How Amorim's reign turned sour

RUBEN Amorim arrived at Manchester United as one of Europe’s brightest young coaching talents, but just 14 months on he leaves the club as the latest man unable to revive the fortunes of the fallen English giants.

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The 40-year-old was sacked yesterday after overseeing just 25 wins in his 63 games in charge, leaving United looking for a seventh permanent boss since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.

Here we look at where it went wrong for Amorim during his short stint at Old Trafford.

Wedded to a failing system

Amorim rose to prominence by winning two Portuguese league titles at Sporting Lisbon, based on his preferred 3-4-3 formation. Despite evidence that the system was not the best fit for the players he had at United, Amorim persisted with it, at one point claiming “not even the Pope” could get him to change tack.

It was only in his final weeks in charge of United that he showed any willingness to be flexible, at times switching to a back four due to depleted resources, with players out injured and away at the Africa Cup of Nations.