Amorim United lessons are already influencing Ruben Amorim’s approach at AC Milan, with the Portuguese coach admitting he cannot repeat the tactical mistakes that contributed to his difficult spell at Manchester United.
Amorim made the comments after Milan ended a three-match winless run with a convincing 3-0 victory over Lecce in Serie A on Sunday. The 41-year-old said he was more flexible with his players in the match, rather than a set format. For the coach, the days at Old Trafford were dominated by the back three. In 47 Premier League games as manager he used the formation in 45 of them, and although his critics and problems with consistency have not helped, he still managed to get to the top level of the game.
Under Amorim, United only won 15 games and finished in a bottom-half league position in Premier League for the first time in their history, sitting in position 15 at the end of the 2024-25 season. He briefly switched to a back four late in his stay, but that change was made prior to his sacking in January. Looking back on his experience, Amorim admits that the recent ups and downs of Milan had brought to his mind some of the issues he faced with English clubs.
“In the last games, it was pretty much blocked in the positions, but the players were given a little more freedom and they played a little better with a little more freedom.
The overall flexibility will be key in the future, the Milan boss said, especially if his team isn’t built around the mould of the system. He said what he had felt in the final games was the same as when he was at Manchester United and he couldn’t make the same error.
Amorim said that in future games Milan might go back to playing a three-man build-up, but that it is important to have other tactical options. The win came as a tonic for Milan, who had suffered a few demoralising defeats recently. Amorim will now be ready for their next Serie A match against Sassuolo on October 11 and will be looking to be able to switch tactics as needed.
