Indifferent to RDZ but from neutral point of view, when Potter left suddenly in a very promising Brighton project, people wondered whether that would be the downfall of Brighton’s project. But RDZ came in and pretty much stabilise the project and some even felt he did better than Potter by leading them to a 6th place finish in his first season and this season even after losing 2 of their leading CM, they are still in a respectable 8th. So you have to respect the noises around how well he had done with this small club with limited budget and wonders whether he can do even more with a club that has alot more resources but practice similar discipline in terms of leading a club.
But aside from Xabi, Amorim does look closest to the level of Klopp in terms of achievement coming to Liverpool, even if no one in modern football can come close to Klopp
Absolutely, he is very likeable and charismatic. I don’t know how his quick wit communication translates with a different language, because with will inevitably be a bit less natural, but he should get his point and his personality across.
He had hiccups in the first season as well, but overall, in 4 seasons, he has been great in 3 and a half, I’d say.
Last year was tough, due to a pretty bad summer transfer window, especially the end of it. We lost Palhinha and Matheus Nunes (the starting midfield), the latter in the last days and without a proper replacement. Injuries, a dip in form of the goalkeeper and bad recruitment made for a bad first half of the season. Some of the recruitment was his fault as was the lack of recruitment in some positions. He can be stubborn and it costs him. We basically went into the season with one striker for 4 competitions, including UCL. And an unreliable one, at best. A bit of a fetish player for him (he has a couple). He has his faults and bad decisions, which have costed at times in these 4 and a half years, but they’re significantly fewer than the good ones.
But it’s Portugal, you lose a couple of key players (bound to happen) and if your recruitment is poor that year, you end up having a bad spell. The board messed up with selling Matheus Nunes at the end of the window it kinda snowballed into a horrible start.
Maybe go with Diaz instead of Robertson for width (with the team shifting around to a 4-4-2 with Gomez closing as a LB as he does now) and Gakpo or Jota up front.
I’d say we would primarily go for another DM (the 3 he has had here with Palhinha, Ugarte and Hjulmand would all be great) and a left footed CB.
In press conferences, we will not say anything. At least that is what he does here. Probably the only coherent manager to have ever been in Portugal regarding that, he always says he won’t speak about officiating and he has never done as far as I remember. Mostly as a stance, because the country is flooded with referee talk and he just does not want to contribute and “get out clean” from that. I don’t know if the stance would change in another country, maybe.
On the pitch, he can be pretty talkative to refs. Got sent off quite a lot in his first season, but to be honest, I don’t think he has been sent off ever since.
I think the understanding amongst new managers might well be to move Trent to midfield considering we’ve got Bradley coming in who’s impressed quite a bit.
Would you see him playing something like the Liverpool traditional 4-3-3 ? Is he flexible enough with his formations to choose something like this ?
Mostly because Liverpool is really stacked in midfield right now. A 3-4-3 which Amorim might lineup with might not be giving most of the midfielders enough game time.
I do agree that he’ll likely look for a left sided CB whether he’s playing 4 at the back or 3 at the back. Especially with Matip likely to get moved on , this would make it the perfect time.
Ugarte has been mentioned in this forum a fair bit. he’s seemingly out of reach now as he’s joined PSG , but who knows. Personally don’t think we’ve got a room for another DM in this team , but different managers mean different styles of play.
If he retains the midfield duo he has had since he is a coach, I can’t see Trent playing there. I don’t think he fits in the profile of midfielder he wants in that duo.
He has never really went there. He moves mostly between a 3-4-3, 3-2-5 and a 4-4-2. In the same game as well, the team changes shape often depending on the opposition and whether they are in or out of possession. He went to a 3-5-2 in his first season a couple times, but for like 2 or 3 games at the most.
I don’t really see a 4-3-3 in his future. If the Liverpool board want that and feel the roster is suited to that, then he really isn’t your man. Putting a square peg in a round hole.
But he is still young, he has been adding things and different nuances every season, so who knows. But coming into the team, I think he would go to his basics and go to tactics. And then, maybe, add things from there. Like he did here.
The only 3 players from your team that I think can play in his midfield duo are probably Alexis, Endo and Gravenberch. Maybe Szoboslai. Elliott I think he would see as an inside forward like as a Salah replacement. I don’t really think Jones fits as well.
The interesting thing for me, would be to see what he does with Trent. He’s pretty unique and I don’t see where he would place him in his system.
I am one of the fans who are abit skeptical about anyone who replaces the charismatic Jürgen. Nobody will ever have that same impact as he has had or be good enough.
Our manager is so well loved, not only by the club fans but Liverpool people in general ( including the Blue half of the fans, Everton) and regardless if you like football or not.
Any manager who comes in will have ‘huge shoes’ to fill.
I would have preferred Xabi Alonso to have come because, he understands our club.
Do you think Amorim will be able to adapt to life as EPL manager?
It is important he has to connect with the staff at the club, not just the coaches, but the catering staff and other non-coaching personnel.
Amorim also needs to understand the people of Liverpool, the culture of the city itself.
I am still not sure about him. I mentally prepared myself for Xabi Alonso. I hope you understand.
It’s funny, because that is probably the discourse Sporting fans are having about Amorim. He changed the club and the difference between early 2020 and 2024 is abysmal in Sporting’s life. Basically the same for Klopp and Liverpool.
He has shown to be very smart, very methodical and very understanding of what surrounds him and the best way to go about a club’s life and the people around the club. He had a lot of previous knowledge, considering he is portuguese and had been a part of the league and country as a player, so there is a difference there in regards do England and Liverpool.
I think he is ready to take the next step and he will absolutely be prepared to come in and use the right words and the right stance to captivate the fans and the people. He is a great communicator and comes off as an instantly likeable character. He’s someone who aggregates people around him easily and builds a great connection and environment around him. Even when he was a player, he was always known to be loved and a great presence in the Benfica dressing room, where he played.
Actions like this are prevalent, for example. He makes sure that all of his staff are present when he gets an award for manager of the month or stuff like that. When we won the league, every staff member was in the press conference with him.
He is very smart and very aware of his surroundings and how to get people on board with him. Football aside, I think his humane side and the way he deals with people is pretty rare and the way he got a pretty broken club united and with a healthy culture is the proof. It may not work as well abroad, due to less knowledge and having to communicate in a non-native language, but he has great soft skills. Not as loud and excentric as Klopp, but a bit more like Ange, where he gets people to like him. Pretty honest, open and as I said, someone who agreggates people easily, whether it’s the dressing room (and he tends to have short squads instead of like 30 players which leads to unhappiness about playing time etc due to wanting an healthy environment), the media, or the fans. The Sporting fans used to have a twitter account named “How Long until Ruben Talks” (x.com) that would count down how long until he spoke in a press conference or something, so that says something.
Do you have any idea how good his English skills are? Jürgen often seems to lack confidence about his English but he always seems to find a very eloquent way of expressing himself.
Thanks for all the responses, by the way. It’s great to see some outside input on here.
