After 128 matches under Erik ten Hag, the Ruben Amorim era at Manchester United officially gets underway today at Ipswich Town.
United are 13th in the Premier League table but were also only four points off third place before this weekend’s matches. Amorim started putting the underachieving players through their paces on Monday.
Ipswich have not hosted United since April 2002 and last beat them in the league in September 1994 on the day Paul Scholes claimed his first league goal.
Here are five things to look out for in Amorim’s first match in charge today:
READ MORE: Six 7/10s but a 2/10 – United player ratings this season so far
READ MORE: ‘He doesn’t give a s**t’ – why Amorim sources believe he will succeed at United
Who’s in the 3-4-3?
United have been reluctant to get overly positive about Amorim’s reign before a ball has been kicked but their excitement could be gauged by the lengthy training footage they published on Monday night. Training sessions are so sensitive a wall was erected earlier this season to thwart any prying eyes on adjacent pitches at Carrington yet Amorim was audible as he timed attacks from back to front.
The United XI was also distinguishable: Heaton, Yoro, Evans, Shaw, Antony, Casemiro, Mainoo, Malacia, Amad, Mount, Rashford. The majority could line up at Portman Road as they will have had the most team training sessions under Amorim.
So who comes in?
Andre Onana, Bruno Fernandes, Alejandro Garnacho and Matthijs de Ligt would expect to start. Manuel Ugarte has not started in United’s first games back after internationals but he is the only player familiar to Amorim before he met the United squad last week.
Rasmus Hojlund, without a goal in his past 12 appearances for Denmark, and Joshua Zirkzee endured unfulfilling times away with their nations. Marcus Rashford is not a striker but he has form for catching fire under a new manager and the alternatives are uninspiring. Amorim would set out his stall if he starts without Ten Hag’s strikers, relegates Casemiro to the bench and/or benches another regular.
Where will the wingers start?
The prospect of Amorim starting Garnacho and Rashford as the wide men in the midfield four seems fanciful. Neither relish tracking back and if United are to flourish in their new coach’s system a balance will have to be struck.
Chelsea’s last Premier League title in 2016-17 was achieved via Antonio Conte’s 3-4-3 with Marcos Alonso and Victor Moses on the flanks. That was a sound balance as it was not too gung-ho and not too cautious. Alonso was a wing back by trade and Moses a winger.
Amad played as one of the two behind Rashford in the training footage but would be worthy of consideration at wide left. Amorim does at least have four fit senior full backs, a luxury Erik ten Hag last briefly had in December 2023.
Does Yoro debut?
Leny Yoro has been involved in team training since the start of the month and United could be without two centre halves today. Tuesday marks exactly four months to the day since Yoro fractured the metatarsal in his left foot and his return to full fitness is well-timed with Amorim now occupying the manager’s office at Carrington.
Yoro played only 80 minutes for United in pre-season but a debut within the next week – be it against Ipswich or Bodo/Glimt – feels inevitable.
Pipped at ‘Pipswich’?
For younger football followers, Ipswich are perhaps best known for Marcelo Bielsa mispronouncing their name when he was coach of Leeds United. “I give up,” Bielsa said after a few attempts.
Ipswich have not played United at home since the month of the Queen Mother’s funeral. Their first Premier League win in 22-and-a-half years at Tottenham two weeks ago ensured this game does not have as ominous an air about it for United’s pessimists.
