Amorim Takes Flight to Spark New Era at Manchester United

MANCHESTER - Manchester United's new era officially began on November 11th as Ruben Amorim arrived in town to take on the challenging mission of revitalizing the club and bringing back its past glories.

The Portuguese coach bid farewell to Sporting Lisbon in style on Nov 10, securing a thrilling 4-2 comeback win at his former club Braga – an 11th victory in 11 league games.

The mood in Manchester has been lifted by three wins in four matches in all competitions since interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy took over from the sacked Erik ten Hag.

But Amorim will be under no illusions as to the scale of his task at United, who are languishing 13th in the Premier League table after just four wins in 11 matches.

United announced his arrival at their training base on Nov 11 afternoon, confirming shortly afterwards that Van Nistelrooy had left the club.

AFP Sport looks at the challenges that Amorim faces.

Manchester United have been crowned English champions a record 20 times but they have failed even to compete for the Premier League or Champions League titles since Alex Ferguson stepped down in 2013.

Amorim, a 39-year-old former Portugal international, is United’s sixth permanent appointment since the end of Ferguson’s trophy-filled 27-year-reign.

David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ten Hag have all come and gone, unable to take United back to the top despite lavish spending.

More than £600 million (S$1,029 million) was spent over Ten Hag’s five transfer windows on new signings but few have proved value for money.

Despite United’s flaws, Amorim will have a greater pool of talent than he did at Sporting, but he will have to work hard to get the most out of an under-performing squad.

He is the first manager appointed since British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe became a minority owner of the club earlier this year, taking control of football operations.

Being Ratcliffe’s man should buy him wriggle room and time, but he will know that at a club of the size of United, patience only stretches so far.

“I feel ready for the new challenge,” an upbeat Amorim said after his farewell match with Sporting. “I’m not naive, I know that it’s going to be very, very different, very tough but I feel that I’m ready.”