Gary Neville picks out three key changes Ruben Amorim must make at Man Utd
Ruben Amorim will begin his role as Manchester United's new manager in a weeks' time and Gary Neville has already given the Sporting Lisbon boss some tactical advice
by Nathan Ridley · The MirrorGary Neville has told Ruben Amorim to make three tactical changes when he takes over as Manchester United's new manager.
Current Sporting Lisbon boss Amorim will begin his new role next Monday, having been appointed just four days after the club sacked Erik ten Hag. Amorin, 39, will be tasked with turning United's rudderless season around, having gotten off to their worst start in Premier League history - 12 points from 10 games.
Sunday's uninspiring 1-1 draw with Chelsea under caretaker manager Ruud van Nistelrooy exposed a number of the Red Devils' lingering issues, and former United captain Neville believes that there are three metrics which Amorim needs to improve to stop his new side playing like 'underdogs'.
"It was sober reading about how high Manchester United play up the pitch," Neville admitted on his Sky Sports podcast. "When I looked at the average start distance of the teams up the pitch, Manchester City are first, Arsenal second, Liverpool third, Tottenham fourth and Brighton are fifth. Manchester United are down in 10th.
"If you want to push your defence up the pitch, which is what I think every team looks to do nowadays, Amorim has got to start with that because Manchester United quite often have to travel 70, 80 yards to score a goal because they're so deep and they play like the underdog in games.
"The other metric was possession one in the final third. So possession won high up the pitch: first was Manchester City, second was Tottenham, third was Arsenal and fourth was Liverpool. Manchester United are ninth.
"The final one I asked for was the highest turnovers. City, Tottenham, Liverpool and Arsenal made up the top four while Manchester United were ninth. These three things are critical to performance levels.
Get involved! What should Ruben Amorim prioritise at Manchester United? Have your say in the comments section.
"Man Utd played like a team that is sat behind the ball. 'Let's try and get them on the counter or score from a set piece'. That's got to change. You've got to be a team of dominance. And I mean dominance. I mean dominating the ball in the final third, dominating your forwards and staying high up the pitch."
Amorim watched Sunday's game in Portugal but the 39-year-old is keeping his focus firmly on Sporting. The Portuguese giants welcome Manchester City to Lisbon in the Champions League on Tuesday before travelling to face Braga, his former club as both a player and manager, ahead of the international break.
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