Ruben Amorim’s first game as Manchester United manager is right around the corner, and a former assistant to Jurgen Klopp reckons his appointment will be bad news for Liverpool
A former Jurgen Klopp assistant reckons Ruben Amorim and Manchester United are a “perfect” fit and is tipping the former Sporting CP coach to bring the glory days back to Old Trafford.
Vitor Matos, who spent five years on Klopp’s staff at Liverpool, is currently No. 2 at Red Bull Salzburg, working under another of Klopp’s former assistants, Pep Lijnders. Speaking to O JOGO, the 36-year-old waxed lyrical about Amorim’s record in Portugal and said he expected the coach to achieve the same success at United.
“I think Ruben is perfect for the Premier League and for United,” Matos said. “I believe that, just as he did at Sporting, he’ll create a strong game identity, he’ll bring freshness to the Premier League and he’ll make United thirsty for titles. He can create a long-term project that will bring the stability that the club and its fans are used to.”
Amorim will make his Premier League bow on Sunday when the Red Devils take on Ipswich Town at Portman Road. The 39-year-old has plenty of work to do, particularly with the club languishing in the bottom half of the table, having won just four of their opening 11 league matches.
His spell at Sporting has given United supporters every reason to be excited about his arrival. In just over four years, he led the team to two Primeira Liga titles and two Taca da Liga – Portugal’s equivalent of the League Cup – titles. He also established Sporting as a tactically-intricate and defensively-robust side with a clear on-field philosophy – something United have been lacking for years.
This season, Amorim not only masterminded a sumptuous victory over Manchester City in the Champions League, but also stepped away with a 100 per cent record in the league after Sporting stitched 11 successive wins together to start the 2024/25 campaign.
Over in Austria, Matos and Lijnders haven’t quite hit the ground running. Salzburg, who finished second in the Austrian Bundesliga last season, have won just five of their opening 11 league games and are currently fourth in the table.
They do, however, have two games in hand on their rivals, and winning both could see them leapfrog Austria Wien into third. It marks Lijnders’ second foray into management following his unsuccessful four-month stint in charge of Dutch side NEC in 2018.
Matos says he’s keen to follow in Lijnders’ footsteps and land a top job one day, but insists he’s fully focused on Salzburg for the time being. “That [becoming a manager] is an ambition that I want to make a reality,” he said.
“I’ve never hidden the fact that I have this ambition, but I want the context and the moment to dictate this possibility. At the moment, I’m living this Salzburg project one hundred per cent and I’m very happy and grateful to be with Pep, who, apart from the great friendship I have with him, is a reference point for me in professional terms. I couldn’t see myself living this adventure without him.”
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