As many of Ruben Amorim’s predecessors at Manchester United can attest, success and failure in top managerial roles is almost as much about narrative as it is about performances. Your team may have put together an aggressive, run-of-the-mill performance over the course of a season, but if you can turn the story into one of winning titles in spite of yourself, they might let you hang around. Heck, PSG’s good vibes and implosion have secured him a full-time job at Old Trafford.
If someone wants to tame the mass of elite fans, they need to sell a story that goes with their tactical plan. The guy who stayed a little longer in Lisbon to give his new rivals a bloody nose: it’s a compelling prologue.
Amorim’s system is not foolproof and will not feature players as explosive as Viktor Gyokores. His soon-to-be former players showed a trait that would be of great use to Manchester United if Amorim can transfer him. There was a fighting spirit in them, a refusal to be intimidated when all the territory and opportunities were in City’s favour. When the pressure came, they continued to play their way, sometimes failing, and when their moments came, they flocked to their opportunities.
In that sense, this was more United-style than most of what has been offered at Old Trafford in the last decade. Rarely in that time have City looked like they have over the last week. You could drive an 18-wheeler through the spaces that Rodri used to occupy in front of the baseline. But it can’t just be his absence, right? Any team would miss the Ballon d’Or holder, particularly when his replacement Mateo Kovacic simply lacks that instinct to know where opposing attacks might be heading.
In the last week, and even in those very close victories over ordinary rivals, City seemed exhausted. The collective brain knows what is required. They can still weave patterns, and in those 38 minutes before the Gyokores show they could have killed this game. Even then, however, any Sporting loss turned into a footrace straight to Ederson’s goal.
Their game was characterized by the contrasting luck of Erling Haaland’s penalties and the other Scandinavian who devours the terrain and launches into his duels. Gyokores scored both of his penalties. Haaland crashed his against the crossbar. Both teams treated their opponents to something of a shooting drill (a real shock in City’s case) and Sporting were much more clinical than their star striker’s early miss suggested they might be.
However, it means that even this heavy-legged city found fault with what could soon be Old Trafford’s system. Those planning their post-international break meetings with Amorim, starting with Kieran McKenna, a man who knows much of the United squad better than their new manager, should have seen plenty in the early stages that point to potential weaknesses.
Such is the disparity between the best and the worst in the Primeira Liga, that Sporting are rarely, if ever, in a position where their full-backs are anything more than renamed wingers. That won’t happen very often in England. Not even Ipswich is bad enough. More pertinently, Manchester United are certainly not good enough to prevail against anyone.
You could certainly imagine Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui having the same difficulties that Sporting’s full-backs did when City played their wingers high and wide. Amorim is one of those coaches who shows the world that there is nothing inherently defensive about a back three or five. However, if you can get Geovany Quenda and Maximiliano Araujo to stay back for most of the first half, there may be spaces to work with in front of the backline, particularly when the inside forwards aren’t the most natural out of possession. Coming into the final third, City were able to raise their heads and take advantage of the gaps around Sporting’s defence. He should have brought more, Haaland denied twice around the half hour mark.
Sporting had to largely defend themselves against the counterattack. Fortunately for Amorim, Gyokores is a one-man counterattack. When he faced 19-year-old debutant Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, there was no stopping the dynamic Swede, with a short finish on Ederson making up for an entirely sloppier effort half an hour earlier.
Then Amorim changed the tie. There was no grand tactical gambit, no personnel reorganization: he simply sent his team out with greater intensity and purpose. This time no one stopped Araujo from moving forward. He gave the ball to Pedro Gonçalves and continued forward, simply running through the center of the field without anyone deigning to stand in his way.
The city became more neglected. Josko Gvardiol did not need to collide with Francisco Trincao when he rushed into the area. This is what happens when you have lost faith in your collective defense. You find the easy way out. Instead, Gyokores had another excellent chance from 12 yards. And then another before the game ended, clumsy by Matheus Nunes.
A hat-trick for the superstar striker, who will surely soon follow his boss out of Lisbon. The perfect way to end an impressive period at Sporting. As impressive a preview as any Manchester United fan could wish for. Amorim is writing a story that you won’t want to put down.
