One thing is for certain; if Amorim comes in to Manchester United, he must stick to his principles. EtH pretty much abandoned his after three games. Amorim has to stick to his 3-4-3 formation, even if it means people playing out of position until he can bring someone in to do the job.
Having done a fair bit of research over the past 48 hours, here’s the profile of his sides and how we may suit:
RCB: needs to be comfortable on the ball and mobile enough to step out into the fullback areas. Yoro seems made for this. Lindelof to back him up until the summer.
CB: the man in the middle of the three must be physically dominant. The ‘monster’ of the defence. Enter De Ligt. The role would also suit Maguire as backup.
LCB: see RCB for the profile. Ideal for Martinez. Evans as back up until the summer.
RWB: needs to go beyond the nominal RW (more on that specific role below) . We have Dalot and Mazraoui, but I’m not actually sure either fit Amorim’s requirements for this role. He wants the RWB to bomb past the man ahead of him and get to the byline, which isn’t the strength of our current two options.
LWB: less required to attack than the opposite side due to the profile Amorim requires from his LW, which is very different to his RW (see lower down this post) . Actually, Dalot and Mazraoui would be more suited to this side of the pitch where the remit would be to sit deeper and feed the forward players.
CM1: a ball-winner. Ugarte or Casemiro. Simple.
CM2: a ball-player. Mainoo or Eriksen. Someone like Angel Gomes to replace Eriksen next season.
RW: here’s where it gets interesting! One of his ‘wingers’ is basically a playmaker with freedom to go wherever. The only place I can see Bruno fitting into an Amorim side. A little like Goncalves does at Sporting. This is why the RIGHT wingback has to be a touchline hugger to provide the width on that side as Bruno drifts. Amad would also be excellently suited to this role.
LW: the other wide attacker absolutely stays wide. Picking up the ball and driving. The player whose sole role is to dribble and cause havoc from out to in. Rashford or Garnacho. Interestingly, I genuinely don’t see both starting together in an Amorim side.
CF: sitting on the shoulder. Ready to explode into life. Ideal for Hojlund. Absolutely NOT ideal for Zirkzee, who I think will be out of here within the year. He just doesn’t have what Amorim likes.
It’s going to be interesting!
Written by Downsie53 October 30 2024 15:54:21
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