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It has been less than a week since Ruben Amorim has officially started work at Manchester United and he has already been taken aback by the standards being set.
A common complaint over the years has been the lack of fight and desire shown by the players when the chips are down, and the Portuguese, who was not used to this at Sporting Lisbon, has been shocked.
Players have often been spotted jogging back during recovery runs instead of bursting a gut and Amorim is hell-bent on improving this aspect as per The Sun.
“Amorim, 39, has been putting the players, available to him following the international break, through their paces at Carrington. But the former Sporting Lisbon boss could not believe the lack of speed and intensity.
Intensity lacking
“During the first sessions this week, Amorim was constantly having to tell the players to pick up the pace — and this has continued through the week.”
This was seen in the training video released by the club with the 39-year-old focussing a lot on recovery runs and intensity building, something he has already told INEOS that he wants from all his future recruits as well.
His support staff are showing the players videos to help them understand what Amorim wants from them. But the size of the task at hand has certainly caught Amorim off-guard.
The former midfielder was also bemused by the lack of depth in certain positions as compared to others, terming the squad bloated.
United do have plenty of left-wingers but not as many right-sided players while they lack of quality up top. Similar issues are present at the back as well and the coach feels quite a few are not up to the standards required.
Bloated squad
“RUBEN AMORIM was stunned by the size of the job on his hands after the first training sessions with Manchester United this week.
“The new boss believes the expensively-assembled squad is bloated and has already pinpointed a number of individuals who he does NOT believe will fit into his 3-4-3 high-energy style of play.”
Reports have emerged which have stated that Christian Eriksen and Casemiro are both not suited to Amorim’s demands, neither is Joshua Zirkzee.
But with budgetary constraints in place, it will be intriguing to see how Amorim goes about his business and whether he can bring out the best from the stars at hands.
Feature image Gualter Fatia via Getty Images