Manchester United receive fresh Ruben Amorim confirmation after Erik ten Hag comparison

If Manchester United needed more evidence of Ruben Amorim's talents, they got it on Tuesday night.

Amorim's former team Sporting hosted Arsenal in the Champions League under new boss Joao Pereira. The result was a 5-1 thrashing, which ended their unbeaten start to the season.

That's not to say that the Portuguese team are a poor side, but it showed that they have major limitations against the best teams in Europe without their highly-rated manager. Manchester City may be on a poor run of form, but they remain Premier League champions and were soundly beaten 4-1 by the same team in Amorim's final European game in charge of the club.

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It's why his achievements in Lisbon provide a glimmer of hope that he could one day achieve something that hasn't been accomplished by a manager since Sir Alex Ferguson. Amorim's crowning achievement was breaking Sporting's 19-year league title drought in 2021.

This historic victory from a young manager saw the club amass 85 points with only one loss throughout the season. It put an end to a nearly two-decade-long curse, resulting in another league title three years later.

While replicating this success at United will undoubtedly be a more significant challenge, ending a lengthy wait for league title success at Sporting will surely have appealed to the club's executives that he can repeat the same feat in Manchester.

It's also why comparing him to his predecessor at Old Trafford, Erik ten Hag, is so lazy. 'Ten Hag 2.0' has been one such trope on the basis that he won league titles in a lesser league, is supposedly a disciplinarian, and wants his teams to play attractive football.

A crucial difference is the clubs both Amorim and Ten Hag were at when they were appointed. Amorim's Sporting team has been nowhere near as dominant in Portugal as Ajax in the Eredivisie.

Ending a club's 19-year league title drought is much more impressive than winning titles at a club that is used to it. Amorim built Sporting in his image, and there is already evidence from Tuesday's thrashing against Arsenal that his impact is being sorely missed.