Is it just me, or has this international break been longer than the ones before?
I imagine this is how many of the Man United fans must feel. The club's media team have been drip feeding us bits and even smaller bits of the behind-the-scenes events that have been taking place since Rubén Amorim arrived.
Among them, there were two videos that stood out. The 12-minute club interview and the most recent 8-minute training video.
Image Source: centredevils
The club interview was simply a confirmation of what we had observed about Amorim since it became clear he was going to be the United head coach.
- He is incredibly well spoken, especially in English.
- He has a charm about him.
- He is very good at handling the press.
- He backs his players.
All these are fantastic qualities you want in the person who will be in the Man United hot seat.
But beyond that, what would he offer on the pitch? That is where the training video comes in!
The three at the back!
Image Source: Utdmuppetiers
From the training video it is already clear that Amorim is not changing from what he knows best, just like he said.
What stood out to me was how quickly the ball was getting to the forward players. Under Ten Hag, our build up was incredibly slow, clearly intending to bait the press from the opponent. However, most teams wised up to it preferring to sit back and counter, which was our biggest weakness.
With Amorim, it seems the wingbacks are the stars of the squad. The quick switches of play from deep to the wings seemed a constant feature of the training video. Everything just seemed a lot faster. More intense. This is something we were missing under Ten Hag.
But this singular training video doesn't tell us a lot about who will be playing where. Most of the senior team are still away, so we are yet to see what Amorim does once presented with that challenge.
For instance, where will the Captain, Bruno Fernandes, play? Will he play? What about Mazraoui? De Ligt? Ugarte? Garnacho?
What about those forward positions? They are going to be highly contested. We can, at the very least, expect that one player will be unhappy with their playtime.
Between Garnacho, Rashford, Zirkzee, Hojlund, Bruno, Antony, Amad and Mount, someone will want to leave the club by the end of the season. Who will it be?
Well, we wait to see! Sunday cannot come soon enough. A 39 year old manager. New exciting ideas. Enthusiastic players in training. Buzzing fan base. Playing championship opposition. A perfect introduction to life at Old Trafford for Rubén Amorim, right? Right?
You already know a narrow 2-1 loss to Ipswich on the weekend is coming. Take out a second morgage on your house and bet the entire amount on it. You know it is happening!