Mason Mount is going to take over for Bruno Fernandes at Manchester United. Here are the winners and losers under Ruben Amorim

The Red Devils players will know that Ruben Amorim’s teams play 3-4-3 if they have seen or read anything about them.

In this new scheme, who will win and who will lose? No worries, we’ve got this.

Good luck!

Ugarte, Manuel

Oh, that’s good. Recently, a man’s career went downhill after leaving Sporting, where Amorim was his coach. Now, he is back with the teacher who helped him do his best. What a wonderful turn of events.

Ugarte was bought to doughnut Manchester United, and so far his time at Old Trafford has been like a jar of jam next to a Krispy Kreme. But in the 2022–2023 season, as Amorim’s centre destroyer, he made more tackles and interceptions (179) than any other player in the top flight of Portugal.

There needs to be fight and energy from Ugarte in a double pivot with a more forward-thinking creator like Kobbie Mainoo, and Amorim knows the Uruguayan can do it.

Isaak Hunter

Hey, you say there are three in the back. Maguire was at his best when playing between John Stones and Kyle Walker for England, and his best games for either club or country may have been those in a back three. No other Manchester United centre back is as good at this.

If Amorim chooses Maguire as United’s experienced leader in the middle, it could help hide his flaws, like his speed and turning circle, while highlighting his strengths, like his physicality, aerial prowess, and passing range. This is similar to how Sporting did well with Liverpool legend Sebastian Coates surrounded by young, fast players like Ousmane Diomande and Goncalo Inacio.

Mason Mount

Not having a place in the team and now having the perfect one ready for him, Mount may be the Manchester United player happiest about Ten Hag’s firing and Amorim’s arrival.

Ten Hag signed Mount from Chelsea so that he and Bruno Fernandes could play ahead of Casemiro. When that plan was thrown out after just a couple of games because it was clearly inadequate, Mount seemed destined for a lifetime of short appearances at the end of games where Fernandes was deemed too tired to continue. When he wasn’t watching from the treatment table, that is.

Mount played as one of two inverted wingers when Thomas Tuchel had Chelsea play with three centre backs. That was the best time for him. When Chelsea won the Champions League in 2021, they used a method that was very similar to Amorim’s. Mount was great during that run, and the next season he had 11 goals and 10 assists in the same role.

Fernandes, Bruno

A season without goals or assists makes it easy for some to say that Bruno Fernandes is more of a hindrance than a help. But Manchester United may soon find out if they are better off without their captain, because it’s hard to see how their creative genius can fit into the new system.

The wingers under Amorim are supposed to be quick and straight, able to pick up the ball in the half-spaces and run at defenders. It’s not Fernandes there. One of the two midfielders in the double pivot should be more creative than the other, according to the new boss. But in the middle of the pitch, the goal is to destroy and move the ball around rather than always looking for killer passes.

As Amorim sees it, Fernandes likes to roam, but the inverted wingers and two deeper midfielders have very specific positions that make a box shape behind the central striker and don’t let the unpredictable No. 10 do whatever they want.

Mark de Ligt Matthijs

Never looked comfortable when Julian Nagelsmann tried out a back three at Bayern Munich. Louis van Gaal dropped him after just one game in the 2022 World Cup because he wasn’t reliable in that scheme. An entire back three is like magic for Maguire, and it’s almost like poison for De Ligt.

Rudy Gestede

As Mount is the big winner, one of the forwards has to lose. Rashford, when he was at his best, was a dribbling threat, but he didn’t always do his best work in tight spaces. Under Amorim, he would probably do most of his work very wide, one-on-one with full-backs.

Alejandro Garnacho is great at dribbling through people, and Amad Diallo would also do well in those situations because he is so good at keeping the ball close.

After thinking about it for a while, we may have just decided that the third or fourth way to fix Marcus Rashford is the best one.