A fortnight in the United States has allowed Amorim to work in fine detail on the positions he wants his players to take on the pitch. Several sessions at the club’s temporary Chicago base have consisted of Amorim walking them through the exact spots to occupy when the ball is in different areas.
He has been drilling his players on the exact patch of grass he requires them to take up, so that the team is one cohesive unit in all aspects of play. When he is dissatisfied, even slightly, he gets a hold of whoever is out of position and moves them a yard or two. Usually taking place two days before a match, it is meticulous.
Amorim hinted at his approach in his interview with journalists on Friday when asked why he thinks his midfield will be better this season.
“I think it’s the time to train,” he said. “Even the certainty of the movements can help a player to be faster, if you are thinking, ‘I jump, I don’t jump’. We train when they need to jump; they already know. Sometimes it’s one metre, one second. That is something that the tactical aspect and the physical aspect are together.”
Often, these sessions at Chicago Fire’s Endeavor Health Performance Centre last more than an hour, a laborious process that is undoubtedly aided by taking place in temperatures around 30C (86F), amid a backdrop of the city’s stunning skyline. When Amorim squeezed some of these sessions into United’s calendar last year, the wind and rain were not the most inviting weather to stand around in.
In Chicago, Amorim tended to finish with an 11-a-side game to see how much his players had taken in and how they replicated when the ball is whizzing around at proper speed. Amorim is vocal on the sidelines.
The practices could be seen in action during the games, including when Maguire came out with the ball during the 2-1 friendly win against West Ham United in New York and Casemiro dropped in to cover.
“There’s not too much information, so everybody knows two or three things they need to do during the game,” said Diogo Dalot. “Once we get used to that, we will reach a point, hopefully, where we can almost play with our eyes closed. We already know where everybody is going to be on the pitch.”
As well as training minds, the trip was about training bodies. There were some gruelling sessions to sharpen the players’ physique, but usually the running was disguised by ball work.
Bryan Mbeumo was the focus of tailored attention, having arrived from Brentford without a pre-season. Mbeumo is effectively two weeks behind his new team-mates, as Amorim referenced following his appearance against Everton in Atlanta, his only 45 minutes of the tour. “He needs to understand the position, the movements, but the way he connected with one touch opened a lot of space. You can see he’s not in perfect condition physically, but he makes a lot of runs, and that can stretch a team.”
Mbeumo had extra sessions with United’s youth players, who were also being put through their paces at match intensity to make up for them not getting many minutes in the friendlies.
In one such session, two days before the Bournemouth game, Mbeumo was part of a four-vs-four on a small pitch where the objective was to create and score at speed, then sprint back into position. Amorim’s leading assistant, Carlos Fernandes, guided the drill, speaking to Mbeumo before whistling to begin.
The team rotated, with Mbeumo joined by Jack Fletcher, Ethan Williams, Bendito Mantato, Sekou Kone, Reece Munro, and goalkeepers Dermot Mee and Will Murdock. It was end-to-end at a frenetic pace, going from attack to defence to attack again. In one moment, Mbeumo, on the left, crossed low for Williams to tap in. Coach Fernandes gave a clap. In another, Mbeumo ghosted past Williams but saw his shot saved. Fletcher scored a sweet left-foot volley. Mbeumo chipped over Murdock after a quick roll-out by Mee.
The session naturally aids understanding and encourages creativity in close quarters, but the main purpose is to get players running hard, repeatedly, to raise their endurance in a way that keeps their minds occupied.
Matheus Cunha did a similar session after missing the Bournemouth game through what the club classed as fatigue. Cunha had some soreness in his legs after a rigorous workout, so he was kept back as a precaution.
Amorim had other ways to get his players running without it being obvious. He set up a circuit where players waited by the halfway line, then jogged to collect the ball off a team-mate, fought off Emanuel Ferro, one of Amorim’s assistants, completed a one-two with a team-mate around mannequins, and finished past a goalkeeper. They then had to sprint from a blue post 20 yards or so back towards the group in the centre circle.
Mbeumo scored into the far corner but needed a little encouragement to hit top speed. “Off you go, Bryan, come on,” screamed Ferro.
The combinations were not those seen typically in a game. Chido Obi put through to Mantato, Kone set up Leon. Ayden Heaven, De Ligt and Tyler Fredricson all had shots. Munro slid through Fredricson, De Ligt played in Mbeumo, Fletcher teed up Heaven, who finished crisply into the roof of the net.
The player who passed in the one-two then moved into the scorer position, waiting behind a mannequin and bursting round when it was time to act. Kobbie Mainoo went for a backheel to Leon and later curled his finish in off the near post.
Amorim also put on small-sided games where there was a big goal at one end and three little ones at the other. It was a way of testing patterns in closer confines. Amorim shouted praise when Mainoo’s pass bisected Manuel Ugarte and Fredricson and found Obi, who controlled neatly and then rounded Altay Bayindir using the studs on his right boot across the ball and scored with his left. “Great pass, great touch, Chido,” bellowed Amorim.
The training matches themselves contained a competitive element, as Toby Collyer revealed. “Everyone wants to be the team that wins,” he said. “You don’t have to get the gear in then. It’s a jeopardy if you lose! All the other teams have to get the gear in.”
There were more games immediately after the final whistle in each of the friendlies, too. Those players who did not feature extensively were put through their paces to maintain their fitness levels. At the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, those who performed against Everton walked the basement corridors to get showered and changed, some signed autographs for fans, while another group played a six-a-side game, with Obi floating. Rasmus Hojlund got extra minutes after only getting 18 against David Moyes’ side.
After each game, Amorim has been quick to his press conference so he can get back to the pitch to observe, hopping on a buggy to waste no time.
United players started their days on a different set of wheels: the exercise bike. On the walls behind them in the Chicago Fire gym, as they warmed up, were the words in big letters, ‘GET BETTER’. A motto for United to take into this season, certainly.
As dance music blared on the speaker, the players underwent their strength and conditioning. Leon showed his physicality at only 18, blasting through four reps of pull-ups with a 10kg weight wrapped around his waist. Bruno Fernandes, Dalot and Hojlund were among the others doing it. Lisandro Martinez was on the chest press and at other moments, he was solo jogging as he builds back up to full fitness.
Luke Shaw has also followed a tailored regimen to prevent any repeat injuries.
Joshua Zirkzee was another player working on his rehabilitation after suffering a hamstring injury at the end of last season. He only just made it back for the Europa League final, so could not go full pelt earlier in the summer. Fernandes showed Zirkzee support by staying out with him after his session, sitting shirtless on a water cooler as the Dutchman carried out fast-paced finishing.
Fernandes gave a glimpse of United’s social life on the trip as he walked off the pitch. “Me and my friend, Joshua, we had some time to go for a walk, some coffee, dinner,” Fernandes said. “He never paid for a dinner! To be honest, he paid one. We’re gonna miss the weather of Chicago.”
The players might also miss the shops. Having stayed at the Waldorf Astoria, they were in a prime position to visit the Dior, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton stores.
Amorim valued the trip for the chance to bond as much as anything, and the players organised a meal at an Asian restaurant near the team hotel on one evening. They had a midnight curfew.
On Friday, the squad and staff dined at London House, over the river from Trump Tower, and stayed from 8pm to 10pm.
One member of the wider staff making an impression is Acacio Valentim, who has started work as first-team operations manager. He is bringing an openness to the role, which Jackie Kay had performed for the past decade of her 30 years at the club. Valentim is getting on well and communicating with people across the club, and has even taken on the role of holding up the board for substitutions during the friendlies. It remains to be seen if he will continue to do it when the competitive action starts. Andreas Georgson, the coach who left this summer, used to do it.
Shaw and Dalot gave strong quotes on how happy the mood is in camp, with clear inference about those players who were not in the U.S. “If you want to be in Manchester United, you need to match some standards,” Dalot said. “If you can’t match it, it’s not a place for you. The message is really clear.” Their words went down well with Amorim.
United’s head coach was also occupied with transfers. He held meetings with chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox at the team hotel and training ground, and with director of recruitment Christopher Vivell and director of negotiations Matt Hargreaves back in England.
Wilcox also spoke directly with fans, heading to Mulligan’s Pub in the afternoon of United’s game against West Ham at MetLife Stadium. United were hosting a supporter event and Wilcox, as well as chief operating officer Collette Roche, mingled with those in attendance.
The star attraction was former defender Wes Brown, who discussed his memories of winning titles and his opinions on the current team. He chatted at a pub before each friendly, as well as several other events for United, notably throwing the first pitch at a White Sox game — having practised with a lemon — and putting on a youth skills clinic with the Chicago Bulls alumnus Kendall Gill for 60 children in a deprived neighbourhood.
Brown got a good feeling from being around the squad and drew parallels between Amorim’s hard-line approach and Sir Alex Ferguson’s methods. “I remember first coming in and Sir Alex got rid of big names,” Brown told The Athletic after he had addressed fans at Theory bar in Chicago. “They’d been brilliant for him over the years, but just like that – gone. That’s the best way to do it.
“He’s signed a few players who can play in different positions, especially those who have done really well in the Premier League. That’s a massive thing, something we’ve missed.”
Berrada said: “It’s been amazing, we’re really pleased with how the team has trained, the interaction with the fans, activation with our partners, everything has been excellent. We’ve done 30 events over two weeks. The launch of the away kit with Rio Ferdinand, the activation with Snapdragron, which we’ll see next week.”
It was a swift exit for United from Atlanta, their final stop. The team flew shortly after the final whistle, with players given compression tights and Game Ready ice packs to wear on their legs for the flight, and landed back at midday on Monday. They have Tuesday off before returning to Carrington on Wednesday for the first glimpse of the new facilities, before the grand opening on Friday.
“A really important milestone,” said Berrada. “We’ve invested a lot of money in improving the facilities, second to none in the world of sports. We are very proud of what it’s going to look like and it’s going to positively impact the performance of our teams.”
Leny Yoro captured the mood as the last player to speak to the media on the tour.
“There are a lot of people that want us to fail and we know that,” he said. “But there are also a lot of people that want us to do great things. We just focus on the fans. We don’t care about what they say outside, everyone said bulls**t about us last year. I understand because we didn’t do really well. But this season will be different.”
(Top photo: Andrew J Clark, Edward M. Pio Roda & Patrick McDermott/Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)
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