There is a peculiar kind of optimism that accompanies every new appointment at AC Milan. The quiet faith of a fanbase conditioned by broken promises, one that has learned, painfully, to temper expectation with scepticism.
And yet, every summer, the cycle begins again. A new name, a new vision, a new dawn. This summer, that name is Rúben Amorim. The Portuguese coach arrives at Milanello carrying two very different CVs, depending on which version of him you choose to believe in.
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The first is the coach who walked into Sporting CP in March 2020 and transformed a club hollowed out by a 19-year title drought. In his first full season, Sporting won 26 games, drew seven, and lost just once. They conceded only 20 goals in the league – the finest defensive record in Europe that year – and delivered a Primeira Liga title that the club had feared might never come again.
Over four years in Lisbon, Amorim claimed five major honours: two league titles, three League Cups, and a Super Cup. He dismantled Champions League opponents with ruthless efficiency, becoming the most successful Sporting coach in the history of the competition.
His final home game ended with Sporting beating Manchester City 4–1, his players lifting him off the ground in celebration. The second CV belongs to the man who arrived at Old Trafford in November 2024 in a blaze of fanfare, paid for with a €10m release clause, and proceeded to oversee one of the most wretched chapters in Manchester United’s modern history.
His debut Premier League season ended in 15th place, having lost 14 of 27 league games that he oversaw. A run to the Europa League final in Bilbao offered a fleeting suggestion of redemption, but even that ended in defeat. The second season brought marginal improvement before the wheels came off entirely. In his final months, United managed just three wins in eleven games.
The conclusion of this painful chapter arrived on January 5, 2026, the morning after a chaotic press conference in which Amorim publicly lashed out at director of football Jason Wilcox and the scouting department, demanding they “do their job.” He had already lost the dressing room; the board simply followed.
His final numbers at United were damning: 24 wins from 63 games, a win rate of 38.1%, the worst of any permanent manager since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement. He lost a third of his matches; a record that, among permanent appointees, had not been matched since Frank O’Farrell in the early 1970s.
Amorim fell out with prominent players at United, such as Marcus Rashford, who was eventually shipped to Aston Villa and then Barcelona, and with Alejandro Garnacho, who departed for Chelsea after a very public dispute over his exclusion from the Europa League final.
Rasmus Højlund was dropped and marginalised. Kobbie Mainoo, arguably the most exciting academy graduate the club had produced in a decade, was rendered peripheral and reportedly grew open to leaving. Even Lisandro Martínez, one of United’s most dependable performers, reportedly clashed with Amorim in a furious training ground confrontation in the coach’s final weeks at the club.
What went wrong?
The diagnosis was consistent: a coach of genuine intelligence and a coherent tactical philosophy, entirely unable (or unwilling) to adapt it to the personnel available to him.
The 3-4-2-1 system was not simply a preference. It was a doctrine. Players who could not implement it were discarded, regardless of quality. And when results deteriorated, the system remained. Immovable, immutable, and stubborn until the very end.
It is this quality – the dogmatic, almost theological attachment to a singular idea – that draws uncomfortable comparisons with a more familiar figure in the Via Aldo Rossi. Amorim represents, in temperament and tendency, the same obstinate rigidity that Massimiliano Allegri brought to Milanello.
Allegri, too, presided over a side built for a version of football the game had moved beyond. He, too, refused to evolve. The result, as outlined in the wreckage of the 2025–26 season, was a collapse that cost the club a top-four finish, and Allegri his job.
That Milan’s new ownership should look at this picture and land on Rúben Amorim requires some explaining. In fairness, the alternatives were not without their complications. Matthias Jaissle was possibly priced out by a prohibitive release clause and salary demands.
Oliver Glasner possesses an enviable trophy cabinet, including an FA Cup and a Conference League, but his acrimonious departure from Crystal Palace leaves a question mark over his suitability for a dressing room and a frigid ownership that requires careful management.
Rolling the dice
Milan’s preference for company men perhaps made Glasner a complicated proposition. Amorim, evidently, was judged to be worth the risk.
Whether that risk is rewarded will depend almost entirely on which Rúben Amorim reports to Milanello. The Sporting version was exceptional: a meticulous builder, a defensive innovator, a coach who shaped a squad in his image from the very first training session.
The United version was a cautionary tale about what happens when a coach with a fixed system meets a squad that does not fit it, and mistakes rigidity for conviction.
Milan are betting, presumably with some intelligence behind the decision, that the conditions here more closely resemble Lisbon than Manchester. A squad in the process of being rebuilt, a fresh start.
Amorim may well be the right choice. Or this may be another expensive lesson in the difference between potential and fit. After several reboots and years of shattered expectations, Milan supporters have learned to wait before celebrating.
The question is not whether Amorim can coach. The question is whether he can adapt. At United, the answer was no. At Milanello, it remains to be seen, but he will at least fulfil a propechy.
As a Milan fan, I can only hope for the best and support the team and staff. It is what it is for now till proven wrong. One thing I’m sure of is I couldn’t take Allegri ball anymore, not just boring but takes all the beauty of the game, couldn’t beat watching the games anymore
His appointment is nothing to be excited about. But I’ll put it lightly and say I really hope to be proven wrong and he succeeds.
Gerry and Zlatan, nothing changes for you two. You’re still two incompetent clowns.
Keeping an open mind about this appointment for one reason…potential reset with a chance to get his own profile players for the preseason. Hopefully with management backing he might put his own print on the team. Not sure where some of our core players will end up with all these rumors making the round but the silver lining is him landing on his preferred type a players. Forza Milan.
Actually a calculated Risk.
Anyway nothing to loose,Its basically like beating a dead snake.
Echo everyone’s sentiment. as a fan, i can only hope for the best. On one hand, our squad has been playing a back 3, so perhaps his system is easier here than at United (where everyone was used to a back 4). On the other hand, Milan is closer to United in the kind of pressure a manager gets. Sporting might be big in portugal, but the pressure at Milan is as much or more than it is at United.
Expect the worst , hope for the best ppl.
And yet the red flags are bright red considering how we have a fragile dressing room and players (Leao) who don’t like being played out of position and tactically unflexible coaches. There is clearly a recipe for failure here. Sure, many sexy names were unavailable or unwilling, but despite the trophies with Sporting, what does Amorim bring to the table that someone like Palladino doesn’t? Or what about Ernesto Valverde? A highly experienced coach that plays with a squad friendly 4-2-3-1, tactical flexibility, came off contract this summer and has coached a huge club like Barcelona. His name was not even rumored. Sarri was free. I don’t know.
our back 3 should translate the same (or at least the tactics). Amorim likes 2 defensive minded mids and 2 attacking ones. I’m thinking Pulisic, Nkunku should be his options on the 2 attacking ones. Jashari/Fofana/Ricci should take the 2 “defensive ones” . he will only have Santi as CF.
Everyone knows leao is as good as gone.
We can assume Leao is as good as gone, but it’s not a fact until it happens. But Leao aside, neither Jashari or Ricci are “defensive” midfielders. Fofana comes closest, but he’s not a traditional DM either. Then, what kind of wingbacks does he like? Are Bartesaghi and Saelemaekers that? Gimenez is not the type of striker he like. My point is Amorim is going to want a full overhaul and he’s not going to get it, so now we’re going to expect an inflexible coach to adapt to the current squad, or to whatever capital gains transfers management deems fit to give him. Grab your popcorn.
well said
yup. All i’m hopeful is that at least we’ve been working on a back 3, unlike when Amorim joined United. Everything else could be a horror show. Expect the worst, hope for the best guys.
He will play with 3-4-3.
He switched to 3-4-2-1 just to suit Bruno Fernandez, otherwise traditional wingers like Leao would be his preference.
We do not need an overhaul, but we need to definitely upgrade our wingbacks to elite athletes, and a powerful and combative midfielder to partner Rabiot.
We also need an elite CF.
Sarri already day 1 at atalanta…
One of the problems at United is that the players weren’t buying into any coach anymore because so many of them would constantly come and go. No one was hungry for change because they didn’t believe in it. Sound familiar?
In order for Amorim to succeed Milan would need to offload many players and replace them with young & hungry ones who will buy into it. And that’s just ONE of the problems facing Milan.
Ultimately it is still a hard sell to any established or experienced player. Because there’s still no sporting project. Everything is an afterthought centered around capital gains, risk minimization and focus on financial stability until Gerry decides to sell.
100%
If you are going to hire a coach with a rigid football philosophy and you are well aware of that before hiring him then you have to adjust the squad based on his philosophy not to expect the coach to adjust to the current players. That was the problem at United. They pushed for him, they insisted for him to come mid season and then they expected him to change his philosophy because they had a bunch of overpaid, overrated lazy divas in the squad that they couldn’t move.
Most coaches have a doctrine that they won’t move from. Outside of Carlo Ancelotti, who is the only coach that sets up his team based on the players available and their characteristics, almost every other coach, especially the big ones stick to their philosophy.
Look at Pep. He has a philosophy and wants a squad based on that philosophy thats why he is the coach that has spent the most money than anyone else in the last decade and a half. Also, either you going to do what he asks you or he would not play you. Thierry Henry said that he was subbed at halftime during a UCL game vs Sporting even though he scored a goal because he wasn’t following Peps instructions. We know about Pep and Zlatan. If ManUtd hired Pep instead of Amorim he also would have want a squad for his football not adjusting to the players United have.
Trust people to be themselves. Milan knows Amorim is rigid, and since they chose him, they should give him a squad to fit his football not to expect from him to forcefully play Leao or some other player who doesn’t fit as Allegri did.
Allegri actually adjusted to the squad at his disposal thats why he played with 3 at the back. Allegri’s downfall, besides the football being too defensive was playing Leao, which probably came becuase orders from upstairs. Leao was the only player that didn’t fit what Allegri was doing. Pulisic actually looked great in 2 man front next to an actual striker. But Allegri kept playing Leao.
The guy deserves a 2nd chance. He won a lot in Portugal with a team that haven’t won anything in 20 years and then before turning 40 he moved to the biggest club in the best league in the world, a club that has been a mess for over 10 years.
yup. to be Fair, whether it was from upstairs or not, He kept playing Leao because he is indeed talented as hell. He just did not work out of position. I think of it as having a fantastic drag race car. Some races are a straight line, and you win. Some races are freaking Monaco and you lose.
Rafa is that drag race car. Unfortunately, with Allegri, most games turned out closer to a Monaco than a straight line.
“Trust people to be themselves. Milan knows Amorim is rigid, and since they chose him, they should give him a squad to fit his football not to expect from him to forcefully play Leao or some other player who doesn’t fit as Allegri did.”
Yeah… This is gonna be the not so funny part with AC Milan this summer.
Also we looked like absolute dog sh!t for the entire second half of the season even when Leão didn’t play. To pin our downfall to simply him playing is a big miscaracterisation of what happened this season.
How often did Leao not play in the entire 2nd half of the season? He started sitting him in the last few games when the wheels were already falling off.
He wasn’t a fit for the formation yet he was still the most used forward. We were reading stories how he is dealing with injuries but Pulisic or whoever else played next to him, physically fit, were getting subbed off while Leao played entire games. Fulkrug and Gimenez should have played more, because of their fit.
“Fulkrug and Gimenez should have played more, because of their fit.”
During the last game where we needed a measle point to qualify to the UCL, the starting lineup was made of Nkunku (who according to many was improving) and Giménez (an actual striker fit for the system), Leão was only subbed in later on.
You say Allegri was “forced” to use Leão, but how many times did any attacking pair actually work ? Pulišić was great in 2025 but garbage in 2026, Giménez sucked, Füllkrug sucked and Nkunku sucked.
I’m not defending Leão (who also sucked) nor Allegri, but I don’t think him starting had anything to do with instructions from above.
This is not a video game.
Players need regular minutes. You expect players who barely play when finally given a chance to be at their best.
Players who were barely or never used without any continuity finally got a chance when the wheels fell off and if they didn’t perform well its their fault.
The worst pairing was the most used one Leao and Pulisic.
Pulisic playing next to Gimenez to start the season looked like the best player in the league. Even though Gimenez didn’t score goals his presence and movement allowed Pulisic to perform to his best and for Milan to play half a decent football. In the few games Fulkrug played next to Pulisic he created chances for Pulisic who missed. Fulkrug and Gimenez should have been given more time during the season not in desperate times, out of rhythm without any continuity in playing time.
Leao was dog shit regardless of who he played next to and he played the most. Based on reports that Allegri wanted to sell Leao and Pulisic if he stayed as a coach tells me that he was forced by management to play them even though they were not good for the team, especially Leao.
No, Cardinale made the team. Z knows it 😂
bad things about allegri is, leao and pulisic cannot play as the front two. Need to change to 3-4-3
. But Allegri always chosing 3 midfielder instead. And yeah the midfielder quality is bad except modric, and leao and pulisic not schronized. Thats why milan downfall begins
Amorim should not bring his 3-4-3 here let him play the preferred formation 4-2-3-1
At least we know we need drastic changes of the squad to make Amorin successful. If the intention is a anyway a radical rebuild of the rooster to play a more dominant and offensive football, than Amorin is an understandable choice. It would have been similar with Iraola or Jassie, in my view a bit less with Galsner. In any case, we will try to play football and that is alredy better than last year.
3-4-2-1, you mean?
What am I missing about this Amorim guy?
Everybody are super sceptical/pessimistic but why?
To me it is fair not to succeed in ManU, who could/can anyway, and he did fairly well in Portugal. I’m really curious.
Okay here’s a list off the top of my head:
1. Doesn’t put right players in right positions – he had Fernandes playing deep and Mainoo on the bench
2. Inflexible – what’s he going to do with his 3-4-3 when Parma or Venezia put up a low block and he can’t get through it? Answer: stick with a 3-4-3
3. Awful man management skills/ too emotional/ hysterical – makes Conceicao look like Yertle the Turtle
4. Like Allegri he doesn’t like technical skilful players – we had zero creativity last season and now we’ve got a guy who also has no interest in it again
5. He’s Portuguese- which wouldn’t be so bad if we hadn’t just had two mind-blowing experiences with Portuguese coaches. Plus he has no knowledge of Serie A or Italy – which was the one redeeming factor for Allegri and look how that went…
The difference in their perfomance and results since Amorim left United while the team stayed intact. Amorim had 31% win rate with United. That is worse than Moyes, Rangnick and Ten Hag. And they were awful.
Šeško and Mainoo exploded since Amorim left. They were both pushed aside with him on the bench. Now they’re two most exciting United players.
He lost the dressing room because of his inability to adapt and poor man management.
@Dejan10 & Ted
Thank you both of you. I actually thought he was a flexible manager and not a system manager, and good at man management.
If this is true, and I trust you, it is a strange appointment. We should have chosen a tactical flexible manager with great human skills.
Nice article. I would like to add that the reason why Pioli succeeded was due to fluidity and flexibility. No other coaches have come close since. The players we have by and large were mostly flair players who need that freedom of expression to perform at their best. If we are to go the route of robotic systems and formations just make sure the personnel matches that. But I fear we’d need a massive overhaul for that to take place and at Milan there’s no patience for that both from management and from Dan’s
* From fans not Dans of course
Also I should have read the other comments before I posted as it’s pretty much along the same lines of thought
Same ‘ol Mike Maignan even for France.
3 shots on goal.
1 hit the near post with Maignan beaten. The 2nd and 3rd were goals but luckily one of them was taken away because of offside
Btw Mike looking shaky in goal vs Senegal
Let in a goal on his near post again
Suzuki is way better than Maignan. Maignan has huge flaws like crosses, near post and corners.
Was anyone asking about Maignan on this topic? Z is a clown, he jerks off when Milan players do bad in international games, all clear.
There was no other outlet to vent about it I suppose
I wish him the best. But regardless how it goes initially, he should be allowed to at least work for 2 years. We clearly need a new direction and plan. Let’s start a project.
Against all odds, he will succeed. I can see he will have a lot of support from Korsche, Hardung, Ibra and Gerry, something he didn’t have at Man Utd. He also has learned his lesson the hard way there.
If Milan going back to being the team from the year before or Como last year i.e. a team with no connection to Italy, then I think I’m finally gone.
There is no point supporting a terrible team in a terrible league that has absolutely no connection to the place that it is allegedly from.
We may as well watch the Portuguese league.
Well we all can hope you are finally gone , part 2.
But you supported Como which had a Spanish coach, Indonesian owners and barely any Italians in the starting lineup and you’re here speaking about connection.
And then watch out for him talk about “loyaulty” or “true fans” when someone will dare to criticize Bartesaghi or Saelemakers.
Yes.
F’ing loyalty.
They had Cutrone and then forced him out and now are just another pointless team in Serie A without a single connection to the country or place they’re supposed to be from.
Honestly I don’t know what the attraction is of Serie A.
It’s a pretty terrible league that isn’t exactly setting the world on fire.
So why do these people have to come here and destroy whatever grass roots exist?
Why aren’t angrier?
If you’re not happy about serie A go find another hobby.
LOL classic Como’s Heir
You are some type of special. Don’t try to deflect now Parma ham! You went to support the least Italian of all teams because got your panties in a bunch and now want to lecture other ppl about loyalty and connections. That’s you in a nutshell, a hypocrite
The real question is whether the management will fully support Amorim or not. Because it’ll be useless if it’s not. And we’ll be in endless cycle all over again.
Seems like Amorim’s decision was also heavily endorsed by Cardinale himself. So that’s a good start. At least he will have to save his face first before he’ll make any reckless decision.
You make a very important point. Cardinale after his disappointing start as Milan owner, has to get it right this time, he took things upon himself firing everyone and hiring Amorim . He took his time to choose carefully and would have consulted many advisors on this(not just Zlatan) as his reputation and project will only afford so many wrong turns before the owners of the assets he manages will begin to discard him.
He has a world of pressure on him now , so if he went with Amorim he must Believe he will come good and will have to support him with considerable incoming transfers in the short term at least until the new directors can discover gems which is probably his main objective , a la Eintracht etc.
We will have to wait and see. Those who are already counting Amorim out should think again, the new coach also has a lot of pressure to come good after Man Utd. He will also be very aware of what he is getting himself into , the Italian media and the limitations both in the squad and recruit system at the club. He must feel up to the challenge or he wouldn’t have given up the huge amount of money Man Utd were paying him for doing nothing.
Whatever happens , always Forza Milan.
I guess based on current milan players,, none of them will be fit on amorim style.. it will be overhaul..
There are many assumptions:
1. He has learned from his failures at Man U?
2. He will will have the support of the board
3. He will adapt to Italian football
4. Cardinale knows what he is doing that’s why he chose him
5. Ibra will not sabotage him at the slightest disagreement again.
6. His man management skills have improved
7. He will be more flexible due to his unenviable record at man U.
These are all red flags, so we wait and see. Action speaks louder than words. So far the “clear vision” Cardinale speaks about has not been sighted even with the Hubble telescope! He spends more on propaganda while using ibra as click bait and chief mascot at the world cup. Some media consultant must have told them that having ibra visible, arrogant and saucy, will drive traffic the Milan on the search engines. There id a very clear gap between analysis from Thierry Henry and his own output at these matches.
It is very difficult to do worse than the previous 3 coaches…But I am thinking Amorim will find a way. Hope he proves me wrong, but I expect him to be a complete flop. This dude is clueless.
After Fonseca and Conceicao, we still need coach from portuguese? Who was dreaming? Or it just incapability of the consultant?! New coach, same mistake (by management)!
Half the squad doesnt fit his style, so he will want an overhaul of signings, and he absolutely won’t get them… this is gonna end poorly
Welp. Prepare for another bad season 🥀