How Ruben Amorim’s first 20 Man United matches compare to his start at Sporting

Ruben Amorim has been Manchester United head coach for three months with 20 games now under his belt.

After Erik ten Hag was sacked, Ruben Amorim was given an ultimatum by Ineos. The 40-year-old wanted to join at the end of the season, but that simply wasn’t an option.

Instead, Ruben Amorim has had to take charge of a disjointed Manchester United side struggling for form and confidence.

Implementing an entirely new formation and style of play has proven difficult, but Amorim has stubbornly stuck to his plan and remains confident that success will follow.

But his start in England has been turbulent. Amorim wants to lead United to their 21st league title, and Sunday’s visit to Tottenham marks his 21st game in charge of the club.

Ruben Amorim’s start at Man United compared to Sporting

Amorim was the clear favourite for the United job in November with club chiefs impressed by his success in Portugal.

He led Sporting to their first league title in 19 years before adding a second league trophy just a few seasons later. Amorim’s Sporting side were capable of going toe-to-toe with Europe’s best, as shown in their 4-1 demolition of Manchester City this season.

So far, he has struggled to emulate that success at United, and a comparison of his first 20 games at both clubs emphasises his struggles.

Here is Ruben Amorim’s record so far after his first 20 matches at Manchester United:

Now for a comparison to Amorim’s first 20 matches as Sporting Lisbon boss in 2020.

Interestingly, United are scoring almost as many goals as Amorim’s Sporting side early on, but the Red Devils have conceded nearly twice as many goals.

Amorim’s win rate at United sits at a flat 50 percent, whereas Amorim won 65 percent of his first 20 matches at Sporting.

Ruben Amorim is starting to make progress

When Amorim first arrived in Manchester, he spoke about the importance of balancing short-term results and long-term progress.

Amorim has made it blindingly clear that he will not change his system – and so he shouldn’t. He was brought in to implement his style of play, and doing that will take time and patience.

However, results under Amorim have not been as bad as many think – United have won six of their last eight games across all competitions and 10 wins in 20 is not a particularly awful record, even if not up to United’s standards.

The major worry has been the level of performances recently. Amorim kept United players at Old Trafford to train after a disappointing display against Leicester.

Spurs are up next, and with a nine-day break since the last match, Amorim will want to see his players make use of their training time.