Ruben Amorim sacked: Inside Man Utd head coach’s reign at Old Trafford
Players remained offside, although the results were not always good; At least those not in the ‘bomb squad’ were exiled at the beginning of pre-season training.
Speaking publicly and privately with players during United’s summer trip to the United States, there was real enthusiasm for the season ahead.
Amorim had a few quirks, but most rams were like that.
When United opened their doors for the first 15 minutes of training the day before the European matches, it was strange to see Amorim watching the sprints and rondos on a different pitch, sometimes 50 meters away and far away from the coaching staff.
He was much more involved (whistle in hand) when the sessions started, but he wasn’t keen on the media getting involved in them.
United’s post-season trip in May was held in a fully open session in Malaysia, but given the downtime allowed, not all of that trip was conducted on entirely professional lines.
When United arrived at its training base in Chicago in July, access was limited. The sincerity of Amorim’s media conferences could not be compared to his openness to education.
However, he was very meticulous in his preparations.
Footage of his first training session at United showed him explaining to midfielder Kobbie Mainoo exactly how many steps he should take after releasing the pass and then where he should open his body to create maximum passing angles.
He trained two players in the same positions during training over the summer and then ran different scenarios to make sure they were in the correct area of the field.
While this may seem odd (and it would seem so if anyone were to witness it), it makes sense given that positions are assigned to individuals and a hierarchy is established.
Theory and practice are good. But events in real matches go their own way.
Amorim could have chosen four players in each position and might not have ended up with Mason Mount at left-back, for whom former United captain Gary Neville criticized him so harshly after the 3-1 defeat at Brentford.
