MANCHESTER, United Kingdom, November 19 – Manchester United released a seven-minute video on Monday to mark Ruben Amorim’s first training session as the club’s head coach.
Players including Casemiro and Marcus Rashford put out positive posts on their social media accounts to state how well it had gone.
The editing of a session that would normally last more than an hour gave a few small clues about Amorim’s thinking before his first match in charge at Ipswich on Sunday.
There was also a bit of fitness news – and a definite subtle message to try to suggest issues from Erik ten Hag’s tenure are now being addressed.
BBC Sport’s Simon Stone picked out five key themes…
Who was there?
England duo Luke Shaw and Kobbie Mainoo, and new signing Leny Yoro, were all involved as they step up their recovery from recent injuries.
Shaw has not featured for United since February, Mainoo’s last game was at Aston Villa on 6 October and Yoro is still to make his debut since his £52m move from Lille in the summer.
Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof were not shown playing any part. All missed international duty this month through injury.
Andre Onana, Diogo Dalot, Noussair Mazraoui, Matthijs de Ligt, Manuel Ugarte, Christian Eriksen, Bruno Fernandes, Alejandro Garnacho, Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee were all absent on international duty.
Formation & back three?
Much of the debate around Amorim’s appointment has centred around his tactics and how he preferred to operate with three central defenders and two wing-backs at Sporting, an alien concept at United going back to Sir Alex Ferguson’s time.
Amorim said in his interview with club media on Friday fans would see “an idea” at Portman Road this weekend. Judging by this footage, a back three will be part of that.
Jonny Evans was flanked by Yoro to his right and Shaw to the left. Antony was the right wing-back, Tyrell Malacia the left wing-back.
Casemiro and Mainoo filled the deeper midfield slots, with Mason Mount – who applied a first-time finish to an Antony cross – Amad Diallo and Rashford in the forward roles.
‘Speed it up’ – Recovery sprints & intensity
One of the major criticisms of recent United incarnations, going back long before Ten Hag’s time, is a lack of work-rate, particularly when it comes to tracking back.
United are not saying who signed off the video edit but it seems fairly clear some thought has gone into what was released.
In possession and attacking, four times, players were shown chasing back hard after Amorim had given the signal for a lost ball and a counter-attack.
It was repeated so often in such a short space of time, it was as though someone at Old Trafford wanted it to be known Amorim is trying to address United’s issues in transition.
Mainoo positioning
In the summer, Mainoo was one of three players – Hojlund and Garnacho being the others – who were ring-fenced as United made it clear they were willing to listen to offers for virtually all their first-team squad.
As a local boy and academy graduate, Mainoo, 19, is the pin-up boy for how the club wants to be represented.
So, while it is safe to assume Amorim singled out more than one player for a spot of impromptu coaching, the discussion with Mainoo was the one that made it into the public domain.
Amorim showed Mainoo what he wanted from him in terms of body shape and positioning – and what different options he could have by moving just a short distance.
Head coach not manager
It is worth remembering Amorim has been appointed as head coach, not a manager, as Ten Hag had been.
It is Amorim who is guiding players through the patterns he wants to establish.
There were smiles alongside the messages in the edit of Amorim on Monday.
The nearest we saw to ferocity was his demand to “not lose the ball” seconds before intervening to tell Evans they had lost possession and needed to regain their position.
It was insightful to a point. But it was also the picture United wanted the world to see.
