Knightsbridge, London, to officially launch the coaching selection process.
It was not until October 28 that the management finally pulled the "trigger." This day happened to be the day after Manchester United lost 1-2 to West Ham United. CEO Berrada immediately went to Portugal again and went straight to Lisbon to finalize Amorim's final contract with Sporting CP chairman Varandas.
However, those who thought that Amorim would be gentler than Ten Hacher were mistaken. The coach, whom Ronaldo calls a "poet", is best at intertwining poetic metaphors with sharp judgments. This is true at press conferences, and even more outspoken in private.
Ugarte, who played for Amorim from 2021 to 2023, did not receive special attention at the season summary meeting after losing to Tottenham in the Europa League final. In this meeting held the day before the final game of the Premier League against Villa, Amorim told Ganaccio face to face: Since he will continue to coach, the youngster had better find a good agent in the summer window. The conflict hit the headlines immediately after the news broke.
Many players were criticized at the time, but Amorim's comments on Ugarte were particularly sharp. He believes that his former teammate's work commitment is far inferior to that of Sporting CP. He bluntly said that he is content with the status quo and will never be able to regain the shadow of when he fought side by side.
Criticizing the old players like this in front of all the players will naturally cause ripples in the locker room. But it also taught players that Amorim is both tough and fair when it comes to assessing commitment.
This can't help but remind people of Ferguson's old way of controlling people: he would occasionally hit Giggs because the latter had strong endurance, and Nani, who really needed to hear these words, would also listen and receive the message.
Amorim's preference for giving sharp feedback in a team environment rather than in individual conversations has become a hotly debated topic among players. During the end-of-season tour, several players discussed this while chatting on the rooftop of the W Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. Some players crave more personalized guidance, while Amorim wants fringe players to use practice performances — rather than face-to-face conversations — to prove they are worthy of playing time.
B Fei is one of the few players who can communicate with the coach alone, but usually the captain takes the initiative to come to him. The two maintain two-way communication, and B Fee continues the role of "the team's actual second-in-command" that has been given since Ten Hag's era.
Amorim never participates in players’ social activities and deliberately keeps a distance to maintain a sense of authority.
Improving professional standards and competition participation are the distinctive labels of Amorim’s first year as coach. At Carrington's all-hands meeting for the new season, he singled out players arriving late for training as an example of a lack of discipline. His candor and passion for continuing to attend club summits have earned him praise from his staff.
The operations in the transfer market also reflect this pursuit. The introduction of Mbemo and Cunha, two famous Premier League players who love football, has significantly improved the training atmosphere and quality.
Amorim appointed a six-person leadership group (B Fee, Maguire, Heaton, Lima, Mazraoui and Dalot) with the intention of returning disciplinary management and other matters to the autonomy of the locker room.
Of course, the core change this year is undoubtedly the three-back system. Manchester United knew full well when they hired Amorim that he would play a 3-4-2-1 formation, but the system is still being worked on.. "
Amorim coached Manchester United and scored 45 points in 38 league games.
Although there are occasional revelations of true feelings, Amorim is well aware of his responsibility as the face of the club. He has set a new rule: before the game, he must Half of the players signed autographs outside Old Trafford, and the other half completed them after the game. In practice, most players signed autographs before entering the stadium. When the four-year-old girl visited Carrington recently, he took the initiative to chat to relieve the tension and even handed her the jersey to show in front of the camera.
He included Rashford, Garnacho, Anthony, Sancho and Malaysia in the "cleaning". "List" can be called an iron fist. But after the window was closed, he did seek advice on Malaysia, who stayed on the team. The players supported his return to training together, and Amorim was very kind. The Dutch defender even entered the squad against Brighton.
Manchester United The injury record has improved significantly, as Amorin said, partly due to one-line operations, but his refusal to take risks midway is also the key. Although he was initially reluctant to take over midway, he did master the valuable details of the club and the team during that period.
As shown in the chart below, Manchester United's expected goals data is rising steadily. Although it is still far from the peak of Ten Hag's first season, a stable blue line has emerged after a long period of deficit, which also contributed to the coaching change. 3}
Qualifying for the European competition is the top priority this season, and it is necessary in the context of being fully committed to the Premier League. The competitive landscape of the league shows that if Manchester United truly enters the form, a Champions League spot is not out of reach
Regardless of the final outcome, after the turbulence of Ashworth's resignation, second layoffs, fan protests, the launch of the new stadium plan and Ratcliffe's helicopter landing in Carrington for a meeting, Manchester United is undoubtedly looking forward to a more stable and successful twelve months.
