Four things noticed from Rúben Amorim’s first Manchester United training session: position changes & tactical adjustment

Four things were noticed as Rúben Amorim conducted his first training session as Manchester United’s new head coach.

Rúben Amorim has officially taken charge as Manchester United’s head coach, following the dismissal of Erik ten Hag last month.

Although his appointment was announced three weeks ago, a contractual dispute over his Sporting CP release clause delayed Amorim’s start. With the issue now resolved, the 39-year-old is ready to begin his tenure at the club.

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During the interim, Ruud van Nistelrooy stepped in as caretaker manager, guiding United to three wins and a draw. While his efforts provided a modest boost, the team remains 13th in the Premier League and 15th in the Europa League standings.

Amorim’s first training session was on Monday morning, marking the start of what promises to be a challenging mission to turn United’s season around. Here are four things we noticed from the official video of the session.

#1 – New positions

Firstly, three new players were conducting their roles in new positions during the session. Antony played right wing-back during the inaugural training session.

Marcus Rashford was given a role as a striker, while Luke Shaw was used as a left centre-back in Amorim’s back three alongside Jonny Evans and Leny Yoro.

However, it must be considered that Amorim does not have many of his current players available due to injury or international duty, so some of these role changes may have been due to a lack of other options.

#2 – Keep in the middle

Throughout the seven-minute piece of footage, Amorim can be heard continually shouting, “Keep it in the middle,” during the 11vs11 section of United’s session, which is what most of the video comprises.

With instructions often dictated to Kobbie Mainoo, Mason Mount, and Amad Diallo, it became increasingly obvious that, from minute one, Amorim wanted to instil the notion that the ball should always be played in the middle of the park.

This contrasts with what fans saw under Ten Hag, who liked to utilise his wingers and the wide areas of the pitch to create chances.

Antony and Tyrell Malacia, who played as wing-backs, often received the ball only higher up the pitch.

#3 – Tracking back

A third point that Amorim looked to hammer home was tracking back as a unit. Each time the first XI lost possession, he would scream at his players to run back to their starting positions, where he would lay a new ball out for them to go again.

With many of his players overloading the attacking third, the squad must adapt to Amorim’s style and understand how to track back effectively if or when they lose the ball and the opposition team counters.

He would often compliment players when they tracked back well, with Malacia and Amad receiving multiple compliments for their hard work.

#4 – Mount high up

Mount has returned from injury and has been working on his fitness across the international break, and is assumed to be fully fit and ready to start when needed.

What was noticed during the footage was that he was given a particular role, playing as the left-sided attacking No. 10 behind striker Marcus Rashford.

He worked in combination with Malacia high up the pitch and was not too involved in initial build-up play, but became very effective once the ball was released to his side.

This may be one to watch over the coming weeks as the rest of the squad returns from their injuries and international duty.

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