Ruben Amorim will take over as Manchester United’s new head coach on November 11 and former Red Devils star Dimitar Berbatov has issued a warning to the incoming boss
Ruben Amorim will take over as Manchester United’s new head coach on November 11 and former Red Devils star Dimitar Berbatov has issued a warning to the incoming boss Ruben Amorim will take over as Manchester United’s new head coach on November 11 and former Red Devils star Dimitar Berbatov has issued a warning to the incoming boss
Former Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov believes Ruben Amorim will have “questions to answer” as he attempts to discover whether the current squad fits his style.
Amorim is due to take over at Old Trafford on November 11 after a flying start to the season with Sporting Lisbon. He put the icing on the cake on Tuesday night with an eye-catching 4-1 victory over Manchester City in the Champions League, but faces a different task at his new club.
The Portuguese will inherit a squad which finished eighth in the Premier League last season and currently sits in the bottom half of the table despite £200million worth of summer investment. As Pep Guardiola was so quick to remind Amorim, the pair will face off twice in this season’s Premier League but can’t meet again in Europe.
Amorim’s success in Portugal has come with an expansive 3-4-3 formation, which City were unable to deal with on Tuesday. For Berbatov, one of the first challenges is determining whether he has the players to do the same at his new club.
“I think that, based on what he achieved in Portugal, I think winning the two titles and the cup as well, based on all this it’s a good appointment,” Berbatov told Mirror Football at the launch of LiveScore’s ‘Extra Added Time’ campaign. “He’s a manager that obviously has a winning mentality.
“On the other hand, the Portuguese league, we cannot compare it to the Premier League because the Premier League is one of, if not the, best in the world. So now it’s going to be a big change for him coming to United, where normally you have big players, which means big egos. So now you need to know how to manage them.
“You need to know at first are these players going to fit your system of playing, which normally is 3-4-3 for him – are they good enough to fit that system? Do you need to change your system to fit the players that you have until you get other players who are going to be good enough for your system? So a lot of questions there for him to be ready to answer, and everybody is probably waiting eagerly for him to get the first game in charge.”
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Amorim’s predecessor Erik ten Hag had similar successes in another league, but was unable to convert that into anything more than a couple of cup wins in England. The new boss has time to assess his squad during the international break, and nearly two months until he can dip into the transfer market, and Berbatov wants Amorim to set out his stall early as he adjusts to life at his new club.
“Coming in, he’s probably assessing the players and assessing the situation,” the Bulgarian added. “He needs to be really strict with what he would like to do, and assert his authority and put in his principles of ‘look, this is how we’re going to play, this is how we’re going to build our way of playing’.
“So United will have a face and everybody will know how you approach the game. Of course this is going to take time. If the players in this current team are not good enough to play in his system, then probably he will need to wait for the transfer window to see what type of player he is going to bring in.
“Is he going to bring anyone in at all, or maybe he’s going to be happy with the players he has at his disposal right now. So, again, as I said before – questions questions questions, and the only one who needs to answer is him.”
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Berbatov was speaking on the eve of United’s Europa League match against another of his former clubs, PAOK. It’s the final European match with interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy at the helm, with Amorim in place for the game against Bodo/Glimt at the end of the month, and they have been warned not to underestimate their Greek opponents.
“Obviously I used to play for both teams, and PAOK is one of the biggest teams in Greece and the fanbase is unbelievable, supporting the club and always being there,” Berbatov said. “I still remember how they welcomed me, something that I will never forget. So that will be a great experience for them, going to Old Trafford, and Old Trafford should expect the fans of PAOK to be there and make the atmosphere unbelievable.
“Of course, United should never underestimate PAOK as well, because if they do that they will suffer. United should go into the game fully concentrated, fully prepared to have a team that will try to get something out of the game, but at the same time, United is still United so if they’re concentrated they will be okay.”
LiveScore and former Manchester United star Dimitar Berbatov are teaming up this November to encourage fans to take ‘Extra Added Time’ for their mental health. As part of the campaign, LiveScore will donate £250 to charity for every key Premier League moment delivered via its app post-90 minutes throughout November
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