Ruben Amorim prepares for his first match as Manchester United head coach, plus a meeting of the league’s top defences at the Emirates;
Here we go again, Manchester United. Ruben Amorim takes charge of his first game against Ipswich in the Premier League on Sunday, and you can watch it live on Sky Sports
Amorim is the sixth person to fill the role vacated by Sir Alex Ferguson 11 years ago, although he is the first to do so under the title of head coach. The hope is that the new structure around him will give him a better chance of success than his predecessors. For now, he must make do with the squad he has, which is a group of players assembled under four different regimes, lacking any consistent vision or style of play. He has the added complication of wanting to bring in a new formation unfamiliar to most of the squad. Most of his players have been away on international duty, giving him just two training sessions with a full complement ahead of the trip to Ipswich. They face a side full of confidence after claiming their first league win of the season at Tottenham.
As ever with a new head coach, optimism is in the air, but that can quickly disappear if performances and results do not improve. Amorim is tasked with getting more from a group of players who have so often struggled for consistency and confidence at United.No one is realistically expecting Amorim to make United genuine challengers in the short term – it will likely be his promise to create an identity that will be the measure of success in his first season. Erik ten Hag could not manage it in two-and-a-half years.
Results will give him more time to do this and, thanks in part to Ruud van Nistelrooy steadying the ship as interim boss, qualifying for the Champions League no longer feels out of reach. Just four points separate United and fourth-placed Arsenal.
As evidenced with the previous manager, cup competitions will only get Amorim so far. The expectation in the long term is to make United a force in the league once again. No one has done that since Sir Alex. No pressure, Ruben.
Zinny Boswell