Soccer
What Amorim must learn from Man Utd mistakes to succeed at Milan
Watch Serie A on DAZN in the UK and Ireland
Ruben Amorim has encountered his first crisis at AC Milan. Admittedly, it is the sort of crisis that exists only in early August, when every friendly defeat becomes a referendum on the manager and every training-ground photograph contains evidence of either a revolution or impending collapse.
Still, Milan’s start has been unpromising. Draws with Celtic and Inter were followed by a 3-0 defeat to Chelsea in Jakarta, where Amorim’s side failed to muster a shot on target. After three senior friendlies, excluding a 7-0 exercise against Milan Futuro, his first victory remains elusive.
None of this will matter if Milan begin Serie A well. What should concern supporters is the familiarity of the early warning signs.
The Amorim way
Amorim has immediately installed the three-centre-back system that made his name at Sporting. Against Chelsea, Milan looked uncertain in possession, short of width and vulnerable when their wing-backs advanced. Anyone who watched Manchester United under Amorim may have felt an involuntary twitch.
Amorim’s devotion to 3-4-2-1 became almost theological at Old Trafford. He inherited a squad assembled for a back four, discovered that several players were unsuited to his preferred roles and responded by repeatedly asking them to perform those roles anyway. When questioned about changing, he insisted that even the Pope would not persuade him.
@acmilan
The results did not reward his faith. United finished 15th in 2024-25, their lowest position since 1974, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham. Although they had climbed to sixth when he was dismissed in January 2026, Amorim departed with an overall record of 24 wins, 18 draws and 21 defeats.
His 32 per cent Premier League win rate was the lowest of any permanent United manager in the competition’s history.
That failure cannot all be attributed to a formation. United were badly run, technically uneven and psychologically fragile. Amorim also reached a European final and briefly appeared to have turned a corner last autumn. But his refusal to compromise made every existing problem harder to solve.
The plan for Milan
Milan offer a more natural home for his ideas. Serie A is hardly unfamiliar with back threes, while Fikayo Tomori, Mario Gila and Strahinja Pavlovic possess the mobility to defend aggressively. Samuele Ricci and Youssouf Fofana can form a balanced midfield, and Amorim has several forwards capable of occupying the two narrow attacking positions.
Yet suitability should not become another excuse for inflexibility.
Milan’s squad is not a collection of pieces ordered from the Sporting catalogue. Christopher Nkunku needs freedom, Rafael Leao is most dangerous attacking from the left and the available wing-backs may not consistently provide enough threat to compensate for removing a conventional winger. A rigid 3-4-2-1 could accommodate some of Milan’s best players while diminishing others.
Amorim does not need to abandon everything that made him successful. His Sporting sides pressed ferociously, attacked with clarity and won two Portuguese titles. The system remains a perfectly valid starting point. It simply cannot become the answer to every question.
The Portuguese was hired because Milan believe his United experience did not make him a bad coach. They may be right. But it should have made him a more adaptable one.
If Amorim treats Old Trafford as an education, Milan could profit handsomely. If he regards it merely as proof that everybody else failed to understand him, Italy will provide the same lesson in another language.
How to watch Serie A on DAZN
Witness how the 2026-27 Serie A unfolds with all 380 games live on DAZN in the UK & Ireland, and in the US in Spanish language. For more information and to sign up to watch, click here .
You can watch Serie A via the DAZN App, available on smart TVs, phones, tablets, streaming devices, games consoles, and web browsers.
