Early October, and Manchester United need a result. They are on the road at Villa Park off the back of a 3-0 thumping at Tottenham and a rescue act in the Europa League at Porto where they came within a whisker of throwing away a 2-0 goal lead in calamitous fashion.
The pressure was ramping up on Erik ten Hag and the Dutchman responded with a more stoic set-up in the Midlands. United earned a 0-0 draw.
Battling would perhaps be one way to describe it with the Reds at least displaying grit and fight against a sub-standard Villa perhaps feeling the effects of a seismic win over Bayern Munich in the Champions League a matter of days before. Ten Hag opted to start Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans in the backline and his bench at Villa Park included seven of his signings, with just four starting. The replacements included Antony, Matthijs De Ligt, Joshua Zirkee and Casemiro. A quartet that cost more than £200million.
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Ten Hag had a significant say in recruitment during his United tenure and it’s difficult to find a compelling case for too many being a success. Andre Onana and Lisandro Martinez certainly justify being at United while Evans has been a better and more important signing than many envisioned. The jury might still be out on whether Rasmus Hojlund, Zirkzee and De Ligt justify their sizeable fees while Antony is an example of money wasted.
But it’s not just a question of the significant outlay. It’s also the development of players. Onana excelled for Inter Milan in Serie A and the Champions League and is now beginning to show that form for United but few improved under Ten Hag’s tutelage. Indeed plenty regressed.
When Ruben Amorim was appointed, the job title was amended to head coach. The 39-year-old will still have a say in recruitment but there is a team behind the scenes tasked with ensuring United get their transfer business right. Amorim will be firmly in those conversations but will also be tasked with getting the best out of any arrivals. And the Portuguese has a back catalogue of success to point to.
He and Sporting Lisbon swooped for Viktor Gyokeres out of the Championship for around £20million, he’s now valued more than five times that amount, thanks in a large part to how he has developed and improved under Amorim and his system. Pedro Porro and United’s own Manuel Ugarte are other examples among many of Amorim improving a player to such an extent that some of the richest clubs in the world come calling with their sizeable chequebooks. Sporting are something of a selling club in the overall European picture while United have the clout to stay strong on talent, and Amorim shapes talent.
The significant sales at Sporting over the past few years are not clubs chucking money and hoping. It is clubs identifying elite players who achieved that status on Amorim’s watch. They thrived and developed under his leadership.
If Amorim can repeat that formula at Old Trafford, United will reap the rewards and Ten Hag’s transfer troubles will be consigned to expensive history books.
