'Honest and demanding': Liverpool-linked Amorim's qualities at Sporting

Amorim's name has been rumoured in the national and international press in recent weeks. The Sporting coach has been persistently linked with succeeding Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, to the point where it was reported that the Portuguese had already reached a verbal agreement with the Reds, which the English club has since denied.

The problem with the course

After a long career as a player that reached international level, Amorim decided to go into coaching at the age of 33 and his growth was upward and exponential. He made a name for himself at Casa Pia, where his name was embroiled in controversy due to the issue with his coaching licence - he was fined €14,000 and suspended for a year from any activity by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) - before taking another step up the ladder.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAD) eventually reversed the decision of the body that oversees non-professional competitions in Portugal, such as the Portuguese Championship, and Amorim was invited to join the Braga coaching staff the following 2019/20 season, then as coach of the B team.

The possibility of taking over Benfica's under-23s had been left behind, as was later confirmed by the now-former Benfica president, Luis Filipe Vieira.

Three months and eight wins in 11 games for the Minho 'bês' were enough to win the confidence of president Antonio Salvador to succeed Ricardo Sa Pinto as coach of the Braga first team, an adventure initially haunted by harsh criticism from the National Association of Football Coaches (ANTF).

In a statement, the organisation that represents Portuguese coaches used terms such as "shame", "repudiation " or "sad episode" to show their displeasure at the choice of the president of the arsenalistas.

"He will be another of the great coaches that Braga has projected into international football." Immune to criticism, Salvador uttered these prescient words at Amorim's presentation on December 27th 2019.

Amorim's boom

Amorim was one of the main forerunners of the return to the 3-4-3 system. He felt comfortable playing in this formation when he was a player and was a master at implementing it when he took on his own idea as a coach. Even when things didn't go his way, he didn't give up on the plan.

"The idea is that you can understand what Braga is going to do but that it's not easy to stop. You may or may not like Braga's idea, but you know there's an idea there.

"Anyone who comes to Braga has to know that they're going to take the initiative and know that they're going to be playing for a big team," he explained in one of his first interviews as coach of the arsenalistas.

His debut was unforgettable (7-1 against Belenenses at Jamor) and the first month ended in memorable fashion with him winning the first of the three League Cups he currently has in his bag, after triumphs against Sporting (2-1) and Porto (1-0). In total, there were eight wins in the first eight games (a record at Braga), and the 1-0 victory in away to Benfica is still remembered.

In February 2020 there was no talk of anything else in Portugal. The Ruben Amorim phenomenon was causing a sensation and the bomb was about to explode.

On March 5th of that same year, Sporting confirmed the hiring of the then SC Braga coach at the CMVM, for a sum of €10 million, divided into two instalments, to become the lions' fourth coach in 2019/20... and the third most expensive in the world.

The start of a new era in Alvalade

Without "hiding his past" as a "Benfica fanatic", Sporting's main rival, Amorim's first big challenge was to win the trust of the Sporting fans.

"I've always been an opponent of Sporting, and I've realised how great the club is. I'm very proud to be here, to defend these colours, and regardless of the moment, I know what Sporting is all about. I believe in the club, I hope people believe in me.

"But my focus is on the job: I can be here with the most beautiful words, but in football the winner is the greatest, the loser is no longer valuable and no longer a Sporting fan. I know it's very demanding and I know I'm ready for this challenge," he said.

Twenty points off the top, Sporting's main objective was to secure direct qualification for the group stage of next season's Europa League. They lost that fight to Braga. But he used the last 11 games of the 2019/20 season to test the squad and iron out the kinks for the following season.

The start of 2020/21 was difficult, largely due to the surprise elimination at the hands of LASK Linz in the Europa League qualifying rounds, which left the Alvalade outfit without the prestige and money of Europe, whilst limiting to domestic competitions.

The bonanza after the storm

President Frederico Varandas' confidence remained unshaken. Amorim was seen as a coach for the future and capable of developing players and so it proved. In his first season, the coach projected the likes of Pedro Porro, Goncalo Inacio, Nuno Mendes as well as Matheus Nunes and adopted a 'game by game' approach until the final victory in the league, 19 years after the last time he won it, and also guided the Lions to victory in the League Cup.

"I'd like to thank the players and staff, especially those who had a hard time here at Sporting. It's been a tough few years, but they got their reward today. All credit to the players who believed and suffered a lot.

"It's a weight off my shoulders. People really wanted to celebrate this championship, for the value and the risky bet it was. I really wanted to win for my players and for reasons that aren't very healthy (the controversies with the ANTF)," he said.

The mistrust quickly lost its prefix and Amorim became an aggregating element in the lion's kingdom, a consensual and strong name, both on and off the pitch, with an above-average communicative ability and an unmistakable style of play, without forgetting the "stubbornness" in some market dossiers.

After a 2021/22 with two titles (Super Cup and League Cup), 2022/23 was perhaps Amorim's toughest year in charge of Sporting, in which he finished fourth in the league, despite reaching the quarter-finals of the Europa League, before returning to the title race in 2023/24.

The coach of the green and white team was right to sign Hjulmand and Gyokeres and has had an impeccable run in the league and the Portuguese Cup, showing extraordinary consistency, which has also propelled him into the upper echelons of world football.

Today, few are talking about the 10 million Sporting paid to Braga. Now there's talk of how much the Lions could receive from a big foreign club to let go of a coach who has a contract valid until 2026 and who has earned the respect and empathy of the Sporting fans, the like of which has not been seen in Alvalade for a long time.

Four questions to Goncalo Gregorio, Amorim's former player

In six seasons as a coach, Amorim worked with dozens of players - from Pina Manique to Alvalade, via Braga. But one stands out for the singularity of having worked with the Sporting coach at two different clubs (Casa Pia and Braga B): Goncalo Gregorio.

The Dinamo Bucharest striker was Amorim's first-choice goalscorer during his spells with the Geese and the B team of the Minhotos, and he doesn't hide his admiration for someone who has an even brighter future in store for him.

Q: How do you remember the experience of working with Ruben?

A: "I was the only player he coached in those two years before he went to Sporting. We formed a very good, close relationship and I really liked the human way he led the teams. 

"He managed to win the players over so that they would give their all for him and the team. As well as training and tactics, which he was very good at, he was able to instil a very strong team spirit, which isn't easy in a football team. He also had a lot of humour, which I also like. I really enjoyed working with him."

In our eyes he seems like a very competitive and demanding person. Is he really like that?

"Very demanding. When it comes to training, he demands a lot from his players. He's very honest and we can often see what he's thinking. He has a lot of thoughts inside him and he starts laughing straight away and can't disguise it.

"He teases the players a lot in those famous three-team tournaments in training. He's very funny to work with, but also very demanding from a physical and mental point of view."

Did you expect this statement?

"I thought so, but it's hard to be sure because football depends on so many things. You've had several key moments in your rise, notably the opportunity you had to work at SC Braga after Casa Pia.

"There are many coaches who work very well and don't get results because of other factors. I believed he could get there, but I didn't realise it would happen so quickly."

- There's a lot of talk about Liverpool. Do you think he's ready to make the leap?

"Yes, I think he's ready, because until you get the chance nobody knows if you're ready or not. It's only when you get there, and depending on the results, that you'll know whether you're ready or not.

"I think he's a very good coach and has done a very good job at Sporting. He deserves to continue (at Sporting) and then whether he wants to leave or not is his decision, but I think he has the potential and quality to coach any club in the world."