Ruben Amorim’s controversial Man Utd decision would have backing from Premier League winner

Ruben Amorim’s system is not getting results at Manchester United but he is refusing to change his philosophy, which previously brought success for Antonio Conte at Chelsea

Ruben Amorim launched another defence of his Manchester United system and maintained he will stick to his philosophy despite the poor run of results – and it’s something former Premier League winner Antonio Conte would likely back. Amorim arrived at Old Trafford last November and quickly implemented the 3-4-3 formation that had brought him huge success with Sporting CP.

It has become apparent many of his United players cannot get to grips with his demands, whilst their personnel still doesn’t suit certain roles. Nevertheless, the Portuguese boss has defiantly stuck by his beliefs.

He’s continued to state that if United want to play a different way, they will have to sack him because he will not change. He said: “I understand and accept it is not a record you should have in Manchester United.

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“There are a lot of things, you have no idea what happened during these months but I am not going to change. When I want to change my philosophy, I will change. If not, you have to change the man.”

His stance is likely to ring a chord with Conte, who delivered Premier League glory in 2017 with Chelsea in his first year. The Italian veered away from his 3-4-3 system in the opening weeks, but saw the Blues lose successive games before going back to his plan, which set them on a then record-equalling run of wins.

After moving to 3-4-3 he said that the Blues “have improved a lot in terms of our identity and confidence.”

Conte – who lifted the Serie A title with Napoli earlier this year – remains the only manager to win the Premier League title by playing with that particular set-up, but he underlined the value in sticking by your beliefs.

“When you change your system, you lose your identity and it makes it easier for other teams to beat you,” he said previously.

That ethos has been echoed by Amorim throughout his troubled tenure and the former Sporting boss maintained that his two-man midfield, which was overrun during the 3-0 loss in the Manchester derby, was not the reason they lost the game.

He explained post-match: “It’s the way you want to see the games. I saw a lot of teams playing here (at the Etihad Stadium) with five midfielders just blocking and they suffer more than us. I see a lot of games from Manchester United playing here with a lot of midfielders.”

Plenty of on-lookers, including former United players, have continued to air their gripes with the system and the players’ inability to do what their head coach wants.

Roy Keane said: “You talk about the system – but the manager has come in and is sticking to his guns. He’s not budging. The results, and we look at points per game, goals for, goals against – it does concern me. It’s not good reading.”

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