Ruben Amorim is about to find out whether his method was ever really the problem. Fired from Manchester United after less than a season, the Portuguese coach has landed at AC Milan — another sleeping giant with a trophy cabinet that feels more like a museum than a roadmap. The question isn’t whether he can coach. He proved that at Sporting. The question is whether Milan will let him.
According to reports, RedBird Capital has shifted its front-office plans. Ralf Rangnick won’t be arriving to overhaul the sporting structure; he’ll stay with Austria. Instead, Markus Krösche from Eintracht Frankfurt is reportedly the target for the sporting director role. That appointment matters. Krösche has a reputation for building coherent rosters, and Amorim will need one.
The Shape That Got Him in Trouble
A lot was made of Amorim’s rigid 3-4-2-1 at Manchester United. Critics said he refused to adapt. But that’s a convenient narrative that ignores the context. At Sporting, that same system broke a 19-year league title drought. At United, he inherited a squad that didn’t fit it, an ownership situation that didn’t trust him, and a fanbase that ran out of patience fast.
Yes, the shape stayed the same. But roles inside it shifted. A Casemiro-Ugarte double pivot was never going to function like a Fernandes-Casemiro pairing, and the personnel mismatches kept piling up. The results were what they were. But toward the end of his tenure, there were signs of adaptability — just not enough time.
Now he gets another shot. And this time, the roster might actually suit him.
What Amorim Already Has at Milan
The defensive foundation is promising. Strahinja Pavlović quietly became a reliable presence under Max Allegri, and Matteo Gabbia offers depth. In midfield, the club has options that fit Amorim’s needs: Youssouf Fofana can run the pivot, Ardon Jashari brings punch, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek offers the kind of positional flexibility Amorim covets. Loftus-Cheek can play centrally or out wide, and Alexis Saelemaekers could thrive as a wingback or wide forward.
Further up the pitch, Christian Pulisic and Christopher Nkunku give Amorim hybrids — players who can hold width or drift inside. That’s exactly what his system asks of the forward line. The big problem is the central striker position, and it’s a familiar one. Rafa Leão wants out, according to reports, and the club reportedly no longer sees him as untouchable. Moving him could free up significant funds for Krösche to reshape the attack.
The Real Test Isn’t Tactical
Milan’s late-season collapse was brutal. They were in the title conversation halfway through the season, then fell apart so badly that they limped into a Europa League spot. That failure might actually buy Amorim breathing room. The Premier League doesn’t offer that luxury. At San Siro, he can point to the scale of the rebuild if results don’t come immediately.
At Sporting, his methods took time before they clicked. The same will be true here. But the biggest variable isn’t the formation or the players — it’s the support structure above him. If Krösche gets the authority he’s expected to have, and if Milan’s ownership stays out of the tactical weeds, Amorim has a real chance. If he faces the same kind of interference he dealt with at Carrington, history will repeat itself.
From the outside, an immediate disaster seems unlikely. But until Milan resolves the questions about its sporting directorship, there’s only so much a coach can do. Amorim has the blueprint. Whether he gets to build with it is another story.
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