The 39-year-old has been on the radar of Europe's top clubs for some time but has now landed the toughest job of them all
Any discussion about Portuguese football will quickly concern 'Os Tres Grandes', the Big Three of Sporting CP, Porto and Benfica. Since the turn of the century, it had in reality narrowed to a Big Two. Sporting had ruled in the middle of the 20th Century, winning 10 league titles between 1941 and 1958, but Porto overtook them as Benfica's great rivals from the 1980s onwards, with Sporting winning no titles at all in the 1990s. They had a brief resurgence at the turn of the century, but then endured their longest drought of all time, with Benfica and Porto sharing the crown between them for 19 long years.
The lack of silverware was far from being the biggest problem, however. The atmosphere around the club had grown so toxic that in 2018, a mob of 50 masked fans invaded the dressing rooms at the club's training ground and started attacking the players, shouting: "We're going to kill you." The assault led to seven players cancelling their contracts, including Portugal internationals Rui Patricio and William Carvalho as well as top prospect Rafael Leao, and to president Bruno de Carvalho being voted out by members.
But just three years on from the darkest day in the club's history, Sporting ended Porto and Benfica's near two-decade stranglehold on the title, lifting the 2021 title. And the architect of this historic turnaround was Ruben Amorim, the man Manchester United have chosen to replace Erik ten Hag.
Amorim's achievements did not end with that title win. He took the team to the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time in 11 years and then to the quarter-finals of the Europa League. And last season, Sporting reclaimed their crown, winning their 20th title with two games to spare. They have gone from strength to strength, winning all nine of their league games so far this term while taking seven points from their three matches in the Champions League.
Amorim has put the meaning back in the notion of the 'Big Three' and Sporting are back to where they believe they should be, as the pre-eminent force in Portuguese football after a long period in the wilderness. So it is not surprising that United have turned to the 39-year-old after making an abysmal start to the season. But will Amorim be able to succeed where so many of his prestigious predecessors have failed?
AFPInstant impact
Just one week before he was sacked in the aftermath of the dreadful defeat at West Ham, Ten Hag called for patience from football writers and from United's owners. But, if anything, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and United's executives gave the Dutchman far more time than he deserved. Amorim will know that he will have to hit the ground running when he takes charge on November 11 as United have a lot of catching up to do in the Premier League, trailing fourth-placed Aston Villa by seven points while having taken just three points from their three Europa League games.
But that shouldn't worry Amorim as he has never taken long to have an impact. Just look at his work at Braga. He was only in charge for 13 games but picked up 10 victories, including a shock League Cup final win over Porto and Braga's first away win at Benfica in 65 years. His record spurred Sporting into action and compelled them to spend €10 million ($12m) in March 2020 to free him from his contract.
The transfer fee left many fans gobsmacked as it made the coach a more expensive acquisition than most of their players, but Amorim proved to be the most shrewd signing Sporting have made in many years. In his first full season, he led Sporting to that long-awaited first title in 19 years as well as the League Cup, beating his former side Braga in the final.
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One of the most common criticisms of Ten Hag's troubled last two seasons at Old Trafford was that there was a lack of a clear playing philosophy. The Dutchman was hired for everything he achieved with Ajax, where he had worked wonders with positional play. But he abandoned those principles at United, who he claimed would "never play like Ajax". It was a strange thing to say, especially as he had signed so many of his former Ajax players.
So it's a good thing that Amorim is renowned for his playing style. He has operated with a 3-4-3 formation throughout his career, beginning at tiny Casa Pia, whom he coached in the third division of Portuguese football, and sticking with it while in charge of Braga's B team and first team, and at Sporting. But despite sticking with that system, he has demonstrated tactical flexibility during the course of his tenure.
Sporting effectively counter-attacked their way to the title in Amorim's first season, relying on an outstanding defensive unit led by captain Sebastian Coates and protected by the brilliant ball-winning midfielder Joao Palhinha. Wing-backs Nuno Mendes and Pedro Porro (now at Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham, respectively) also played pivotal roles in attack as well as helping the defence, which conceded just 20 goals in 34 games. Attacking midfielder Pedro Goncalves, meanwhile, finished as the league's top scorer with 23 goals. Sporting clinched the title with two games left while they were still unbeaten, although they went on to lose their penultimate game of the season to Benfica.
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Sporting's success inevitably attracted richer clubs to their players, and the summer of 2022 saw an exodus of their top talent. Mendes completed a permanent move to PSG after a loan spell, Palhinha joined Fulham and Matheus Nunes headed to Wolves, while Porro moved to Tottenham the following January.
Amorim successfully adapted his side, and although they finished fourth in the league, they pulled off impressive results in Europe, taking four points off Tottenham in the Champions League before then knocking Arsenal out of the Europa League to reach the quarter-finals. And last season his team started clicking again in ruthless fashion, scoring a stunning 96 goals while only conceding 29, winning the league by 10 points. They have continued their ferocious attacking form this season, netting 30 times in the opening nine league games.
Coates and Goncalo Inacio, who are both integral to the way in which Sporting build from the back, are serious threats in the opposition box, Goncalves is still a constant threat while Paulinho has proven a reliable source of goals since being prised away from Braga in 2021.
The key, though, has been Viktor Gyokeres, the former Coventry City striker who is now attracting attention from all across Europe due to his insatiable rate of goal-scoring. He struck 36 times in 39 games in all competitions last term and has already scored 12 times in this campaign.
Getty Images Sport'Prepared for next leap'
It is little wonder then that Amorim had been attracting the attention of Europe's top clubs for some time. He was believed to be the main rival to Arne Slot for the Liverpool job last summer, although the coach insists he never had an interview for the Anfield dugout. He did meet with West Ham about succeeding David Moyes, which he later apologised for.
The fact that he turned West Ham down speaks of the belief he has in his ability. He was clearly holding out for a bigger job, which has now arrived with United acting swiftly to convince him to succeed Ten Hag, and being willing to do just as Sporting did in 2020 and pay his hefty buy-out clause.
His move to a top club has been a long time in the making. "If he takes the next step, I think the qualities are all there to be able to succeed in English, French, or Spanish football," said Bruno Fernandes in March. "Obviously, we know that the Premier League is probably the most desired. The qualities [to succeed in England] are there. And he has everything to take the next step, in my opinion. But it will depend on the clubs, the directors, whether they want to pay the Sporting’s release clause or not. There are many components. But I think that the manager Ruben Amorim is prepared for the next leap."
