Following Xabi Alonso’s decision to stay at Bayer Leverkusen, Ruben Amorim’s name has now emerged as a candidate to replace Juergen Klopp as Liverpool coach. Apart from Liverpool, Amorim is also on the radar of Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
It could be said that the Sporting Lisbon coach is becoming the new “hot property” in European football. The opportunity to move is also quite open, because the Portuguese capital club has set a release clause of 15 million euros for the coach.
In the context of local coaches from Portugal, Amorim’s name could be said to be the third talented coach to emerge there, especially since the last two decades. Previously, Jose Mourinho and Andre Villas Boas (AVB) appeared first.
The Sporting Lisbon squad enthusiastically appointed coach Ruben Amorim in celebration of winning the Portuguese League for the 2020-2021 season (BBC.com). Uniquely, like Mourinho and Andre Villas Boas, Amorim also started his career as a coach at a relatively young age, and began to develop his reputation at the giant Portuguese League club.
However, unlike his two predecessors, who both “blossomed” at FC Porto, the coaching career of this man born in 1985 blossomed at Sporting Lisbon, a giant Portuguese club that is not as financially stable as FC Porto and Benfica, but is known for being good at producing star players.
In terms of career before coaching, Amorim also had a different background to Mou and Andre Villas Boas. Unlike Mou, who only played at a temporary club, or Andre Villas Boas, who immediately started his career as a coaching staff at a young age, Amorim spent most of his playing career at Benfica, the giant Portuguese club.
Jose Mourinho and Andre Villas Boas (Express.co.uk)
With As Aguias, he won 3 Portuguese League titles, 1 Taca de Portugal title and 5 Taca de La Liga titles. At European level, the Europa League final was tasted in the 2013-2014 season. Unfortunately, Benfica lost on penalties to Sevilla at that time.
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At international level, Amorim, who was a midfielder when he played, has played for the Portuguese national team at various age levels. He was also a member of the Seleccao Team at the 2010 World Cup (replacing the injured Luis Nani) and 2014.
After retiring early in 2017 and taking a coaching course, Amorim started his career as a coach at Casa Pia, a third caste club in the Portuguese League in the 2018-2019 season. Unfortunately, his work there only lasted a year, due to coaching license problems.
Luckily, in September 2019, another opportunity came, when Braga appointed him as team B coach. The Lisbon-born coach’s luck continued, when the club appointed him as first team coach in December.
This is where the tactician’s greatness began to emerge. Under his guidance, Minhotos managed to win the Taca de La Liga 2019-2020 season and qualify for the knockout phase of the Europa League.
The positive impact in Braga itself was said to be instant, because it occurred within about two months of being on duty. Uniquely, like in Team B, his coaching career in the Braga first team only lasted for approximately three months.
Not long after bringing Ricardo Horta cs to the Taca de La Liga champions, Sporting Lisbon brought him in as coach in March 2020, for a fee of 10 million euros.
At first glance, Os Leoes management’s decision looks reckless, because they dared to pay a high price to bring in a coach whose experience is still equivalent to an “apprentice” in the highest caste competition in the Portuguese League.
But, the passage of time proves, this is a smart move. Even though they were not financially strong enough, Amorim was able to polish the Lion Team into a strong team.
With a reliable 3-4-3 pattern and a tight “pressing” strategy, the team, which included players such as Joao Palhinha (now at Fulham), Matheus Nunes (now at Manchester City) and Pedro Porro (now at Tottenham Hotspur), was able to disrupt the duopoly. Benfica and FC Porto in the Portuguese Primeira Liga.
In the 2020-2021 season, Sporting Lisbon was brought in by the young coach to win the Portuguese League and Taca de La Liga titles. This league title is the first for Sporting since 2002. This achievement also restores the position of Cristiano Ronaldo’s youth team as a strong team in Portugal.
The return of the Green-White Team as competitors to Porto and Benfica in the Portuguese league was also followed by promising performance in Europe. In the 2021-2022 season, Sporting was able to reach the final eight of the Champions League, and qualify for the last eight of the Europa League for the 2022-2023 season, after in the process eliminating Arsenal in the penalty shootout.
In the 2023-2024 season, the Europa League final eight was reached, even though they were ultimately eliminated at the hands of Atalanta (Italy). In terms of performance, this is considered a decline compared to the previous season.
But, behind this decrease, there is an increase in the performance was quite sharp in domestic competition, because Viktor Gyokeres et al were able to reach the Taca de Portugal final, Taca de La Liga semifinals, and compete closely with Benfica in the race to win the league. In other words, there is a chance for Sporting Lisbon to win the domestic “Treble Winner”.
Amorim’s prowess as a coach was also well honed at Estdio Jose Alvalade, because apart from being able to design strategies, he was also able to find talented, quality players.
You could say, he is not too dependent on one or two star players, and quickly adapts to changes in the composition of players in the team. This flexibility helps the team financially, without weakening the team’s competitive strength.
Evidently, Sporting can still compete in the league, even though key players such as Palhinha, Nunes and Porro were sold to Premier League clubs, because they received suitable replacements in Manuel Ugarte (Uruguay, now at PSG), Francisco Trincao, Morten Hjulmand (Denmark) , and Hidemasa Morita (Japan) in midfield.
On the front line, there is Viktor Gyokeres (Sweden), who is being targeted by Arsenal, who has created a powerful duet with Pedro Gonalves, the top scorer in the Portuguese League for the 2020-2021 season.
Sebastian Coates, Goncalo Inacio, and Viktor Gyokeres (Gettyimages.co.uk)
The composition of the “Verde e Brancos” team in the 2023-2024 season also looks more complete, because their back line is also strengthened by Goncalo Inacio and Ousmane Diomande (Ivory Coast), two potential center backs who are on the rise. Apart from being able to hone the talents of young players, Amorim’s greatness as a coach can also be seen from his ability to combine young and senior players in the team.
Evidently, senior players such as Antonio Adan (36) and Sebastian Coates (33) are still mainstay players in the team, with each being the third captain and main captain of the team.
With a track record like this, it is natural that big European clubs are targeting Amorim as their new coach. With his young age as a coach, this former Belenenses player could also be a long-term prospect.
Indeed, there is still a possibility for Amorim to become like Andre Villas Boas, the talented young coach who looked dim after failing in his first high-level challenge.
However, with his track record at Braga and Sporting Lisbon, clubs that were not financially good enough, Amorim could become another excellent coach from Portugal, because from the start he was forged in a less than ideal situation.
Automatically, comparisons with Jose Mourinho become irrelevant, because The Special One tends to dry up in achievements, at a club that is not financially strong enough.
In other words, Amorim is approaching a decisive phase in his coaching career, especially when the decision to leave Luis Figo’s youth club has been taken.
If the club is patient enough, it seems that a success story like that in Lisbon is not difficult to repeat, even at a higher level. However, if the club tends to be impatient, it feels like Amorim will become another AVB in Europe.
It will be interesting to see what direction Ruben Amorim’s coaching career will take, especially after his days as coach of Sporting Lisbon are over.
ASL
