Rúben Amorim - next big 'hipster's choice' manager?

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the chameleon

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I was doing some digging around for potential next big managers to come out of the continent. Rúben Amorim's name has popped up a few times.

What do our Portuguese posters on here have to say about him? Could he ever become an elite coach?

What is his style? Would he be a good fit at United in the future?
 

SportingCP96

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He is still not ready for a move like that but he is a very talented coach. Sporting pod 10M to Braga to secure the services of Amorim so you can imagine the pressure he must of felt. Sporting were not asking to win a title but to build a foundation to prosper and grow with a project based on home grown players and talents in our league we can develop and sell for more money. As well as keeping a core of players who understand our values and used to lead the younger players. Guys like Coates, Adan etc. Safe to say the money payed was worth every penny.

Amorim in a year and a half as a coach has won 2 league cups 1 super taça and a league title for Sporting.

Our first League title in 19 years might I add which is a huge achievement especially given how young of a coach he is. Another positive is he does not care about names and is very capable of promoting playing and trusting in young academy prospects and developing them.

One problem with Amorim is winning losing or tied he does not change his tactical set up. At times I wish he would go to a 4 at the back and 3 man midfield as that is important in gaining control of the middle of the park when the opposing team has capable midfielders who can stack the middle of the pitch where then our 2 midfielders are out numbered.

This was very evident in the game vs Ajax. Amorim himself has said he is still learning and these games against better opposition he used to learn and possibly change his system when need be.

Amorim plays a 5-2-3 system at Sporting just as he did in Braga. The most important players in his set up is both the RWB and the LWB as they must cover the full length of the pitch. Last season he had Nuno Mendes as Pedro Porro in those positions as they are both very high work rate players who can play the full length of the pitch.

At the back it is imperative that their is ball playing center backs as they are the start of the attack when we recover the ball. All 3 of our center backs are capable of playing out the back.

In midfield he goes with one box to box player and another more traditional CDM.

In attack is where it gets a little interesting. 1 striker and a right forward and left forward. Both of these players play both inside and outside and the striker he prefers one who can hold the ball up lay it off or pass it out. Pretty much If the striker has the ball the other forwards will go up and form a triangle with the front 3. Depending on who the forwards are it is imperative that they drop back when we don’t have the ball or during the build up. If it’s Pedro Gonçalves he will usually drop to the center and form a 3 in midfield and if it’s Nuno Santos o Jovane they will assist the wing backs.

Defending it is a 5-2-3 but attacking it’s more of a 3-4-3. High pressing is imperative when off the ball for this to work and that’s where those 2 midfielders are crucial in this set up.

When the two wingbacks push forward the two outside center backs tend to overlap left and right respectively to cover the open space out wide.

Amorim likes to keep the pitch as narrow as possible and force the play from the opposing team out wide. This allows us then to naturally gain control of the middle of the pitch. The high pressing is used to force the opposition to make a mistake where then we can counter.

Defensively Sporting is very compact and had the best defense last season in the league as well as this season so far.

Amorim is also a very great speaker and motivator. He really is a leader and someone players love to play for. Sporting under Amorim have had a never say die attitude which allowed them to score many goals last season from the 80 minute onward as well as deep into stoppage time ala Fergie time.

Under Amorim Sporting have lost 1 game in the league from all of last season and this season as well so far.

His league win with Sporting broke many records all while having a young team full of academy prospects!

Amorim is still very young and it’s best to continue the project he is doing with Sporting and his stock will continue to rise. He for sure though is a coach to keep on the radar in my opinion but speaking of a move now is very premature.


This video below shows a nice analysis as well with video footage.

 
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Adnan

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He is still not ready for a move like that but he is a very talented coach. Sporting pod 10M to Braga to secure the services of Amorim so you can imagine the pressure he must of felt. Sporting were not asking to win a title but to build a foundation to prosper and grow with a project based on home grown players and talents in our league we can develop and sell for more money. As well as keeping a core of players who understand our values and used to lead the younger players. Guys like Coates, Adan etc. Safe to say the money payed was worth every penny.

Amorim in a year and a half as a coach has won 2 league cups 1 super taça and a league title for Sporting.

Our first League title in 19 years might I add which is a huge achievement especially given how young of a coach he is. Another positive is he does not care about names and is very capable of promoting playing and trusting in young academy prospects and developing them.

One problem with Amorim is winning losing or tied he does not change his tactical set up. At times I wish he would go to a 4 at the back and 3 man midfield as that is important in gaining control of the middle of the park when the opposing team has capable midfielders who can stack the middle of the pitch where then our 2 midfielders are out numbered.

This was very evident in the game vs Ajax. Amorim himself has said he is still learning and these games against better opposition he used to learn and possibly change his system when need be.

Amorim plays a 5-2-3 system at Sporting just as he did in Braga. The most important players in his set up is both the RWB and the LWB as they must cover the full length of the pitch. Last season he had Nuno Mendes as Pedro Porro in those positions as they are both very high work rate players who can play the full length of the pitch.

At the back it is imperative that their is ball playing center backs as they are the start of the attack when we recover the ball. All 3 of our center backs are capable of playing out the back.

In midfield he goes with one box to box player and another more traditional CDM.

In attach is where it gets a little interesting. 1 striker and a right forward and left forward. Both of these players play both inside and outside and the striker he prefers one who can hold the ball up lay it off or pass it out. Pretty much If the striker has the ball the other forwards will go up and form a triangle with the front 3. Depending on who the forwards are it is imperative that they drop back when we don’t have the ball or during the build up. If it’s Pedro Gonçalves he will usually drop center ally to Troy form a 3 in midfield and if it’s Nuno Santos o Jovane they will assist the wing backs.

Defending it is a 5-2-3 but attacking it’s more of a 3-4-3. High pressing is imperative when off the ball for this to work and that’s where those 2 midfielders are crucial in this set up.

When the two wingbacks push forward the two outside center backs tend to overlap left and right respectively to cover the open space out wide.

Amorim likes to keep the pitch as narrow as possible and force the play from the opposing team out wide. This allows us then to naturally gain control of the middle of the pitch. The high pressing is used to force the opposition to make a mistake where then we can counter.

Defensively Sporting is very compact and had the best defense last season in the league as well as this season so far.

Amorim is also a very great speaker and motivator. He really is a leader and someone players love to play for. Sporting under Amorim have had a never say die attitude which allowed them to score many goals last season from the 80 minute onward as well as deep into stoppage time ala Fergie time.

Under Amorim Sporting have lost 1 game in the league from all of last season and this season as well so far.

His league win with Sporting broke many records all while having a young team full of academy prospects!

Amorim is still very young and it’s best to continue the project he is doing with Sporting and his stock will continue to rise. He for sure though is a coach to keep on the radar in my opinion but speaking of a move now is very premature.


This video below shows a nice analysis as well with video footage.

Thanks for the insight, it's much appreciated.

I also agree he's still very young for a head coach at 36 years old and a step up to a big club might still be very early for him. But having said that, at his age he's had phenomenal success for such a young coach and not only has he won the domestic cups but also won the league with SCP after they'd last won it almost 20 years ago. And he did that whilst competing against Benfica and Porto which is very difficult competition. He's shown a high level of tactical acumen for a coach his age and he's definitely someone that I feel could go on to succeed at the very top level in the future.
 
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He is still not ready for a move like that but he is a very talented coach. Sporting pod 10M to Braga to secure the services of Amorim so you can imagine the pressure he must of felt. Sporting were not asking to win a title but to build a foundation to prosper and grow with a project based on home grown players and talents in our league we can develop and sell for more money. As well as keeping a core of players who understand our values and used to lead the younger players. Guys like Coates, Adan etc. Safe to say the money payed was worth every penny.

Amorim in a year and a half as a coach has won 2 league cups 1 super taça and a league title for Sporting.

Our first League title in 19 years might I add which is a huge achievement especially given how young of a coach he is. Another positive is he does not care about names and is very capable of promoting playing and trusting in young academy prospects and developing them.

One problem with Amorim is winning losing or tied he does not change his tactical set up. At times I wish he would go to a 4 at the back and 3 man midfield as that is important in gaining control of the middle of the park when the opposing team has capable midfielders who can stack the middle of the pitch where then our 2 midfielders are out numbered.

This was very evident in the game vs Ajax. Amorim himself has said he is still learning and these games against better opposition he used to learn and possibly change his system when need be.

Amorim plays a 5-2-3 system at Sporting just as he did in Braga. The most important players in his set up is both the RWB and the LWB as they must cover the full length of the pitch. Last season he had Nuno Mendes as Pedro Porro in those positions as they are both very high work rate players who can play the full length of the pitch.

At the back it is imperative that their is ball playing center backs as they are the start of the attack when we recover the ball. All 3 of our center backs are capable of playing out the back.

In midfield he goes with one box to box player and another more traditional CDM.

In attach is where it gets a little interesting. 1 striker and a right forward and left forward. Both of these players play both inside and outside and the striker he prefers one who can hold the ball up lay it off or pass it out. Pretty much If the striker has the ball the other forwards will go up and form a triangle with the front 3. Depending on who the forwards are it is imperative that they drop back when we don’t have the ball or during the build up. If it’s Pedro Gonçalves he will usually drop center ally to Troy form a 3 in midfield and if it’s Nuno Santos o Jovane they will assist the wing backs.

Defending it is a 5-2-3 but attacking it’s more of a 3-4-3. High pressing is imperative when off the ball for this to work and that’s where those 2 midfielders are crucial in this set up.

When the two wingbacks push forward the two outside center backs tend to overlap left and right respectively to cover the open space out wide.

Amorim likes to keep the pitch as narrow as possible and force the play from the opposing team out wide. This allows us then to naturally gain control of the middle of the pitch. The high pressing is used to force the opposition to make a mistake where then we can counter.

Defensively Sporting is very compact and had the best defense last season in the league as well as this season so far.

Amorim is also a very great speaker and motivator. He really is a leader and someone players love to play for. Sporting under Amorim have had a never say die attitude which allowed them to score many goals last season from the 80 minute onward as well as deep into stoppage time ala Fergie time.

Under Amorim Sporting have lost 1 game in the league from all of last season and this season as well so far.

His league win with Sporting broke many records all while having a young team full of academy prospects!

Amorim is still very young and it’s best to continue the project he is doing with Sporting and his stock will continue to rise. He for sure though is a coach to keep on the radar in my opinion but speaking of a move now is very premature.


This video below shows a nice analysis as well with video footage.

Isn't that Rio (in the video)?

(Interesting write up ta)
 

Davie Moyes

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He is still not ready for a move like that but he is a very talented coach. Sporting pod 10M to Braga to secure the services of Amorim so you can imagine the pressure he must of felt. Sporting were not asking to win a title but to build a foundation to prosper and grow with a project based on home grown players and talents in our league we can develop and sell for more money. As well as keeping a core of players who understand our values and used to lead the younger players. Guys like Coates, Adan etc. Safe to say the money payed was worth every penny.

Amorim in a year and a half as a coach has won 2 league cups 1 super taça and a league title for Sporting.

Our first League title in 19 years might I add which is a huge achievement especially given how young of a coach he is. Another positive is he does not care about names and is very capable of promoting playing and trusting in young academy prospects and developing them.

One problem with Amorim is winning losing or tied he does not change his tactical set up. At times I wish he would go to a 4 at the back and 3 man midfield as that is important in gaining control of the middle of the park when the opposing team has capable midfielders who can stack the middle of the pitch where then our 2 midfielders are out numbered.

This was very evident in the game vs Ajax. Amorim himself has said he is still learning and these games against better opposition he used to learn and possibly change his system when need be.

Amorim plays a 5-2-3 system at Sporting just as he did in Braga. The most important players in his set up is both the RWB and the LWB as they must cover the full length of the pitch. Last season he had Nuno Mendes as Pedro Porro in those positions as they are both very high work rate players who can play the full length of the pitch.

At the back it is imperative that their is ball playing center backs as they are the start of the attack when we recover the ball. All 3 of our center backs are capable of playing out the back.

In midfield he goes with one box to box player and another more traditional CDM.

In attach is where it gets a little interesting. 1 striker and a right forward and left forward. Both of these players play both inside and outside and the striker he prefers one who can hold the ball up lay it off or pass it out. Pretty much If the striker has the ball the other forwards will go up and form a triangle with the front 3. Depending on who the forwards are it is imperative that they drop back when we don’t have the ball or during the build up. If it’s Pedro Gonçalves he will usually drop center ally to Troy form a 3 in midfield and if it’s Nuno Santos o Jovane they will assist the wing backs.

Defending it is a 5-2-3 but attacking it’s more of a 3-4-3. High pressing is imperative when off the ball for this to work and that’s where those 2 midfielders are crucial in this set up.

When the two wingbacks push forward the two outside center backs tend to overlap left and right respectively to cover the open space out wide.

Amorim likes to keep the pitch as narrow as possible and force the play from the opposing team out wide. This allows us then to naturally gain control of the middle of the pitch. The high pressing is used to force the opposition to make a mistake where then we can counter.

Defensively Sporting is very compact and had the best defense last season in the league as well as this season so far.

Amorim is also a very great speaker and motivator. He really is a leader and someone players love to play for. Sporting under Amorim have had a never say die attitude which allowed them to score many goals last season from the 80 minute onward as well as deep into stoppage time ala Fergie time.

Under Amorim Sporting have lost 1 game in the league from all of last season and this season as well so far.

His league win with Sporting broke many records all while having a young team full of academy prospects!

Amorim is still very young and it’s best to continue the project he is doing with Sporting and his stock will continue to rise. He for sure though is a coach to keep on the radar in my opinion but speaking of a move now is very premature.


This video below shows a nice analysis as well with video footage.

Thanks for this. What a write up and great insight. These are the kind of posts I love reading on the Cafe.

I'd never heard of him and in fact did not even know who was in charge of Sporting never mind a new very young hipster coach. I think it's great he has a clear and obvious style play/identity.

Sack Ole sign Amorim! (just kidding but deffo one to watch).
 

SportingCP96

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Thanks for the insight, it's much appreciated.

I also agree he's still very young for a head coach at 36 years old and a step up to a big club might still be very early for him. But having said that, at his age he's had phenomenal success for such a young coach and not only has he won the domestic cups but also won the league with SCP after they'd last won it almost 20 years ago. And he did that whilst competing against Benfica and Porto which is very difficult competition. He's shown a high level of tactical acumen for a coach his age and he's definitely someone that I feel could go on to succeed at the very top level in the future.
I agree! The next step for him is to show his setup works on the European stage. Now obviously this is his first time coaching in the CL and the same can be said about the guys in our team so it’s a learning process all the way around but in Europe is where his name can really start to be known.

Either that or if he somehow won back to back league titles with Sporting which would be pretty unprecedented in our league as beside Porto Benfica have only won back to back titles 1x in the last 50 years. So it’s not an easy task but would be a big head turner for sure.

His record against Porto and Benfica is also very good and even with Braga he beat Porto and Benfica away and Porto and Sporting in the Cup all in the Span of 3 weeks.

It’s rare in our league you see another team beat the big 3 in back to back games in the manor he did. That’s when people in our league began to take notice and a couple of months later Sporting pulled the trigger.
 

SportingCP96

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Thanks for this. What a write up and great insight. These are the kind of posts I love reading on the Cafe.

I'd never heard of him and in fact did not even know who was in charge of Sporting never mind a new very young hipster coach. I think it's great he has a clear and obvious style play/identity.

Sack Ole sign Amorim! (just kidding but deffo one to watch).
He’s very firm on his idea and the 5 at the back of was something not really seen in our league as it is not traditionally played in Portuguese football.

His set up has made an experienced coach like Jorge Jesus copy his young pupil and play in a similar set up which Amorim used to win the title.
 

TheMagicFoolBus

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Not to derail the thread, but how was Bruno Lage viewed prior to moving to Wolves? Is he one to keep an eye on? @SportingCP96
He did a brilliant job completely transforming Benfica when he came into the job for Rui Vitoria midway through the 18/19 season - the second half of that year they were unstoppable and won 18 of 19 matches and drew the other, managing to just edge out Porto when the latter looked nailed on for the title. He started his second season nearly as well - they crushed Sporting in the super cup and then won 18 of their first 19 (lost the other). They then completely collapsed down the stretch immediately before and then after the COVID restart in the spring of 2020 - they were an utter disaster (and if I recall correctly they had one of the worst runs in their entire history) and on that basis he resigned.

I don't think it's a ridiculous comparison to draw - Lage did some genuinely excellent things (chiefly refocusing his team around Joao Felix and moving him from marginalised right winger to second striker in a 4-4-1-1when he came in) and had Benfica playing absolutely ruthless football for much of his tenure. That said, by most accounts he's a bit stubborn and it seems he lost the dressing room - to be fair to him though there were obviously mitigating factors due to the pandemic. Overall I'd say the job Amorim has done has been more impressive - Lage was managing Benfica's B team and therefore had a better sense of the club, who to promote, where and how to play, etc. Amorim has had to do all of that on the fly and has done a remarkable job.

For me Wolves is a good step for Lage - he has to prove that he wasn't a flash in the pan. Personally I'm perhaps a bit higher on him than most - think he was dealt a difficult hand and I'm not convinced he wouldn't have turned it around had the season concluded normally without COVID (that said, his middling European record is a concern). More broadly, there's a bit of a tradition of hiring young coaches in Portugal and some of them rise too fast too soon (see Villas-Boas, Andre), and it remains to be seen whether Lage (and Amorim) will be following in Mourinho's footsteps or not.
 

SportingCP96

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Not to derail the thread, but how was Bruno Lage viewed prior to moving to Wolves? Is he one to keep an eye on? @SportingCP96
Overrated in my opinion. Kind of like a Marco Silva I guess would be a decent comparison.

He did good in Benfica but that's not saying much as anyone can coach Benfica, Look at what Rui Vitoria did in Benfica and how bang average of a coach he is.
 

LARulz

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Any chance he would go to United/is ready for the step up in the summer or even now?

I've seen some vague links with him but nothing really for me to get excited about. My family in Portugal rave about him
 
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