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The 39-year-old Amorim has seen his stock grow across Europe after four successful seasons in Portugal managing Sporting Lisbon. Before Liverpool appointed Arne Slot as Jürgen Klopp’s replacement, there was talk that Amorim was a candidate. With the news that Sporting’s soccer director Hugo Viana could slide into Txiki Begiristain’s role at Manchester City come season’s end, rumors circulated that Amorim could eventually replace Pep Guardiola.
However, the red side of Manchester now seems like the most likely destination for the coveted Portuguese manager, with news that the Red Devils are prepared to exercise his release clause to bring him to Old Trafford as soon as possible.
Amorim favors a 3-4-3 formation that encourages possession based soccer, building from the back and utilizing the length and width of the pitch. Sporting are also one of the highest pressing teams in Portugal, always trying to set traps to recover the ball as high up the pitch as possible. Defensively, the shape can change into a more compact 5-2-3 or even a 5-4-1.
It will be interesting to see if Amorim’s approach changes if he does end up at Old Trafford. If it doesn’t then here’s how Manchester United could lineup under Amorim — only taking healthy players into consideration.
GK: André Onana — Onana’s shown that he’s a capable ball-playing goalkeeper since his Inter Milan days, which is something necessary for Amorim’s build-up style to succeed.
LCB: Lisandro Martínez — His solid technical ability compounded with him being left-footed make his selection a no-brainer. The 2022 world champion could be one of the players who benefits most if Amorim does arrive.
CB: Matthijs De Ligt — The Ajax academy product is technically solid. While at Bayern Munich, he got experience playing in a back-three under Thomas Tuchel.
RCB: Victor Lindelöf — Lindelöf …
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