Amorim arrives to kick off new era at United

MANCHESTER, England — Manchester United's new era started on Monday when Ruben Amorim jetted into town to start the daunting task of restoring the club to former glories.

The Portuguese coach bid farewell to Sporting Lisbon in style on Sunday, securing a thrilling 4-2 comeback win at his former club Braga — an 11th victory in 11 league games.

The mood in Manchester has been lifted by three wins in four matches in all competitions since interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy took over after fellow Dutchman Erik ten Hag was sacked.

But, Amorim will be under no illusions as to the scale of his task at United, which is languishing 13th in the Premier League table after just four wins in 11 matches.

United announced his arrival at its training base on Monday afternoon, confirming shortly afterwards that Van Nistelrooy had left the club.

Here are a few areas where Amorim will need to focus his efforts:

Change the script

Manchester United has been crowned English champion a record 20 times, but it has failed even to compete for a Premier League or Champions League title since Alex Ferguson stepped down in 2013.

Amorim, a 39-year-old former Portugal international, is United's sixth permanent appointment since the end of Ferguson's trophy-filled, 27-year-reign.

David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ten Hag have all come and gone, unable to take United back to the top, despite lavish spending.

More than 600 million pounds ($772 million) was spent over Ten Hag's five transfer windows on new signings, but few have proved to be value for money.

Despite United's flaws, Amorim will have a greater pool of talent than he did at Sporting, but he will have to work hard to get the most out of an under-performing squad.

He is the first manager appointed since British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe became a minority owner of the club earlier this year, taking control of soccer operations.

Being Ratcliffe's man should buy him some wriggle room and, perhaps most importantly, time, but he will know that at a club of the size of United, such patience only stretches so far.

"I feel ready for the new challenge," an upbeat Amorim said after his farewell match with Sporting.

"I'm not naive, I know that it's going to be very, very different, very tough, but I feel that I'm ready."