Ruben Amorim puts Erik ten Hag in contention ahead of first game against Manchester United | Football

Ruben Amorim has praised Erik ten Hag’s work ahead of his move to Old Trafford but believes Manchester United’s players were “losing the ball too quickly” under the Dutchman.

Amorim was replaced by Ten Hag earlier this month and will take charge of United for the first time on Sunday in the Premier League away to Ipswich.

The 39-year-old, who led Sporting to two league titles, will be tasked with implementing a distinct style of play at United, a criticism that was leveled at Ten Hag in his final year in charge at Old Trafford.

But Amorim was keen to celebrate Ten Hag’s success at Ajax before joining United.

When asked if his confidence stems from his success at Sporting, Amorim told Sky Sports’ Gary Neville: “Not just because I follow the sport, not just the games, but what happened to others coaches, so I know you can win.

“You have Eric, Eric was great at Ajax, in my opinion he built the two best teams outside the top five leagues.

“So, it’s not just that, I have one idea, so I know what to do. I know that when I know what to do, things can go wrong, but I am comfortable because I know the first step, the second step, the third step, and because of that I have confidence that we will achieve something.

“One of the ideas is that when the ball is in one place, whether we are with the ball or without the ball, every player has the same idea.

“Imagine one guy gets the ball between the lines and turns, every guy on the team knows what to do and everyone thinks the same. It’s pretty simple.

“You can call it hard work, being a professional and all that, but I have one idea in my head, one identity, everyone has the same idea when the ball is here or there.” So the idea is pretty simple – understand the game the same way, see things the same way.”

Since Ten Hag took over, Amorim also believes United’s main problem under Ten Hag has been retaining the ball.

“The problem is the ball. I think we are losing the ball too quickly,” Amorim said.

“We win the ball, we lose the ball and you can’t press high all the time, so you have to keep the ball and understand that you have to be in position to start one game.”

“It’s that with the ball we can press better. So this week the focus was on that part as well.

“If we don’t lose the ball you can attack higher, if you’re higher you can press better. It’s like a snowball, everything is interconnected.”

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