Ruben Amorim has dropped some huge hints over his plans for Manchester United after taking charge of his first training session on Monday morning. The Portuguese boss arrived at Old Trafford last week, but due to visa issues was forced to wait a few days before officially starting work.
He's set to take charge of his first Premier League match on Sunday, when United face Ipswich Town at Portman Road.
And it seems that the former Sporting CP boss will immediately be instilling the tactics that helped him land two Primeira Liga titles.
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Amorim has become renowned for his 3-4-3 formation and demanding his players produce slick, intricate passing. And according to the Metro, that was how he set two sides up for a training match at Carrington.
With a host of his key players away on international duty, what appeared the 'first-team' starting XI made for interesting viewing. Altay Bayindir was in goal behind a three-man defence of Leny Yoro, Jonny Evans and Luke Shaw.
Antony was surprisingly used as a right wing-back with the returning Tyrell Malacia on the left side. Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo meanwhile, took the central midfield berths.
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In attack, Marcus Rashford played the lone striker role, with Mason Mount and the in-form Amad used as the wingers either side of him. Of course, the players currently representing their countries this week were not available to Amorim, meaning his starting XI is likely to be vastly different on Sunday.
The likes of Andre Onana, Diogo Dalot, Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui, Bruno Fernandes, Christian Eriksen, Manuel Ugarte, Alejandro Garnacho, and Joshua Zirkzee should all be available for slection by the weekend. Players like Yoro, Shaw, Mainoo and Mount meanwhile, are still being nurtured back to fitness after injury lay-offs.
But the formation used suggests Amorim will waste no time in overhauling the playing style at United. In the seven days after the Ipswich game, he'll have successive home games against Bodo/Glimt and Everton.
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In his first interview since being appointed, Amorim did offer fans a guarantee that they would see a clear team 'identity' and plan within his squad.
"I think you will see an idea," he said. "You could like it or not, I don't know, but you will see an idea. You will see a positioning. You will see something. Something that we want to reach that kind of level."
