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living the club. I think he likes those kinds of challenges and that mentality will fit great in Manchester to bring United back to top flight Premier League challenges. He is not afraid. In the long run, I think it is his mentality: he’s not afraid to take responsibility when things go wrong and no matter how good the moment is, he always brings the fans back to the reality. As he used to say: “things in football change very quickly”, but even when things went bad we knew that we were on the right path to win titles and he always made us believe that those titles were possible. What is his style of football? And is he tactically adaptable (we have heard he likes 3-4-3, but has he played other systems as well)? In terms of tactical structure, he’s one of the most fixed coaches I can think of: 3-4-3 all the way, even when you're losing and supporters would hope for us to go crazy, he believes in the work he’s made. During the game there are small variations to 3-5-2 or 4-4-2 and usually the front three rotate in between themselves during the 3-4-3 formation which works very well. However, there has been an evolution over time in the playing philosophy and ways of playing with 3-4-3 so I would say he’s tactically adaptable. He’s trained the team in other tactics, but he prioritises the 34-3 and that’s how the team has always played it’s most beautiful football. And he gives a LOT of priority to the consistency and tactical development of the team and of each player. For a player to MUFC things of beauty. Number 1. Utd ski hat. Late 80s. hope to become a starter, it will be of utmost importance for a player to understand his tactics (more even than their quality). Has he dealt with any dressing room problems - and how? He was always very close to the young players, maybe because he was young or because he was a former player himself and knew what most of them were feeling. From there he distributed roles and mostly to the older players which helped to build a strong dressing room. Those older players – in our case it was Coates, Luís Neto, João Pereira and Antunes - had crucial functions to keep the dressing room strong and healthy and also to fit in the new hires or help each young player. Anyone who wasn’t suited to this role, who could be confrontational would be put aside. He was never afraid to leave players “outside” if they created a problem. It didn’t matter how important or good they were: if they created any problems, they wouldn’t stay in the group. In Sporting we had a few: Marcos Acuña was one of the best players when he arrived to Sporting and yet was put aside - without need for an explanation from him. Also Slimani who was much appreciated by the fans - created a problem for PAGE 4
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not being in the starting eleven and was soon put aside. Next transfer window he was out. Even younger players if they did not conquer their place by putting effort in training, they would not earn a place. So you can predict a very strict coach who won’t take any problems. Each player will conquer his place in the starting 11 only if he puts in much effort, understands his tactics and has respect for the team and his decisions. What are his biggest strengths and weaknesses? Strengths: Communication he is honest, charismatic and not afraid to say what is needed. His pre and post match interviews were always so great to see because he always said the right things and there were never things left to explain. - Choice and patience in the right players for the right style of play. - Gets the best out of each player and believes in them. Studying the opposition. Evolving and adapting the team’s tactical thinking. - Player development. Weaknesses: Sometimes stubborn with certain players but mostly because of what I said before, he really prefers players that understand his tactics and that sometimes results in some better players being left out. There were a few players that did not get their opportunity (like Leicester’s Fatawu and we did not understand quite what had happened). - He is from Benfica. Definitely a weakness he should improve! What sort of person is Amorim? Fiery? Calm? Tactical, Motivational, etc? Tactical. He puts a lot of work in crazy small details to get the best out of his tactics and stud- ies the opponent a lot to annul their threat. Definitely calm. If he is fiery it is only in the training and in the dressing room. Only saw him lose his head in a match once against Porto - but it was totally justified. And it was fun as he apologised immediately after! Surely Motivational - as I said, he made not only supporters but the players as well believe we could be Champions. (However he always remains calm). How does he handle the politics of football (the football authorities and his Chairman)? He doesn’t comment much. Sometimes he gives a light opinion but avoids big comments. He very rarely criticises the referee and leaves those comments to the right people. And he doesn’t give a damn about UEFA licences for coaches. As for his ‘superiors’, he’s always been very close to the Chairman and the Sporting Director, also thanks to the fact that they bet on him. They had an excellent relationship and defended each other - very much because they understood that the club’s problems could be solved internally and that this would make the club stronger. Has he ever faced criticism for decisions on and off pitch from Sporting fans? Now... For example, in the season when we came 4th, or when we lost to Lask Linz in the Europa League. The fact that he always believed in his ideas also caused us to suffer heavy defeats (for example, when we lost 0-5 to Manchester City). We’ve also had defeats where the loss wasn’t due to tactical reasons, but to a surprisingly PAGE 5 poor performance from players he’d chosen (for example with Marseille). However, he has always taken responsibility for such decisions. Even if he’s not at fault, he takes the blame without fear and always has a mentality of protecting his players from any criticism. It’s thanks to his attitude, coupled with great communication that the fans have always been patient, and his achievements also speak for themselves. He’s aware that in football he quickly goes from hero to villain - but he is always ready to take the blame for the team and the club. In our worst season with him, he made his place available several times. We just didn’t want him to leave. What was his biggest achievement? Without a doubt, both Championships with Sporting. They’re the greatest achievement in Portugal as there’s no margin for error. And to emphasise the first Championship, as we were clear underdogs and had players less valuable than our rivals. Besides that, with him we believed in great European campaigns and we got some really savoury victories: like, we won against Tottenham, Frankfurt and Dortmund and we eliminated Arsenal in the Europa League, and, lastly, of course the most recent 4-1 win against Manchester City. The disappointment of Amorim leaving is that he thinks the fans are afraid that his departure will jeopardise the Championship this season, but with him we were confident of having a great Champions League campaign as well. And his biggest disappointment? Not winning any Portuguese

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living the club.

I think he likes those kinds of challenges and that mentality will fit great in Manchester to bring United back to top flight Premier League challenges. He is not afraid.

In the long run, I think it is his mentality: he’s not afraid to take responsibility when things go wrong and no matter how good the moment is, he always brings the fans back to the reality. As he used to say: “things in football change very quickly”, but even when things went bad we knew that we were on the right path to win titles and he always made us believe that those titles were possible. What is his style of football? And is he tactically adaptable (we have heard he likes 3-4-3, but has he played other systems as well)?

In terms of tactical structure, he’s one of the most fixed coaches I can think of: 3-4-3 all the way, even when you're losing and supporters would hope for us to go crazy, he believes in the work he’s made. During the game there are small variations to 3-5-2 or 4-4-2 and usually the front three rotate in between themselves during the 3-4-3 formation which works very well. However, there has been an evolution over time in the playing philosophy and ways of playing with 3-4-3 so I would say he’s tactically adaptable. He’s trained the team in other tactics, but he prioritises the 34-3 and that’s how the team has always played it’s most beautiful football.

And he gives a LOT of priority to the consistency and tactical development of the team and of each player. For a player to

MUFC things of beauty. Number 1.

Utd ski hat. Late 80s.

hope to become a starter, it will be of utmost importance for a player to understand his tactics (more even than their quality). Has he dealt with any dressing room problems - and how? He was always very close to the young players, maybe because he was young or because he was a former player himself and knew what most of them were feeling. From there he distributed roles and mostly to the older players which helped to build a strong dressing room. Those older players – in our case it was Coates, Luís Neto, João Pereira and Antunes - had crucial functions to keep the dressing room strong and healthy and also to fit in the new hires or help each young player.

Anyone who wasn’t suited to this role, who could be confrontational would be put aside. He was never afraid to leave players “outside” if they created a problem. It didn’t matter how important or good they were: if they created any problems, they wouldn’t stay in the group.

In Sporting we had a few: Marcos Acuña was one of the best players when he arrived to Sporting and yet was put aside - without need for an explanation from him. Also Slimani who was much appreciated by the fans - created a problem for

PAGE 4

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