Journalist: Ruben Amorim ‘stayed true to that promise’ as key Man United changes unpacked | OneFootball

Amorim’s Manchester United evolve with direct play, bold tweaks and tactical clarity

Amorim’s evolving United: order, control and quiet conviction

Manchester United’s early weeks this season under Ruben Amorim have been less about revolution and more about refinement. There has been no great tearing down of foundations, no radical reinvention of shape or structure, but rather a subtle reshaping of rhythm. Amorim’s 3-4-3 remains the team’s spine, yet within that framework, the small details have started to shift, and those shifts are now beginning to define United’s season.

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At sixth place, just one point outside the top four after nine Premier League matches, the numbers are improving and, crucially, the football feels purposeful. It is perhaps the first time since the Erik ten Hag era that Old Trafford has looked at its team and seen both coherence and courage.

The Athletic’s analysis lays bare how Amorim’s adjustments, from goalkeeper distribution to corner routines, have begun to transform a previously ponderous side into one built on decisiveness and control.

Long balls, bold intent and the rise of Lammens

If Amorim’s arrival initially promised refinement, his goalkeepers have delivered revolution. The decision to go long has redefined United’s build-up and restored balance to a side that often overplayed itself into trouble last season.

Senne Lammens, in particular, has become a symbol of this shift. In his debut against Sunderland, he attempted 37 long passes, followed by 45 at Anfield and 32 against Brighton. The figures are startling, more long distributions than some entire Premier League squads.

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United now average 23.2 launched passes per 90 minutes, more than any other club in the division, marking a 76 per cent increase on last season. Even before Lammens, Altay Bayindir was going long nearly half the time, suggesting that Amorim’s intent to stretch the pitch was already taking root.

It is a tactical recalibration that has done more than simply bypass a press. The decision to go long has cut down turnovers in dangerous areas, given the defenders a breather, and transformed transitions into opportunities. United’s share of short passes has dropped to a clean 50-50 split between short and long, a reflection of Amorim’s pragmatism rather than stubborn idealism.

Even the details behind the data tell a story of a goalkeeper finally imposing command. United’s shot-stoppers are stopping 50 per cent more crosses, with Lammens’ authority on aerial balls becoming a defining part of United’s defensive resurgence.

Speed, verticality and the new United tempo

The change in goalkeeper distribution has naturally bled into United’s overall identity. Where once the side laboured through phases of play, often circulating possession across the back three in search of inspiration, Amorim’s team now moves with speed and intent.

United have become one of the most direct sides in the Premier League this season. Their attacks have gone from the fifth-slowest in the league to the eighth-fastest, a shift that feels as much psychological as tactical. Possession has dropped from 54 to just above 50 per cent, but it is now held higher up the pitch, more meaningful and less fragile.

The summer signings have accelerated this evolution. The introduction of a tall, physically imposing forward line has encouraged more vertical switches of play. Amorim’s United now attempt more switches of play than any other team in the league. Against Arsenal on opening weekend, repeated switches to the right flank created space for Bryan Mbeumo, whose pace and direct running stretched the opposition’s structure and set the tone for United’s season.

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The paradox of Amorim’s transformation lies in its simplicity: fewer passes, more threat. United now complete 3.1 crosses into the penalty area per game, up 62 per cent on last season, ranking second in the division. Rather than endless circulation, there is now incision.

Risk reduction and smarter possession

Perhaps the most underrated evolution in Amorim’s United has come in their relationship with risk. Last season, no Premier League side had more touches in their own defensive third. This season, only Arsenal have had fewer.

United now lose possession in their defensive third 2.4 times per game, down from 5.4. That represents one of the most dramatic risk reductions anywhere in the league. It is the natural by-product of Amorim’s shift toward longer passing but also the result of better structure and pressing triggers when the ball is lost.

United have embraced a more industrial form of control. It is not the possession-dominated orchestration of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City or even the transition-heavy chaos of Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool, but something more grounded, a middle path between order and chaos.

Amorim has built a team that values security in high areas, which has helped United sustain attacks and press with cohesion rather than desperation. It feels less fragile, less self-destructive, and more aware of its limitations.

Set-piece evolution and marginal gains

Football’s new battleground is often the set-piece, and here too Amorim has left his mark. United have abandoned outswinging corners entirely this season, favouring inswingers that carry more threat and create greater chaos around the six-yard box.

The change, inspired by the addition of Mbeumo, has also seen Bruno Fernandes share delivery duties, bringing more variety to the team’s routines. The results have been tangible: three goals from set pieces already this season and a healthy 0.49 expected goals per game from dead-ball situations.

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However, as The Athletic notes, the improvement in attacking set plays has not yet been mirrored defensively. United are conceding 0.53 xG from set pieces per game, the third-highest in the Premier League. As Trevoh Chalobah, Riccardo Calafiori and others have found, defending these moments still feels like an exercise in fragility rather than assurance.

But there is progress in process. The stylistic data, as analysts suggest, reflects deliberate choices, not accidents, not luck. Amorim has imposed a blueprint defined by boldness, and the results are gradually catching up.

Amorim’s philosophy taking shape

Nine games into the campaign, Amorim’s vision is becoming visible. His team plays faster, hits longer, and presses with greater unity. The formation may not have changed, but the tone of United’s football has.

There is clarity where once there was confusion. United are no longer obsessed with sterile control. Instead, they are playing football that feels more intuitive, more modern, and, crucially, more suited to the Premier League’s evolving tempo.

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For Amorim, the challenge will now be sustaining this style when results tighten, when injuries bite, and when old habits threaten to return. For now, though, the direction feels unmistakable: a team becoming more comfortable in its own skin, with a manager confident enough to trust evolution over revolution.

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For years, United supporters have demanded a clear footballing identity, something more tangible than rhetoric about progress or culture. Under Amorim, that sense of direction is finally returning.

Fans inside Old Trafford have noticed the difference. The long kicks from Lammens that once drew gasps now draw applause, not for their spectacle but for their intelligence. There is purpose in every decision, and while it might not be the high-pressing poetry of Liverpool or City, it feels honest to what United can be right now.

Many supporters also admire Amorim’s refusal to chase possession statistics for their own sake. As one fan put it after the 2-1 win at Anfield, “I’d rather we have 48 per cent possession and 100 per cent identity.” That sentiment captures the new mood: a pragmatic United, grounded but not dour.

There are still concerns about set-piece defending and the reliance on physicality up front, but compared to the tactical confusion of previous seasons, this feels like progress built on purpose. For the first time in a while, United fans can see what their team is trying to become, and that, more than any league position, might be the real sign of change.