Revealed: Why Rúben Amorim made bizarre decision during Manchester United’s warm-up vs Ipswich

Following a curious reaction, it has been revealed why Rúben Amorim chose to work on Manchester United’s set pieces during the warm-up against Ipswich Town.

On Sunday afternoon, Rúben Amorim’s first match as Manchester United manager saw his side play out a 1-1 draw against Ipswich Town in the Premier League.

United got off to a flying start, with Marcus Rashford finding the back of the net inside two minutes after a brilliant run and assist from Amad Diallo.

Read More: 105 passes, 127 touches – Rúben Amorim has a new “absolute monster” at Manchester United

Ipswich levelled the score just before half-time when Omari Hutchinson unleashed a sensational shot that clipped Noussair Mazraoui and soared into the top corner, leaving André Onana with no chance.

Despite conceding, Onana was outstanding throughout the game, making several key saves to preserve a point for United as the match concluded.

Amorim’s bizarre decision

However, while much focus has been on United’s performance and result, ahead of the game, a lot of fans and journalists were left a little stumped when they realised that Amorim and his assistants were warming up their team through set-piece routines.

“Willing to be corrected but don’t remember United training set pieces before a match in the usual warm-up…” MailSport reporter Nathan Salt commented ahead of kick-off.

Traditionally, United have warmed up through multiple short passing drills, with the first XI wearing one set of coloured bibs and the substitutes wearing another. They would then split off into different groups as the starting players went through intense running drills.

However, against Ipswich, the above video shows coaches getting involved in attacking set-plays while they were also spotted practising corners.

Amorim’s reason why

When many United fans pointed out the change, those knowledgeable about Amorim’s time at Sporting were quick to explain that the 39-year-old stole the trick when his former side played FC Porto a few seasons ago.

During a press conference in May 2021, Amorim was asked why he had started focusing on set pieces during warm-ups rather than more traditional methods. He replied that he was inspired to do so after facing Porto manager Sérgio Conceição.

“They [assistants] do an excellent job,” Amorim told the press via Record. “We worked on the warm-up because we saw FC Porto do it against us, if we can steal things from other coaches we do it.

“We noticed that FC Porto did it and it made perfect sense. Our team was strong on set pieces, it’s the assistants’ credit, not so much me, congratulations to them.

“Regarding the warm-up, coach Conceição does that, we saw it in the League Cup and it makes perfect sense.”

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