'I played for Ruben Amorim – this is what Man Utd players should expect' – EXCLUSIVE

Ruben Amorim’s big break has been coming for some time.

The Portuguese is hot property in his homeland, where he coached Sporting to become a domestic juggernaut before turning 40. Now Amorim is in Manchester, where his managerial talent will be subject to a test larger in scale than he has ever faced before.

It will take a special manager to restore Manchester United’s former glory and succeed where the likes of Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Erik ten Hag failed. Could Amorim be the man to buck the trend?

Evandro Roncatto played alongside him at Belenenses and then under him at Casa Pia – the Portuguese third-tier side who took a punt on the new United boss before anyone else did.

Moving to Lisbon as a Brazilian youngster, Roncatto was greeted by a team-mate only 18 months older who shouldered the task of helping him settle. “Ruben became a very good friend,” Roncatto, now 38, told Express Sport.

“He took me on like a brother. We would go and eat together, he showed me around Lisbon. Ruben was an amazing team-mate at Belenenses – not only with me but the rest of the players too. He’s a good guy, always smiling.”

Their spell in the same dressing room only lasted a year as Amorim signed for Benfica in 2008, where he became a full Portuguese international and made over 150 appearances in nine years.

Roncatto, meanwhile, enjoyed stints in Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria and Kazakhstan, among other countries, before being reunited with his former team-mate in 2018. Still in his early thirties, Amorim had just been named head coach of Casa Pia and needed an experienced head to bolster his squad.

He turned to Roncatto, who saw his old friend in a new light almost immediately. “As team-mates I always saw him more as a director,” he explained. “But when he started at Casa Pia I said, ‘Ruben, you are going to be a very good coach’.

“I could see that he would become one of the best coaches in the world because he knows what players want, he knows how to make them better. Every player likes him. Nobody tries bull*** to destroy the work of the coach – everyone wants to fight for Ruben Amorim because he is a good man.”

Amorim has become known for his stern approach. And Roncatto admits that he, too, was held to strict standards despite their long-standing friendship.

“It’s true. Ruben is like that. He did not give me special treatment,” said the Brazilian. “He pushed me because he wants better for the team and for the club. He pushes, but afterwards he is a friend of the team. All the players say it.”

Amorim was a success at Casa Pia, but his reign was brutally cut short by an enforced resignation because he did not have the correct coaching qualifications. The way Roncatto and his team-mates reacted speaks volumes about United’s new boss.

“When he told us he was leaving – and I have never seen this in my life – all the players told him they would leave with him,” he recalled. “He cried. It was amazing. He was serious, he pushed all the players, but he was still a friend of all the players. The players fight for Ruben.”

Sporting stars took Amorim’s exit just as hard, with the manager himself admitting that a ‘sad and anxious’ atmosphere had engulfed the dressing room after he took the United job. He gave them a barnstorming farewell with eight victories on the trot, including a stunning 4-1 triumph over Manchester City in the Champions League. Now his attention turns to Old Trafford.

And Roncatto has given the Red Devils an insight into what players can expect when his reign formally begins. “Expect to work hard, to work more,” he said. “They must understand how they want to play. It is easy to understand Ruben Amorim.

“Ruben is going to Manchester to prove he is a good coach. Players should expect this from Ruben. He will show the players what he wants, which is to put Manchester United among the top clubs in Europe again.”