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RUBEN AMORIM will hold showdown talks with Ruud van Nistelrooy about his role at Manchester United today.
Amorim finally begins as United boss this week after seeing out his notice at Sporting Lisbon.
Alamy
AlamyThe Portuguese manager waved goodbye to the Sporting fans last night after he led the club to a 4-2 win over Braga in his final game in charge.
The 39-year-old will now head to Manchester to begin putting his stamp on Man Utd.
One of the first orders of business for Amorim will be holding discussions with Ruud van Nistelrooy, who has steadied the ship for the incoming boss since Erik ten Hag‘s departure.
Van Nistelrooy, who made over 200 appearances for United as a player, acted as United’s interim boss in Ten Hag’s absence – leading the club to three wins and one draw in his four games in charge.
And Amorim will now have to sit down with the Dutchman and discuss if he still has a role with the club under his management.
Speaking after a his final match in charge of Sporting, Amorim opened up on the talks and praised Van Nistelrooy for his recent results.
He said: “About a legend of the club. He did a great job. I have to talk with him tomorrow [Monday].
“Then I will explain everything. I am very clear and I will tell you like it is. Let’s wait until tomorrow”.
Ruben Amorim leaves Sporting on a high
By Charlie Wyett
RUBEN AMORIM would have preferred to leave Lisbon in a blaze of glory after winning a third Primeira Liga title.
Yet football does not work like that. And in what was surely his final game before taking charge of Manchester United, Amorim prepared to say his goodbyes at a half-empty Estadio Jose Alvalade in a League Cup quarter-final against Nacional.
Sporting won 3-1 thanks to second-half goals by captain Morten Hjulmand and Viktor Gyokeres, who scored two.
Luis Esteves pulled back for Madeira-based Nacional.
The stadium will be a good deal more lively on Tuesday when Manchester City are here for a Champions League match — although Amorim should by then have his feet firmly under his desk at Old Trafford.
Liverpool and Aston Villa were both interested in Europe’s most sought-after coach. Even City could have been a possible destination post-Pep Guardiola.
Yet the United job is one Amorim, 39, could not turn down — even if not everyone saw it that way at Sporting last night.
There is clearly a huge split in the Portuguese club’s fan base over their coach leaving at this stage of the season with many believing he should have seen the job through.
Yet Amorim, along with the three-man coaching team who are expected to follow him, leaves a club in a much better state than when he arrived here in 2020.
Inside the stadium, there was applause — albeit muted — when his name was read out before the game along with the line-ups.
And there did not appear to be any jeers when Amorim shuffled out from the tunnel awkwardly towards the dugout.
So, while his departure is hard to take for some, none of the fans will forget his legacy.
This is a club which is back as the dominant force in Portugal. Even this term, Sporting have won their first nine league games, scoring 30 goals and conceding just two.
They are also eighth in the Champions League table, which is one hell of an effort.
In contrast, Lisbon was not exactly hit by League Cup fever last night.
Amorim made lots of changes, which saw Sporting’s star man Gyokeres, the former Coventry striker, start on the bench.
There was, however, a first appearance in six weeks for former Tottenham winger Marcus Edwards.
He is certainly one player who has been transformed by Amorim since arriving at the club from Vitoria in 2022 and will be sorry to see the coach leave.
While he changed his team, Amorim stuck with his tried and trusted formation of a back three.
It will certainly be something Manchester United’s fans will have to get used to over the coming months.
But looking at the Premier League table, none of them will be complaining about the change.
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Van Nistelrooy has already expressed his desire to stay at Old Trafford after penning a two-year contract as an assistant manager in the summer.
While SunSport exclusively revealed that the Man Utd squad are also keen for Van Nistelrooy to stay at the club in some capacity.
However, reports have suggested that Amorim is hoping to bring Sporting assistants Emanuel Ferro, Adelio Candido and Carlos Fernandes along to Manchester with him.
Van Nistelrooy is still unaware of what, if any, role he will have at the club as things stand.
Speaking after his final game as interim boss on Sunday, a 3-0 win over Leicester, he said: “I can only describe that moment, how I felt and as a closure of this block of four games.
“It felt like a closure for that period and the future is open.
“That is the way I felt it. It was a beautiful moment to be able to share that with the supporters and, yeah, it was special.”
Amorim reveals early plans
Amorim now has two weeks to reshuffle the Man Utd team and get them working to his liking before he takes charge of his first game after the international break.
The new boss is expected to opt for his favoured 3-4-3 formation that has helped him win two league titles and two Portuguese League Cups with Sporting.
Amorim explained that he will be sticking with what he knows for the time being when quizzed about his plans at United last night.
He said: “I know how I am going to play in the beginning, because you have to start with a structure that you know.
“Then you will adapt with the players that you have, some injuries, or no injuries, what kind of players have the abilities to defend, attack, I will discover that in the next few weeks.
“We don’t have a lot of time to train, so I have to show something that I know very well. You can take whatever you want from that.”
Amorim’s first game as United boss will be a trip to face Ipswich Town on November 24.
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