The Portuguese coach refuses to adapt from his principles but Pete Hall argues that his Manchester United future may depend on taking a leaf out of Ange Postecoglou’s journey en route to legacy-defining Europa League glory
Big Ange Postecoglou was not for turning. Or so we thought.
High lines. Front foot football. Almost all out attack. It brought Tottenham Hotspur some thrilling victories in the early days of Angeball. Since teams worked out how to counter it, however, results have taken a dramatic downturn.
Ruben Amorim took a similar hardline stance when he arrived on our shores, but since then a clear trend has developed. It was music to new Manchester United overlords Ineos’ ears – after years of directionless travel under Erik ten Hag, someone was willing to come in and instil a philosophy, an identity, on the club.
All along, as, like Spurs, their season lurched from one record-breaking disaster to the next, Amorim has been as bullish as his Australian counterpart.
The difference in a match that could now take Tottenham and United on very diverging trajectories, such was the significance of winning the Europa League to both beleaguered teams, was that, when it really mattered, one coach was willing to sacrifice his ideals for the greater good, and one wasn’t. And even more so after Brennan Johnson’s scruffy finish, Postecoglou was posed a philosophical question and willingly leaned further into the task at hand.
As Spurs sensed glory, they retreated and yet, Amorim failed to push his chips all in, delaying the requisite changes to pin Postecoglou’s side back even further and ultimately make them crack under pressure.
“Of course we have a plan beforehand but everybody can change it when we need to,” Micky van de Ven, man of the match in Bilbao, said. “You can say what you expect from the game but the game is always going to be different.
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim leaves the team hotel in Bilbaoopen image in gallery
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim leaves the team hotel in Bilbao (Adam Davy/PA Wire)
“We wanted to play our own game but after we scored our goal, they pressed us more backwards. I think that’s normal when you’re 1-0 up and they needed to score.
“We defended really well. We kept a clean sheet like in the last couple of games in Europe. We proved to everybody we are a really good side.”
In Spurs’ two biggest results of the season, their 1-0 victory at Eintracht Frankfurt and their history-making success by the same scoreline in Bilbao, both came about because their embattled manager took the pragmatic route, put his attacking principles to one side and ground out victories that can define careers.
Moving to a five-man defence in the San Mames is not how Postecoglou would have wanted to see out his first European trophy success. But needs must, at the highest level, and that’s how reputations are forged.
Manchester United's head coach Ruben Amorim looks on at the San Mamesopen image in gallery
Manchester United's head coach Ruben Amorim looks on at the San Mames (EPA)
Since records began a team has never won a European trophy quite like this, with just 27 per cent possession, and one shot on target that looked for all the world like it was a Luke Shaw own goal. Spurs had three shots overall and completed just 115 passes.
Amorim’s penchant for a 3-4-3 never wavers. His loyalty to pressing high and moving the ball quickly remains immovable, to the extent that he has now floated the prospect of walking away, even without compensation. No. 10s will always be free to roam as they please.
The problem is, as was again glaringly obvious in Bilbao as United failed to score for the 16th match in all competitions this season, the club does not possess players capable of adhering to the Amorim way: Mason Mount and Amad Diallo started behind the hapless Rasmus Hojlund, while Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes held the midfield together with Patrick Dorgu and Noussair Mazraoui flanking the four across midfield.
“In this moment I am not going to be here defending myself,” Amorim said. “It’s not my style, I cannot do it. It is really hard for me.
“In this moment it is a little bit of faith. I’m always open, if the board and the fans feel that I am not the right guy, I will go the next day without any conversation about compensation.
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim during the Uefa Europa League finalopen image in gallery
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim during the Uefa Europa League final (Nick Potts/PA Wire)
“But I will not quit. I am really confident in my job. As you can see, I will not change nothing in how I do things.”
And that may ultimately be Amorim’s downfall. Amorimball may have worked elsewhere, and it could be successful again with a different, more suitable set of players in the future, but the numbers in the here and now don’t lie. Can United justify revamping the squad, again, at an exorbitant sum, for a manager unwilling to adapt and, as of yet, failing to convince he can hit the heights required to return this team to the glory years.
Amorim has won 24 points in 26 league games since taking charge in November, averaging a 0.92 points per game ratio. This is officially the worst record after 26 league games from any manager at the traditional 'big six' clubs.
Even more concerning, the Portuguese’s ratio is lower than Paul Jewell's 0.94 points per game average during Derby County's infamous 2007-08 campaign.
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim walks past the trophy following defeatopen image in gallery
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim walks past the trophy following defeat (Nick Potts/PA Wire)
With even less money to spend as a result of their meek surrender in the Basque country, Amorim is going to have to get creative, with Fernandes causing a shudder among the fanbase when he explained that his exit could be a necessity for the team’s long-term success. Pragmatism may not be the way forward – horses for courses and all that. But should United persevere with Amorim, and that does not seem the certainty it should after less than a year in charge, the former Sporting boss needs to display tactical variance.
He has to at least try something different. It most certainly worked for Ange and, if he’s lucky, it may keep him in a job.