Manchester United’s appointment of Ruben Amorim as their new manager brings Europe’s most successful coach to Old Trafford, but he faces an immediate challenge that could define his tenure: solving the club’s worst scoring crisis in over half a century.
The 39-year-old Portuguese tactician arrives with an impressive win rate of 77 percent, having secured victory in 122 out of 158 games since taking charge at Sporting CP in March 2020 – the highest win percentage of any manager in Europe’s top 10 leagues during that period. This season alone, his Sporting side has won all 14 domestic games and remained unbeaten in the Champions League, including a stunning 4-0 victory over Manchester City.
However, the contrast between his current club and his future employers couldn’t be starker. While Sporting sits atop the Portuguese Primeira Liga, scoring freely with 35 goals in their opening 10 matches, Manchester United languishes in 13th place in the Premier League, having managed just nine goals in their first 10 games – their second-worst start to a season in front of goal since 1972-73, the year before their infamous relegation.
The extent of United’s offensive struggles was laid bare in a recent Sky Sports Monday Night Football analysis, which compared both teams across eight key metrics. While Sporting dominated nearly every category, United’s statistics paint a picture of a team in crisis, particularly in attack. Former United striker Dimitar Berbatov, who once scored five goals in a single game for the club, called their current 18th-place ranking for goals scored “embarrassing for a club of United’s stature.
The silver lining for Amorim is that United’s problem isn’t a lack of chances – it’s converting them. The team leads the league in big chances missed (25) and has the worst expected goals underperformance (-7.8). Their shot conversion rate of 6.4 percent is second-worst in the Premier League, better only than Crystal Palace.
At the heart of this scoring crisis are two expensive strikers still finding their feet in English football. Rasmus Hojlund, who has shown flashes of promise but struggled with consistency and injuries, appears optimistic about working with Amorim. Speaking to Danish magazine Tipsbladet, Hojlund said: “I am really looking forward to this. He has great ideas. I’ve seen how they play… I am eager for him to start.”
The situation with Joshua Zirkzee appears more challenging. The Dutch forward, dubbed a ‘Number 9 and a half’ for his tendency to drop deep, has failed to score since his debut. His recent performances have drawn criticism from fans and pundits alike, with former England manager Fabio Capello noting the stark difference between Zirkzee’s commanding presence in Serie A and his struggles in the Premier League.
Amorim’s track record with strikers, particularly his transformation of Viktor Gyokeres at Sporting, offers hope. Under his guidance, Gyokeres has become one of Europe’s most prolific scorers, netting 23 times this season including a hat-trick against Manchester City. The Swedish striker’s value has quintuplied since joining Sporting for £20 million, with potential suitors now expected to pay around £100 million.
However, as Gary Neville points out, the challenge at United extends beyond just fixing the forward line. They’re not good at counterattacking, not a wonderful possession team, and yet they’re a really expensively assembled group of players,” the former United captain observed. “It’s a big job for Ruben Amorim.”
The Portuguese coach’s appointment represents a calculated gamble by United. His success in developing players at Sporting, where he has helped generate £300 million in transfer fees through the improvement of talents like Nuno Mendes, Manuel Ugarte, and Matheus Nunes, suggests he could be the ideal candidate to unlock the potential in United’s expensive but underperforming squad.
Yet Roy Keane’s warning that this is “an average United team” that’s “not good at anything special” underscores the magnitude of the task ahead. The club that once proudly proclaimed “attack, attack, attack” as its mantra now finds itself desperate for goals and in need of a complete offensive overhaul.
For Amorim, who has known nothing but success at Sporting, the challenge of reversing United’s fortunes represents both his biggest opportunity and his greatest test. His ability to transform Hojlund and Zirkzee into reliable goalscorers, as he did with Gyokeres, could well determine whether he becomes the first manager since Sir Alex Ferguson to truly succeed at Old Trafford.
