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Former Manchester United manager David Moyes has warned Ruben Amorim that he faces an incredible amount of pressure and attention from the media as he prepares to assume his new role in the Old Trafford dugout.
United officially confirmed Amorim’s arrival on Friday as a direct replacement for the sacked Erik ten Hag.
Amorim will officially take over the reins of the team on November 11, after Sporting’s clashes against Manchester City and Braga.
Despite United’s woes this season, Moyes has cautioned the Portuguese coach that United remain the biggest club in the world and as such, the attention that comes with that status is almost unrivalled.
Speaking on BBC’s Premier League Review podcast, Moyes – who succeeded the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013 – said, “To be given the chance to manage Manchester United, there’s only a few people who ever get the opportunity to manage at that level.”
“I’ve not managed at Real Madrid but for me Manchester United are the club who have a bigger support worldwide.”
“Every newspaper in the world will have been carrying the story of Erik (ten Hag) this week. It would’ve been all over, because there’s so many Man United supporters worldwide. So, coming in and taking the job’s an incredible job. But, it’s different as well, I have to say.”
“It carries an awful lot of pressure. It carries an awful lot of media who are always looking for things on Manchester United.”
Moyes opined that Amorim could implement a huge tactical change, which would mark a departure from the club’s extensive history of wingers being the primary sources of attacking threat.
It’s well-known that Amorim prefers a 3-4-3 formation with pure wingers flanking the two central midfielders.
Moyes said about this, “You know it looks like he plays a different style, which should be interesting because Manchester United’s history has really been wingers. If you go back as far as George Best, and recently maybe (David) Beckham and (Ryan) Giggs and people like that.”
“If it’s right, and I have seen his teams play at Sporting, you know it would be quite a big change and to change those things take a longer time. I look at Arsene Wenger when he took over from George Graham. It took time for Arsene Wenger to change Arsenal into the style that they played compared to George Graham.”
“So, it might take a little bit of time for him to settle in. But, if he gets given the time by the board, his statistics in what he’s doing at the moment shows up very good in Portugal.”
It’s important to note that Wenger replaced Bruce Rioch in September 1996.
United are back in Europa League action on Thursday when they host PAOK.
