For all the talk of the transfer market and the clear two holes still in the squad (midfielder and a goalkeeper), a coach’s bread and butter is improving the players at his disposal.
Ruben Amorim was so attractive to Man Utd because of the miracles he worked with players at Sporting, improving them immensely before they were sold for high prices.
With this being the first full season for Amorim at Old Trafford, his success or failure will be determined by whether he can repeat those heroics here.
Despite the season being just one competitive game old, there are signs that he can make one Man Utd ace the best in the world, like he did at Sporting.
Nuno Mendes defending for Sporting, Ruben Amorim watching on the touchline
Photo by Carlos Rodrigues/Getty Images
Ruben Amorim’s miracle with Nuno Mendes at Sporting
It’s February 2020, and the COVID pandemic has brought a premature end to youth football competitions in Portugal.
Ruben Amorim is the Sporting manager, and he doesn’t want the youngsters to waste away without games, so a small number are invited to train with the first team.
Among them is Nuno Mendes, who has had rotten injury luck, playing only once since November for the youth sides.
However, Amorim sees a spark in him, and he is given his first-team debut in June of that year. First-choice left wing-back Marcos Acuna is sold that summer, but Sporting don’t buy anyone of starting quality.
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At just 18, Mendes is installed as the first-choice left wing-back by Amorim, and he ends the season by earning a place in the Team of the Season.
Just one season was enough to convince PSG of his abilities, with whom he signed on an initial loan with an obligation to buy.
Fast forward to today, and Mendes has been recognised as the “best in the world”, with even links to United popping up earlier this year.
He remains indebted to Amorim for showing faith in a player who was an injury-troubled teenager at the time, replacing a senior international.
Amorim has a reputation of being a striker whisperer due to his work with Viktor Gyokeres, but the early signs of this season are showing that left wing-back is his next project at United.
Patrick Dorgu controls the ball for Manchester United
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Patrick Dorgu can replicate Nuno Mendes’ trajectory
Although Patrick Dorgu is not one from the academy, he was also a gamble made in desperation, albeit a calculated one.
United had zero fit left wing-backs when he was signed in January as a 20-year-old playing for a Lecce side in Serie A that was fighting against relegation.
Going from that to playing under the glare and scrutiny at United was a shock for the player, and he played like it at times.
However, with an off-season, Dorgu has come back looking like he is a man on a mission, and that mission is to ensure he replicates Mendes’ trajectory under Amorim.
Dorgu is intensity personified, and the way he has grown into the heavy Man Utd shirt speaks volumes about his mentality.
He’s playing fearless and dynamic football, completely locking down that left side, and his fitness is a big advantage for a club that has had rotten luck with injuries.
Former Sporting player Andraz Sporar told Slovenian outlet Siol that Amorim has a ‘feeling’ for young players, and the production line under his management at Sporting attests to it.
The likes of Matheus Nunes, Pedro Porro, and Nuno Mendes, just to name a few, became stars under his coaching and have continued to impress since leaving.
Dorgu is already following Mendes’ trajectory. Now, if only Benjamin Sesko could replicate Gyokeres’ numbers for Sporting at United!