Ruben Amorim is looking to get Manchester United back on track after a disappointing first season in charge and is already looking to reshuffle his backroom team
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim(Image: Alex Livesey - Danehouse/Getty Images)
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim is reportedly seeking to bring his former colleague Acacio Valentim on board as part of a coaching restructure. After a challenging first season at the helm, which saw United finish 14th in the Premier League and lose the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur, the Portuguese head coach is keen to avoid another disappointing campaign.
Amorim, who took over from Erik ten Hag after moving from Sporting Lisbon, is said to have made a personal appeal to United's top brass to recruit Valentim, according to Portuguese publication Record [via the Mirror]. The 49-year-old previously worked with Amorim at their former club Braga, and the United boss is reportedly eager for a reunion at Old Trafford.
Negotiations are said to be in progress for Valentim, who is currently a free agent after leaving the Portuguese club this summer, to make the move to the UK. His appointment would mark the latest change behind the scenes since Amorim's arrival.
Several members of Erik ten Hag's former staff, including Ruud van Nistelrooy, have departed - with the Dutchman recently leaving Leicester. Rene Hake, Jelle ten Rouwelaar and Pieter Morel also left following Amorim's takeover.
Set piece coach Andreas Georgson was initially kept on, but assumed a new role in December after Amorim revealed that his assistant Carlos Fernandes was now leading set piece planning.
Discussing the tactical shift following a match against Arsenal, he explained: "The thinking is Carlos is responsible for set pieces, different stuff. Andreas is also there to help. That's it. That's the reason.
"I think if you follow Premier League for a long time you can see that they (Arsenal) are also big players for that. And you can see it in every occasion that (Bukayo) Saka and (Gabriel) Martinelli has one against one, a lot of times they go outside and cross. They already know if the cross is going well, they can score. If it's a corner, they can score.
"So we have to be better on that situation but like in every area of our game we need time to improve also. But you can see in all Arsenal games every team has a problem with that."
Georgson left his position in May this year, amidst a wave of departures from the Manchester United coaching staff.
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