While results were not always good, players remained onside – at least those who were not in the ‘bomb squad’ exiled at the start of pre-season training.
Speaking to players publicly and privately during United’s summer trip to the United States, there was genuine enthusiasm for the season that lay ahead.
Amorim had a few quirks, but most coaches do.
When United opened their doors for the first 15 minutes of training the day before European games, it was strange to see Amorim watch the sprints and rondos on a different pitch – sometimes 50 yards away, and far removed from his coaching staff.
He was far more involved – whistle in hand – when the sessions began, though he wasn’t keen to let the media into those.
There was a full open session in Malaysia on United’s post-season trip in May, but that whole expedition was not run on fully professional lines given the amount of downtime that was allowed.
Once United arrived at their training base in Chicago in July, access was limited. The candour of Amorim’s media conferences was not matched by his openness with training.
He was meticulous in his preparation, though.
Footage of his first training session at United showed him explaining to midfielder Kobbie Mainoo exactly how many strides he needed to move after laying off a pass, then where to open out his body to create maximum passing angles.
In the summer, he had two players taking up the same positions in training, then ran through different scenarios to ensure they moved into the right area of the pitch.
While this may seem peculiar – and would have looked so had anyone witnessed it -it does make sense given individuals were allocated positions and a hierarchy installed.
The theory and practice is good. But events in actual matches take their course.
Amorim could have chosen four players for each position and might not have ended up with Mason Mount at left wing-back, which former United skipper Gary Neville criticised him so strongly for in the wake of a 3-1 defeat at Brentford.
