Breaking down what decisions Ruben Amorim could make about every part of the Manchester United team

The new manager of Manchester United, Ruben Amorim, will start his new job next week, on November 11.

Ruben Amorim will take over as head coach of Manchester United in just a few weeks, when the mid-season transfer market opens.

However, clubs shouldn’t make big changes to their teams in January. Instead, Ruben Amorim should look closely at the players he already has and try to get more out of them.

Manchester United isn’t doing well in the league despite having a good team, and Amorim needs to try to make the most of what he has. It has been thought over how he might do it.

Position	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Diff	Points
12	Brentford	10	4	1	5	19	20	-1	13
13	Manchester United	10	3	3	4	9	12	-3	12
14	West Ham	10	3	2	5	13	19	-6	11

Goalkeepers

You can pick from Andre Onana, Altay Bayindir, or Tom Heaton as your goalie, according to Ruben Amorim. No big shocks are expected.

As long as Andre Onana keeps playing well, he will stay as the starting goalie.

What really makes Amorim nervous is deciding whether to bring Onana back in for the Carabao Cup quarterfinal against Spurs in the middle of December or give Altay Bayindir a chance since he played in the first two rounds.

Protection

A three-man defense is central to Ruben Amorim’s strategies, which means that Manchester United’s back line will have to make immediate changes.

Good news for new player Leny Yoro: when he comes back from injury, the defense will have two center backs instead of one, so it will be easier to decide who to replace him.

With Lisandro Martinez, Matthijs de Ligt, Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, and Jonny Evans all fit, United has a lot of center backs, so playing with three at the back works well for them.

Additionally, Luke Shaw will likely be used as part of a back three when he comes back, as he has done so successfully in the past.

The full-backs for United would switch to wing-backs. We think Diogo Dalot will play on one side and Noussair Mazraoui will play on the other for now.

It’s possible that Amorim would even try to get Antony to play the part. If he thinks he can be trusted with the defense, Alejandro Garnacho.

We think United will sign someone in this role in January or the summer after next, if the current options are only meant to be short-term fixes.

Midfield

You can be sure that Kobbie Mainoo will be very important to Ruben Amorim’s plan. The same is true for Manuel Ugarte.

Amorim handled Ugarte at Sporting and knows how to get the most out of him. The player also knows how to play in his system. He needs to go to this meeting.

Casemiro and Christian Eriksen will play in the short term, but it’s not likely that they will play again after this season. We think Casemiro will play more often in 2024–25, while Eriksen will play fewer minutes.

We are sure that Bruno Fernandes will be very important for Amorim. He will play a similar role to Pedro Goncalves did at Sporting, moving between playing wide and in the middle to lead the attack.

Mason Mount is the wild card, but he needs to stay in shape first. If he can, he might find new life in Amorim’s scheme, where wing-backs will help support the midfield.

Moving forward

Rasmus Hojlund, who Manchester United bought in the summer of 2023, is likely to be the big winner. The club hopes he will build on what he showed early on and become a great center forward.

I don’t think Amorim will try to buy Viktor Gyokeres right away because he did a great job with him at Sporting. Holjlund will have a chance to show what he can do.

One of Amorim’s former players talked about how good he is with shooters. Hojlund is going to be the first to work with the new head coach and is already excited about it.

It’s not as clear what will happen with Joshua Zirkzee. He is an unusual player who might have to find a place in Amorim’s system in a different spot.

Rashford and Garnacho must also show Amorim that they are hard workers if he wants to make them one of his wide players. Rashford might be looked at again for a key role.

Amad might also win a lot of money. His ability to cut inside and change the flow of the game might remind you of what Trincao did for Sporting against City.

Young people

Ruben Amorim has a history of seeing young players through to the professional level, and Manchester United has a great school full of players who could play a part.

Harry Amass at left wing-back is the clear choice. A little further down the line, Bendito Mantato is also a candidate for the job.

Dan Gore might want to play in the middle of the field, and Toby Collyer won’t be ruled out right away by Amorim either. Sekou Kone could join the group if he does well.

The exciting youth striker Chido Obi-Martin is the one to keep an eye on. He was signed in the summer with the goal of getting to the first team quickly.

Ethan Wheatley and Gabriele Biancheri are also in the running, but Obi-Martin has the most room to grow under Amorim.