Former Manchester United defender Phil Jones thinks there’s no way incoming manager Ruben Amorim will be able to implement his preferred tactical system at Old Trafford straight away.
The Portuguese tactician has impressed at Sporting Lisbon, but he’s done a lot of that whilst playing with a back three, which Jones thinks is going to be too big a change for this Man Utd team to adopt mid-season.
The Red Devils only recently sacked Erik ten Hag, who played with a back four, which is also generally the most common defensive setup in the Premier League at the moment.
Not many managers have been able to make a back three work, but one imagines it could be something Amorim is eager to get his players used to.
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All in all, this surely points to early problems for Amorim at Old Trafford.
Ruben Amorim will have to change tactics at Manchester United
“No, that takes practice on the training pitch,” Jones said on Match of the Day 2 when asked if Amorim could easily implement a switch to playing three at the back in the middle of the season.
“We played a back three under Louis van Gaal, we spent many hours on the pitch, eleven v eleven, getting the distances right.
“The timing of the actions has to be spot on, so it’ll be difficult, it’s a difficult job.”
It will be interesting to see if Amorim attempts to use his preferred system straight away, or if he waits a while to get a better understanding of the squad he’s working with at United.
The 39-year-old will be inheriting a difficult job at MUFC, and for now he surely just needs to focus on the best way to improve results quickly, as the club are struggling in 13th place in the Premier League table.
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