How Man Utd play: Building from centre-back and the importance of the No 9 in Ruben Amorim’s system

This is the latest article in a series from The Athletic breaking down the tactical approach of Premier League teams for the 2025-26 season. Read about other clubs below:

Few managers or head coaches in the game have a tactical philosophy as clear and consistent as Ruben Amorim’s. But within his first year in charge of Manchester United, he has found putting that philosophy into practice has been anything but straightforward.

Appointed 11 league games into last season, Amorim was unable to halt United’s slide from the days of being serial champions during the post-Alex Ferguson era, as they slumped to a record-low Premier League finish of 15th, with the players unable to get to grips with his radically different approach.

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Implementing a new system on the fly, mid-season, was always going to bring its share of challenges. But now with the benefit of a full pre-season — and the additions of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko in attacking positions this summer — could things be about to change?

Here, The Athletic breaks down Amorim’s tactical vision at United: what he’s trying to build, why it hasn’t clicked yet, and whether this season could mark a turning point.

In case you weren’t paying attention last season, here’s a quick refresher of the 3-4-2-1 system that Amorim is so resolutely committed to. The graphic below shows United’s average shape during the build-up and creation phases under the Portuguese coach and will be instantly recognisable to their fans.

This structure is built on three centre-backs at the base, with wing-backs stretching the pitch laterally and vertically, dual No 10s supporting a lone striker and two midfield pivots tasked with holding it all together.

Whether through dogmatic stubbornness or sheer conviction, no manager in the Premier League was more wedded to a single setup than Amorim last season. His United made just seven in-game formation changes, the fewest in the league. “I maintain my idea: I want to play a certain way until the end,” Amorim said after a 2-0 home defeat to Newcastle in December, after he’d been in the job for a month.

The hope for United is that this consistency of style breeds familiarity, and that the patterns of play Amorim hopes to instil become second nature to the squad. After his first game in charge, a 1-1 draw at Ipswich, he said, “I think my players were thinking too much.”

Unlike previous managers who leaned into United’s chaotic, transition-heavy identity, Amorim has made it clear he wants to “control” games, and believes that a stable, structured approach in possession is key to doing so.

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He’s made some progress in that regard, as shown in The Athletic’s playstyle wheel below.

United are among the best in Europe for circulating the ball through central areas, while only Manchester City have recorded a slower average direct speed in the Premier League since Amorim replaced the sacked Erik ten Hag.

This more measured approach has helped United shore things up defensively — at least statistically.

While they conceded just four fewer goals than the season before, their expected goals against dropped from a massive 70.1 in 2023-24 to a more respectable, though still concerning, 55.1. Building up more slowly with three centre-backs on the pitch means that, when United are turned over, there is at least some structure between the ball and their goal.

Still, adding an extra centre-back to the side hasn’t come without drawbacks, particularly in how it has stifled ball progression. A third of United’s passes last season were played by centre-backs, but many of these were passive, with the defenders often knocking the ball around among themselves.

Leny Yoro will play a key role in United’s build-up effectiveness (Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

At previous club Sporting CP, Amorim spoke about how “the centre-backs are the builders, more so than the central midfielders.” With United often being outnumbered in midfield, he relies on his centre-backs to progress the ball through the lines and moonlight as holding midfielders as the build-up develops.

For much of last season, though, Amorim simply did not have that profile of defender at his disposal.

The graphic below shows that Leny Yoro and Lisandro Martinez are, by some distance, United’s most comfortable ball-progressing centre-backs, both ranking among the Premier League’s top five for line-breaking passes per 90 minutes played last season.

But both missed extensive periods of that season through injury — summer 2024 signing Yoro played just 1,162 minutes in the Premier League (of a possible 3,420), and Martinez only 1,754. While Martinez is still making his way back from a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) suffered in February, Yoro has shone in pre-season and his availability will be crucial if United are to build threateningly from the back under Amorim.

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Regardless of personnel, three at the back caused problems for United out of possession. The two central midfielders are left to cover vast amounts of space, especially when both wing-backs push high and none of the centre-backs step up into midfield.

The pitch map below shows the number of passes played into different zones against United, compared to their six-season Premier League average. While the three-man defence has helped reduce the volume of passes conceded around their own penalty area — a prominent issue under Ten Hag — it has also created a soft central zone just past the halfway line.

A memorable example came in the 1-0 defeat to Tottenham in February, when Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro played as the double pivots. With Fernandes naturally more attack-minded and Casemiro, who was about to turn 33, no longer able to cover ground as he once did, Spurs carved through the centre with ease.

How Amorim addresses this vulnerability and stops United from getting overrun in midfield will be a season-defining tactical conundrum.

Other options in that area include Manuel Ugarte and Kobbie Mainoo. Ugarte brings more energy and bite than Casemiro, and is prolific in breaking up play, but his limits in terms of passing range and ability to progress the ball pose a different kind of challenge. Mainoo, on the other hand, shares some of Fernandes’ instincts to drift higher up the pitch.

It’s not all doom and gloom, though. The signings of Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha spruce up United’s attacking options no end, and both could find their strengths amplified by aspects of Amorim’s system.

Cunha should add another dimension to United’s attacking play (Vincent Carchietta/Getty Images)

His two No 10s are given licence to drift across the pitch and exploit spaces between the lines. Those voids are created in two main ways. First, the marauding, overlapping wing-backs drag markers away with decoy runs, opening up lanes for the attacking midfielders to exploit. This should suit Cunha and Mbeumo, who are both talented ball-carriers.

Below is an example from United’s pre-season friendly against West Ham, where left wing-back Patrick Dorgu’s run pulls Aaron Wan-Bissaka deep and opens up space for Cunha to drive into.

The movement of the centre-forward is another important aspect that helps free up the attacking midfielders.

Rasmus Hojlund’s struggles last season were well documented, and United’s pass network for that campaign shows just how peripheral the Dane was in their build-up.

New signing Benjamin Sesko, with his superior target-man qualities, should avoid a similar fate.

As the plot below shows, the 6ft 4in (195cm) Slovenian is far stronger in the air than Hojlund and fellow United striker Joshua Zirkzee, and also more adept at carrying the ball through take-ons.

For all Hojlund’s shortcomings in producing decisive contributions, he remained a willing off-ball runner for Amorim. His surging channel runs in behind were often mistimed or directed into non-threatening wide areas, but did still serve to push back opposing defences.

Sesko, meanwhile, was frequently forced deeper last season with RB Leipzig’s midfield struggling to progress the ball, yet his run profile from their more successful 2023-24 campaign demonstrates a similar willingness to stretch defences.

With Cunha and Mbeumo offering more reliable service in behind, and a more complete striker leading the line, United should carry far more threat in the final third this season.

Their warm-up friendlies may have offered glimpses of greater fluidity and the excitement of new attacking signings, but the intensity of competitive Premier League football is a different beast, one where any tactical vulnerability is quickly exposed and relentlessly targeted.

United fans will be hoping that the squad’s summer upgrades, both in system and personnel, have helped improve what has been a spluttering setup.

(Top photo: Getty Images)

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