Ruben Amorim issues clear response to Danny Murphy’s claims he must ‘evolve’ tactics at Man United

Ruben Amorim has issued a clear response to Dan Murphy’s claims that he must ‘evolve’ his tactics at Manchester United.

Manchester United’s head coach Ruben Amorim is preparing for his first game in charge at his new home ground Old Trafford against Bodø/Glimt.

His first match in the Premier League ended in a 1-1 draw against Ipswich Town and he will be hoping for improvements from then.

Ahead of the game, Amorim spoke to the media about his team and the tactics he is introducing behind the scenes at Carrington.

What Danny Murphy said about Amorim’s tactics

Former Liverpool player Danny Murphy believes that Amorim’s new shape will not work in the Premier League and predicts that it will change in the coming months.

He suggests that Amorim needs to ‘evolve’ his tactics in order to succeed at Old Trafford.

“I would be amazed if they are still playing a 3-4-3 in a year’s time,” Murphy said on Match of the Day 2.

“This league is very, very different than continental leagues. We have only had Chelsea in recent years win playing that system.

“And, let’s be honest, they had Kante and Matic – two wonderful midfielders in the middle of the pitch, plus Costa up top with Hazard supporting him and helping them as well.

“They [Manchester United] don’t have those players yet and how do you find them? It costs hundreds of millions to get the best players in the world.

“When you play three at the back against the majority of good teams in our league who play three high, you end up being a five and that is really difficult.

“If Manchester United are going to become much better and be competitive, I think that 3-4-3 will evolve into something else.”

Amorim responds to formation talk

Murphy is not the only pundit to start laser-focusing on Amorim’s formation, even when the head coach himself has said that there should not be so much focus on that shape.

Almost every team plays with three defenders and a front five in possession. Amorim is more focused on making sure the players know the basic principles of his idea, rather than be overwhelmed by a formation.

However, the 39-year-old has explained that he is open to adjusting the formation once the overall structure of his ideas are in place.

“We will do it, we have to do it. When I talk about our structure, you don’t know it very well, but I believe we can play in different systems,” he said.

“We defend more in this game [against Ipswich] in a 4-4-2, because Amad was with the left-back.

“We want to put the structure before and then we have to play in different systems because nowadays every team change their dynamic.

“We will adapt that, we are just starting with the beginning and then we will have different things. The power of this structure means you can change formation in each game.”

Once again, it appears that surface-level analysis is taking over with Murphy’s comments getting a lot of traction. He is the one who has placed so much importance on the 3-4-3. Amorim has never done that.

Instead, like many managers, he wants to build his own identity in the team and that is not determined by one shape played on the pitch.

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