Who will be the winners under Rúben Amorim?

Karan Ahgun

— 5 min read
Who will be the winners under Rúben Amorim?

Rúben Amorim is set to take charge of his first game against Ipswich Town this Sunday. The football world will be watching with anticipation to see how Amorim implements his 3-4-3 system at United and we could get a glimpse of which players will thrive in this new system. So who will these players be?

This season, United's problems have been in front of goal. Whilst adding defensive stability in the team is important for Amorim, getting the team scoring goals again may top his priorities. Rasmus Højlund and Marcus Rashford would be two players in the attack who would hugely benefit in Amorim's system. Both have only scored one Premier League goal so far this season but neither have been getting as many opportunities to shoot or score in the games they've played. In Højlund's case, he hasn't had the opportunities to let off as many shots as other strikers in the league whilst he's been at Manchester United. Last season, he became the youngest player in Premier League history to score in 6 consecutive games and has an impressive conversion rate of around 25%. The Dane also has a similar build and play style to Sporting's Viktor Gyökeres, who Amorim turned into one of the most prolific strikers in European football. If Amorim is able to guide Højlund into making similar runs to get goalscoring opportunities, Højlund could easily increase his goal output and stake his claim to be United's long-term No. 9. The same things can be said for Marcus Rashford. In recent games, he has played on the right wing and has been further away from the goal which doesn't really suit his strengths. Amorim could deploy Rashford as a striker who makes runs in behind with his devastating pace or he could be used in the "inside 10"/winger role to great effect.

In midfield, there are two obvious winners in Kobbie Mainoo and Manuel Ugarte. Ugarte will be reuniting with a coach who has already brought the best out of him from his time at Sporting and all interested parties will hope that the defensive midfielder's form in the Premier League continues to improve. Whilst Ten Hag was at the club, Ugarte was barely used in the Premier League when it was obvious that United's midfield set up was in great need of some legs. Ugarte is known as an energetic, tough tackler and we have seen in recent games that he is able to show his class. Some United fans don't rate the Uruguayan because he can't play in a silky way but Ugarte's value doesn't come on-the-ball. The on-the-ball stuff in United's new midfield set up will be coming from Kobbie Mainoo. Before his injury, Mainoo's start to the season hasn't been as good as fans would have hoped. To be fair to him, he came into the season without a pre-season and had to build up match fitness by playing league games which was evident in a slight lack of mobility when chasing back. In Amorim's new system, the midfield gaps won't be as large as they were so both Mainoo and Ugarte won't have to cover as much ground as before meaning they are able to conserve their energy more effectively throughout a 90 minute game, and this will probably help Mainoo showcase his ball-playing abilities more often. The Mainoo-Ugarte partnership can become a foundation to build attacks from for Amorim's team and as they are both young, they will continue to improve different elements of their play style.

In defence, there aren't many standout winners. United have many centre-backs in their squad, all of whom are adept at playing in a back three. Leny Yoro will be making his debut in this season and it is easy to see him slotting in on the right side of the back three. Yoro's strengths lie in his reading of the game and his ability to defend space so playing as a "sweeper" in the RCB position would really suit him and get the best out of him. On the left side, Lisandro Martinez will be the first choice centre-back but there could be an opportunity for Luke Shaw to play there more regularly if he maintains his fitness. United have also been linked to Jarrad Branthwaite since the summer and the LCB position would also suit his strengths as a defender. In the centre of the back three, Matthijs De Ligt will most probably he the first choice but a dark horse for that position could be Harry Maguire. Maguire looks most comfortable when playing in a back three and will have the opportunity to play those long diagonals to the wing-backs which he has done so often. The main defensive priority for Rúben Amorim is to get the team working as a unit and eradicating silly mistakes which keep costing United in games.

Overall, there are a few players in Manchester United's playing squad who can suit playing Rúben Amorim's 3-4-3 system and there is potential for players to really improve their form this season if they are played in positions which suit their strengths. The biggest winner in the squad should be Rasmus Højlund due to the similarity in profile he has with Viktor Gyökeres. If everything goes well, fans will be expecting Højlund's goal tally in the league to improve massively but for this to happen, the whole team needs to contribute to making the system work. We will be able to give a more informed judgement of the players at the end of the season but there is definitely hope for a number of them!

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