Ruben Amorim’s press conferences often see him use the word suffer. His Manchester United team do not merely concede, but instead “suffer a goal”. When he was installed as head coach in November, he spoke of how this group of players would have to suffer as they got to grips with his tactical system.
Amorim is not the first football coach to lean on the word. Diego Simeone once said “the suffering is necessary” when describing Atletico Madrid’s approach to defending. Before the 2021 Women’s Champions League final, Emma Hayes said her Chelsea team were prepared to suffer against Barcelona and spend large stretches of the match without possession.
Most football coaches tend to wait until April or May to talk about the need for suffering when the hunt for silverware begins to peak and games take on additional importance. Amorim is taking a different approach to leading United — if they are to return to the summit of English football, his players need to be willing to suffer now, in midwinter.
Sunday’s victory over Arsenal in the FA Cup made for compelling evidence that his message is beginning to get across. Amorim’s preferred tactical approach is not the most seamless fit for the 2024-25 squad, but at the Emirates, several players showed they were willing to graft to make up for any perceived lack of guile.
United beat Arsenal despite playing with 10 men for almost an hour (Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
United spent much of the first half on the back foot, only for Alejandro Garnacho and Bruno Fernandes to combine to score a punchy counter-attacking goal to go ahead early in the second. A red card for Diogo Dalot in the 61st minute swung momentum in Arsenal’s favour before Gabriel equalised for the home side and ratcheted up the pressure. Seven minutes later, Harry Maguire was judged to have fouled Kai Havertz in the penalty area, leading referee Andy Madeley to award a spot kick and leave Amorim’s men between a rock and a hard place.
Yet this team found a way out. Altay Bayindir dived low and to his left to deny Martin Odegaard’s penalty kick and steadily grew in confidence thereafter. United’s backs were against a wall but through gritted teeth and hard work they kept Arsenal at bay for the remainder of the second half and sent the game into extra time. Across 104 minutes of football, Harry Maguire made 11 clearances and won four headers. Manuel Ugarte was a professional pest in midfield, hassling and harrying Arsenal’s midfielders and limiting their ability to launch quick counter-attacks.
Matthijs de Ligt has endured difficult moments defending in a back three for Bayern Munich and the Dutch national team, but is growing more confident going about his tasks in a United shirt. A key block early into extra time exemplified his — and United’s — more aggressive approach.
De Ligt starts to walk out of United’s box but Maguire, Havertz and Leandro Trossard have all spotted the beginnings of an Arsenal chance.
And when the ball is played over the top to Havertz, it looks as if Arsenal’s oncoming forwards have the beating of De Ligt…
However the Dutchman — who is not the fastest defender — does not give up. Instead, he redoubles his efforts to recover, not just reaching Declan Rice at the far post, but also an unmarked Trossard approaching the six-yard box.
He narrowly beats Trossard to the ball and makes a vital stop.
De Ligt is one of many United players still mastering the precise positioning of Amorim’s 3-4-3, but is willing to bust a gut to give this team a fighting chance.
De Ligt’s block, coupled with some other dogged defending, saw 10-men United take the game to a penalty shootout. Bayindir saved Havertz’s spot kick to give United the upper hand, before Joshua Zirkzee scored the winning penalty to the delight of nearly 8,000 United fans in the away section.
“Some things are not technical and tactical, we had fight and we competed,” Amorim told BBC Sport after the match.
“We deserved the win even though they had more chances. They didn’t deserve to lose, but we deserved to win. We didn’t have the ball so much but we had control without the ball.”
“The fans were unbelievable for us too. Now we have to rest the players, they are really tired.”
It is not the first time Amorim has described his team as tired after a game. United’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool saw more than one player fall to the turf at full-time due to physical — and mental — exhaustion.
“You don’t see it in all the games,” said Amorim in Friday’s pre-Arsenal press conference about this level of effort. “So we have to focus on these details, and then sometimes it’s needing a little bit of luck.”
Arsenal’s profligate finishing played into the luck needed for United’s victory on Sunday, as did the huge amounts of hard work given by many of Amorim’s players. When Amorim looked to freshen up his midfield late in regulation time, he opted to bring on academy graduate Toby Collyer for Kobbie Mainoo, rather than the more experienced Casemiro. The 21-year-old covered ground, linked play and made three clearances across his 40-minute substitute appearance. It was the sort of hard-running that Amorim will look to make the team’s default approach between now and the end of the season.
Lisandro Martinez might have gone off injured late in extra time, reducing United to nine men, but instead the defender closed the game out as an emergency centre-forward. He would end up scoring United’s fourth penalty in the shootout.
Martinez was struggling with injury but stayed on to score a key penalty in the shootout (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Amorim has not yet got this team to grasp everything needed to play the football he wants. In his own words, “part of the (tactical) idea with the ball, we had some difficulties”. But there is a growing willingness to run through proverbial brick walls to make things happen.
United will face Leicester City in the next round of the FA Cup, setting up a reunion with Ruud van Nistelrooy. Thursday’s Premier League fixture against Southampton will be a test of whether they have the consistency in effort and application to deal with smaller sides after their promising performances against Manchester City, Liverpool and now Arsenal.
There’s a biblical quote that reads: “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.”
After beating Arsenal, Amorim used his press conference to say his team’s “spirit to suffer” has helped bring about improvements in how to make pauses rather than panic in key moments. This team is still a work in progress, but there’s now an understanding in how much hard work is required to turn things around.
(Top photo: Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
