Two Man Utd stars warned even Ruben Amorim's 'quite basic' tactics will be too much

Micah Richards says "basic" game plan may not reach its full potential unless Manchester United splash out on a player like Viktor Gyokeres. Following the dismissal of Erik ten Hag and Ruud van Nistelrooy's brief tenure as interim boss, Amorim is set to kick off his reign against Ipswich next weekend.

As the Portuguese coach gets accustomed to life at Carrington, Richards has dissected his tactics, which have won acclaim throughout European football. Richards, who saw Amorim's Sporting thrash Manchester City 4-1 in the Champions League, praised a simplistic yet effective approach.

On podcast with Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer, the ex-City defender said: "It was good seeing Sporting Lisbon and how Amorim wants to set up because there were a lot of grumbles of, 'he plays three at the back, then to goes to a five, then he goes to a four, then the midfield does this'.

"So it was good to see what his tactical plan was. It's actually quite basic really. Against a team who have the ball like Manchester City, he goes to five at the back, he has his two midfielders who are willing to press really high.

"Then he presses with his front three. If you play through the lines of the front three, they just get back into position.

"I don't want to say it's nothing special, but the basic sort of tactic is when they're in a low block. When they're trying to press, they do get really high and they are adventurous.

"Manchester City, in the first half, exposed all those aspects of what they were trying to do, but they couldn't put the ball in the back of the net."

There is hope at Old Trafford that Amorim can unlock the full potential of Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee, much like he did with Gyokeres, who bagged a hat-trick against City. However, Richards isn't convinced that the pair have the same strengths as the former Coventry City striker.

"If I was Man United, I would go and buy him [Gyokeres] tomorrow," he added. "They've got Hojlund, they've got Zirkzee, and they come to feet a lot.

"When they try to spin, they don't have that blistering pace or that running power. I don't want to say he's rapid like Mbappe but the first thing Gyokeres wants to do is run in behind.

"He constantly makes runs, not just centrally, but to the left, to the right. He kept stretching Man City's defence and they didn't know how to deal with it. And when he gets in front of goal, he's composed."