Rio Ferdinand reveals the FOUR Man United stars who do not fit Ruben Amorim’s tactical style

Ruben Amorim’s introduction to Manchester United and the Premier League has been a harsh one, the Portuguese head coach earning just 18 points from his 16 games. 

Arriving on the back of a wave of optimism following the departure of Erik ten Hag, armed with his much-vaunted 3-4-2-1 system, few United fans would have predicted their current plight. 

Though a win over Ipswich on Wednesday night has cast aside the more exaggerated notions of being drawn into a relegation battle in earnest, the Red Devils are still only 14th place. 

It is clear that Amorim’s is a project only in its infancy, and finding players that truly suit his particular formation will undoubtedly prove key, though club legend Rio Ferdinand has picked out four current stars who he believes are wholly unsuited.

The former central defender, who won it all at Old Trafford, offered an honest assessment of the dawn of the Amorim era on TNT Sports in the wake of his old side’s 3-2 win over relegation-threatened Ipswich. 

‘I think if we’re being brutally honest, there hasn’t been the progress that we all anticipated.

Amorim’s first 16 Premier League games have yielded just 18 points despite initial optimism

United completed a 3-2 comeback win over Ipswich on Wednesday evening for a much-needed win

‘Where he came from, how successful he had been and the silverware he brought to Sporting, the anticipation of him coming was like, “Wow! What an opportunity we’ve got now with this young manager”, and it hasn’t transferred here.’

He added: ‘I think he needs to just get to the end of the season, really regroup and then start building again, building the team and coaching the team because right now they’ve been stuttering along and that’s probably being polite.’

Amorim himself has spoken about the impact pre-season can have in terms of truly having unfettered access over a number of weeks to his squad day in, day out, in order to get his full tactical plan across. 

As it stands, with United in the Europa League still, their preparations midweek are frequently disrupted, and he has underlined that this is hardly conducive to a tactical overhaul midseason. 

For Ferdinand, though, there are certain players whose game is not aligned with the dynamic approach Amorim will look to adopt. 

‘I watched Sporting a few times, in Europe especially. They were an athletic, dynamic team. That was one of the staples of that team, the hallmarks of that good team that was winning things,’ he explained.

‘This team aren’t a mobile, dynamic team.

‘If you look through the heartbeat of this team they have other qualities but being physical, having the ability to overrun teams physically – they don’t have that capacity.’

Ferdinand highlighted that certain players lacked the required physicality to play Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 system

Matthijs De Ligt was one of three United players on the scoresheet to defeat Ipswich

Amorim’s side face a huge week in terms of determining their European future for next season

Part of Amorim’s expected overhaul of the squad will involve determining which of his charges possess the required attributed to play his system. 

Of course, it will not be a one-summer turnaround situation, given the number of players one imagines are needed to turn this side into European contenders, as well as the ever-present shadow of PSR constraints. 

But Ferdinand has highlighted at least four players who in his mind are lacking in the necessary ‘physicality’ to thrive in Amorim’s new era at Old Trafford. 

Asked whether Joshua Zirkzee was one of those who might fight the head coach’s system, Ferdinand responded: ‘No… De Ligt, Maguire, Hojlund, it’s not their game.

‘So I think he needs to find those type of players with the capabilities of carrying out not only tactically what he wants, but the physicality is equally important.’

Both Maguire and De Ligt were on the scoresheet in United’s 3-2 win over Ipswich on Wednesday evening.  

United have 11 games left in the Premier League, and will be hoping to finish as high up the table as possible, though they will know their best route into Europe lies elsewhere. 

As holders, they still have a chance to reach the Europa League with another FA Cup win, while triumphing in Europe’s secondary competition would see them return to the Champions League. 

The first steps on both of those paths will come against Fulham and Real Sociedad respectively, with United facing a huge week of fixtures that could determine just how well-backed Amorim might be come the summer.