Ruben Amorim will definitely sell one West Ham United player, if he does indeed move to the London Stadium.
The West Ham fans’ excitement reached fever pitch yesterday as news emerged that Ruben Amorim had flown to London to hold talks with the Hammers owners.
During the 5-2 hammering at Crystal Palace on Saturday, David Moyes was crestfallen on the sidelines, and looked like a man who knew he was done.
The Hammers manager has endured a disastrous 2024. The Scot has guided his side to just four wins from 21 games in all competitions since the turn of the year.
Numerous managers are being linked with the London Stadium hot-seat, including Borussia Dortmund boss and former Hammers coach Edin Terzic.
Maurizio Sarri is believed to be on the list as well, with West Ham apparently having offered the Italian a contract.
The most exciting name to be linked with us is clearly Ruben Amorim though. The Portuguese is a sensationally exciting young manager.
He deploys a 3-4-3 system that switches into a 5-2-3 when defending. His likes his team to play a really aggressive high press, and in order to get this to work, his players have to be highly energetic and physically robust.
This season, his side have averaged 58.5% possession – only the fourth highest in the Primeira Liga (Fbref). Against their rivals, they usually have less possession and set up to hurt their opponents in transition – their 2-1 win over Benfica recently with 45% of the ball is evidence of this.
So Amorim is not entirely focused on his team having the ball at all times., and is flexible in his approach to the game.
You only need to watch Sporting’s clashes with Premier League side Arsenal in the Europa League last season to see the exceptional football he has his side playing.
Amorim has only been managing for six years and has been in charge of Sporting since 2020.
Since then, he has transformed the Portuguese giants into one of the most exciting teams to watch on the planet.
The 39-year-old guided Sporting to the league title in the 2020/21 season and the league cup in the same campaign. He also won the same cup competition a year later – a trophy that he guided Braga to in the 2019/20 season.
His side are currently sitting at the top of the league, seven points clear of second placed Benfica.
So, if he does leave Sporting, how will his footballing philosophy suit the players we currently have at the London Stadium?
First player Ruben Amorim will sell when he becomes West Ham manager
The Sporting boss seems set for a big Premier League move.
He’s one of the hottest managerial properties in world football right now, and if he did take over at the London Stadium, it really would be unbelievably exciting for the Hammers fans.
But which player would get the chop first?
The Athletic’s European football expert Alex Barker responded to a Hammers fan asking about Tomas Soucek:
He’s spot on here.
There is absolutely no way that Soucek would flourish under Ruben Amorim at West Ham.
The midfielders who play in his teams need to be technically proficient, and that’s putting it lightly.
I think the 29-year-old has been a great servant for us over the past four years or so, but if we want to make genuine progress, he’s just not good enough to be playing in central midfield for us.
That sounds harsh, but there’s no room for sentiment at the very highest level of elite sport.
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