“I can’t repeat mistakes” – Ruben Amorim makes big Manchester United admission

Ruben Amorim saw his AC Milan team pick up a convincing 3-0 win over Lecce on Sunday. That wasn’t even the biggest highlight, as the Portuguese coach appeared to move away from his usual system, something he avoided at Manchester United.

Last week, it became clear that Amorim could be falling back into similar patterns at the San Siro. This led to them picking up a defeat against Benfica in the Europa League and they were winless in three in all competitions.

The Italian media had been on his back too, as he was accused of not picking the right players. Amorim reacted, as his side used a flat back four for the first time in the campaign.

It appears as if the manager is starting to learn lessons from his Manchester United spell.

Amorim reveals key details

The ex-Sporting boss has been very vocal about his ideas since arriving in Italy. After the win over Lecce, he noted some details on their approach in the game at the San Siro.

He made it clear that he doesn’t want to repeat the patterns from his time at Manchester United. This was key to the tactical shift, as Mario Gila operated as a right-back and a midfield three was visible.

Amorim said – via Gazzetta dello Sport: “These are different times, but we’re improving. Today the players had more freedom; in recent games we were a bit too static, stuck.”

He further said: “I can’t repeat my mistakes from Manchester. If we don’t have the characteristics to play a certain way, we have to adapt.”

Amorim noted that he will go back to his own system but this may not be the time for that.

“We’ll go back to building with three, but we’ll see. Here in Italy, the coaches are very good, especially at going after other teams one-on-one.”

Our take: Manager adapts at the right time

In the last couple of weeks, criticism around Amorim had grown because of the predictability of his system. This saw him even get into a public discussion with a journalist over his selection.

That is why they needed a result against Lecce and it was a good time to adapt. This never really happened at Manchester United, apart from his opening game against Ipswich Town, when he did use a back four.

At Milan, it is time to get results and make sure he is validated as a manager before he implements his own ideas.