Why Amorim can be 'legend' at MU after changing entire Portugal football culture
Cantinho do Sa has barely been open five minutes when the first punters of the day begin trickling through the door.It is just after 11.30am as the restaurant’s manager begins a frantic stock control check. It’s a matchday and even with the club’s Ultras boycotting the match - more on that later - footfall will be high and distractions aren’t an option.
Cantinho do Sa has barely been open five minutes when the first punters of the day begin trickling through the door.
It is just after 11.30am as the restaurant’s manager begins a frantic stock control check. It’s a matchday and even with the club’s Ultras boycotting the match - more on that later - footfall will be high and distractions aren’t an option.
Signed boots hang delicately from the ceiling while signed shirts adorn the walls. A signed and framed photo of a young Cristiano Ronaldo gets pride of place on the wall next to the kitchen hatch.
Everything about the place is green. The fabric on the bar stools, the table placemats, the pens staff use, and they have even picked Heineken to be the beer on draught to fit the green theme. Even the soup of the day (pea) is green.
What they didn’t account for on Tuesday was that their eyes would be green, too. Green with envy. Jealous of the attention going to Manchester United and their well-documented pursuit of local hero Ruben Amorim.
Mentions of United grated on staff at Cantinho so much that the restaurant manager ordered TVs to be muted while the same 35-second sequence of Amorim being quizzed on his future that morning played on a loop.
Magazines with his face on are being bundled into a box by the window. Signs of Amorim are already coming down.
‘They don’t have money to fly Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo to Paris but somehow have 10million euros for Amorim?’ Hector, one of the lunchtime customers, remarks to Mail Sport. ‘He would be going to a house that is on fire.’
There is an irony that when Amorim arrives at the stadium, before he heads in, he can stand for a moment and watch cranes dance across the sky as large-scale building work outside gathers pace.
He would be leaving one rebuild for another, perhaps one of the greatest in world football, with United devoid of structure, identity, personality and, most importantly, a winning culture.
‘He took on a very precarious club, one that was fragmented at the sides, and he gave it a structure and played a recognisable style,’ Fernando Coelho, News Now TV presenter, tells .
‘Supporters feel disappointed if he leaves because it’s not even November, they think it is too early. Manchester United is a bigger club than any in Portugal and offers financial reward… it’s a huge deal to coach in the Premier League.
‘It was a huge gamble by the president to hire Amorim. They asked him at the start “what if this goes wrong?” And he responded with, “well, what if this goes right?” He can give an identity to Man United.’
Fred Saeed, a Sporting season-ticket holder for the past decade, is begrudgingly pragmatic while those around him just north of the Campo Grande metro stop weep. Strangers are offering hugs to each other outside the ticket office.
‘I think he is a new generation of coach,’ he tells Mail Sport. ‘He is a breath of fresh air in a country where the football fanbase is quite toxic, to be honest. The way he speaks to fans, the way he talks, it’s always so smooth, so peaceful in a way.
‘In a way he innovated the tactics here in Portugal. Not a lot of teams used a back three and he started using that. A few teams have done it now, including the national team has done it now. No doubt he influenced that. His impact is not only on Sporting but on the whole national football.
‘It was amazing and honestly I believe he will do a great job at Manchester United. The structure there hasn’t been the most supportive so let’s wait to see what happens.’
Where resignation had set in for Fred, the opposite had happened to Andre, who was drowning his sorrows next to the bifana (a traditional Portuguese pork sandwich) food trucks where fans congregated to unpack a day in which it was announced officially that United were prepared to pay Amorim’s release clause.
Wound up by his Benfica-supporting friend Ruben, Andre explained how he took an emergency break at work upon hearing the news of Amorim's expected departure.
‘I wanted to cry,’ he said. ‘It feels wrong that he could leave now. Only yesterday he was talking about winning another title and now this? I don’t even care about this game, I just want to hear what Amorim has to say. I can only hope he stays.’
Amorim is convivial by nature and despite being hardened by his parents’ divorce when he was young, the 39-year-old’s day here took on an array of emotions that started and ended in chuckles and a wry smile. Everything in between was rather more sheepish and uncomfortable.
One source close to the dressing room told Mail Sport that players were stunned that Amorim could leave them during the season, particularly after convincing many of his star names to shun interest from elsewhere in the summer and keep faith in his Sporting project.
And yet before the night was out, Amorim was striking a somewhat unfamiliar chord. Stability isn’t the be-all-and-end-all. His word is his word - until it isn’t.
‘Stability is not everything in life,’ he mused. ‘We will have time to talk about that. I will explain what I have to explain.
‘Regarding my word, nothing prevents something from happening in the world of football. One thing does not prevent the other. The only time I broke my word was on the day of the plane (to West Ham).
‘I have maximum stability, I am very happy here. I really like my staff, one thing does not prevent the other. Let's see what happens in the future. There is an interested club. There is a clause, the intention to pay.’
Amorim describes his English as ‘rudimentary’ but that is not accurate. He is a master orator that, perhaps due to his age, is able to relate to players in a way that fosters a genuine togetherness.
While there are similarities to be drawn to his idol Jose Mourinho, who he once shadowed as part of a coaching internship at United’s Carrington training base, they are also different, if not least tactically with Amorim a much more adventurous coach in that department.
‘Since Mourinho in 2000 there has not been a phenomenon like this,’ Portuguese football expert Pedro Boucas tells Mail Sport.
‘While they are very different, Amorim is a master in communication, tactics and leadership. The risk of losing at Manchester United is very high… but Amorim is on another level.’
Miguel Amaral, reporter for ZeroZero, agrees. ‘They are a sleeping giant and if Ruben can do a job in Manchester he will become a legend. He’s ready to make this jump.’
So the night itself, a will-he-won’t-he take the game to-do that eventually saw him emerge from the bunker of the training ground, where he had been holed up since 10.05am, under the cloud of an official statement that Manchester United intend to pay his £8.3m release clause.
As Sporting’s social media team filmed the arrival of the team coach, they glossed over - or at least tried to - Amorim and did their very best to hide him. Arrival photos also left the manager out.
Children waited right up against the barrier at the VIP entrance with handmade ‘FICA RUBEN’ signs (‘Stay Ruben’). Nobody seemed to remember - or care - about the cup quarter-final ahead.
Whispers swirled and fans became increasingly restless as they slumped in the stands glued to their social media feeds waiting for another devastating announcement. In the end one never came.
Ultras boycotted this League Cup match, over the Portuguese FA's desire to host the final-four stage abroad, potentially in Saudi Arabia. If this was it for Amorim, there would be no proper send-off for the man who took a dysfunctional Sporting and propelled them into powerhouse status.
When Amorim stepped out into his technical area many rose to their feet, gritting their teeth amid their anger and feeling of betrayal and focusing on the positives for which he has given them. Whistles and jeers were definitely in the minority.
When the match began it was aggressive, front-footed, a suffocating press that has been blatantly absent from the final days of the Erik ten Hag era.
Were it not for some dreadful officiating Sporting, led impressively by Englishman Marcus Edwards, would have had a pair of penalties in the opening half-hour and taken control. In the end it was a second-half flurry, two goals from Viktor Gyokores, one of which was the first direct free-kick Sporting have scored in almost four years, and Amorim’s team had won again.
A hug with his counterpart and down the tunnel he went. No grand farewell. No tears. It is his de facto response at the end of games, many fans were quick to point out. But after such a close bond between players and manager, surely they deserved more than this if it was to be a painful goodbye?
It was a strange occasion on a farcical night in which nobody cared about the football. Never have so many people cared about the post-match thoughts of a manager.
For all his charisma and cheeky smile, Amorim’s patience wore thin when pressed on when United fans could expect to see him in England.
‘It's my decision. If I want to go or not, I'll make that decision later,’ he said, confirming he would take training as normal on Wednesday.
‘Without a doubt my players will be disappointed with me if I leave, but that's part of life. That happened in Braga, when I came. That happened a bit, because they were disappointed. There are things that change people's lives. It's a difficult situation. I'm not going to say whether I want to go or not.’
And off he went. Into the night with fans in both Manchester and Lisbon facing a sleepless night. Mourinho may well have loved being the orchestrator of such high-octane drama but for Amorim it appeared to be weighing heavy.
Fans forgave him after his embarrassing trip to London to flirt with West Ham and if he shuns United they may well forgive him again. But deep down he knows, and they know, this is a job he has to take.
