Ruben Amorim, 3 At The Back Formations, Man United’s Failings And The Topic of Stubbornness | OneFootball

Ruben Amorim is willing to die by the sword he’s trying to forge from the ground up, as the Portuguese coach is refusing to deviate from the system he has employed throughout his managerial career.

Amorim has played a 3-4-2-1 since he broke into management at Casa Pia and admittedly did have success at Sporting CP throughout his tenure there, winning two league titles, the first two in 19 years for the club. The 40-year-old views football in his own particular way and is adamant that this system is the key to success within the Premier League, despite 3 back formations famously never dominating the league since its inception.

The issues with Ruben Amorim’s system

One clear standout season for a 3-back formation was Antonio Conte’s Chelsea side, who won the league, but there is a clear caveat to that. N’Golo Kante was an anomaly in regard to covering the distances that are left from deploying a 2-man midfield, and United are finding out the hard way that it’s nearly impossible to emulate that at this moment in time.

The weaknesses in the system are clear even with the best players available, but accompanied by the profile of midfielders United have at the club, they become amplified. Casemiro lacks the pace and fluidity of the player who dominated European football with Real Madrid. Bruno Fernandes is a number ten, being asked to play out of position due to the sheer quality he possesses, being unable to be left out of any side, even if it does at times prove to be a detriment defensively.

Kante could cover more distances than perhaps most in Premier League history. This made the weaknesses in Conte’s system seem minute, a factor that, along with the sheer class of the side, made it no surprise they won the Premier League. Particularly due to the fact that it wasn’t exactly the strongest league in comparison to today.

If my statistics are correct, Antonio Conte’s 2016/17 side remains the only side in Premier League history to win the league using a back three system predominantly. It’s a formation that has never been capable of dominating the division, and that is unlikely to change any time soon, particularly at Manchester United. United do not have any collection of midfielders that are anywhere near capable of carrying out the demands that come from playing a two-man midfield in a league made up of teams that are made up of three-man midfields, and even teams that try and overload United’s midfield 4v2.

Fulham spoke about this after the game, with Alex Iwobi detailing how they overloaded the United midfield to exploit the weaknesses that are quite clear in the centre of the pitch. Speaking on the game, Iwobi said the following:

Stubbornness, unwillingness to change

There are issues with the system, and Amorim will know that himself. He is nowhere near a person who lacks intelligence in any way, shape, or form, and he can see what is happening on the pitch just as much as the next person. And he may have a point in regard to the mentality of the team affecting the performances, because at the end of the day, Oliver Glasner plays a similar system at Crystal Palace and the performances are of a much higher level than United’s, but still. The mentality is only half of it; the system is not sustainable with these players, and if your system is directly affecting the performances of the players, it’s your job as manager to tweak the system to suit the players at your disposal.

Amorim is not the only person to blame. A midfielder needed to be signed, as well as a pure wing-back. Patrick Dorgu is a phenomenal player, but he is not a wing-back. United needed a pure wing-back to be crucial in the final third in the critical moments. United needed a midfielder, and they chose to go against signing one, instead signing three forwards when the club arguably only needed one.

The manager is stubborn, but he hasn’t been backed in the right manner. He’s been backed financially, of course, but not with the right players to completely play the system. He needed to be backed with the right players to suit his style, just like it was at Sporting. Sporting were not built to play a back three before the arrival of Amorim, but they made sure to back him fully by building their recruitment completely around him. At United, the signings this summer feel more like they were signed for a 4-3-3 manager, as opposed to someone who plays a 3-4-3 or a 3-4-2-1.

Laurie Whitwell made clear the target at the start of the window was a centre forward and a midfielder. United signed a centre-forward, a young one, albeit not a midfielder. It was so clear that a midfielder was needed. Bryan Mbeumo was arguably not needed when Amad plays in that position, and Amad had such a good campaign last year for the club. Again, Dorgu was signed in January, who is quite clearly a full-back, not a wing-back. Liverpool signed a wing-back in the shape of Jeremy Frimpong, who would suit United a lot more than he did Liverpool. A player like Federico Di Marco from Inter Milan taking up the position Dorgu currently holds would make a lot of difference in regard to the final product, which at times has been lacking and at times has killed big chances and opportunities to score.

Unlikely to become a success

An irony is that Erik ten Hag abandoned his system straight away, and many feel that ultimately abandoning his idea is the reason he got sacked in the end. Now, it’s the stark opposite: Amorim will not abandon the idea he came into the club with, and that ultimately looks like it will end up costing him the club.

Ruben came into the club so highly rated, and he will leave with his reputation in smithereens. He can’t shoulder the blame for that alone. INEOS forced him to come in mid-season into a mess and effectively nearly killed his project before it had even begun. They did not go through the right process regarding appointing Amorim, and they should have either sacked Ten Hag at the beginning of last season or backed him until the end, which they didn’t, and brought in a manager who played a completely different system 3 months into a new season to try and change the tide of the side.

It’s a tough period for United. It’s unlikely to turn around anytime soon, and it’s unfortunately likely to get worse before it gets better. Whether it gets better under Ruben Amorim is up in the air. I hope it does, but at this moment, it feels very, very far away from reality.