it has long been expected that Ruben amarim would eventually manage one of Europe's biggest clubs guiding sporting to their first league title in 19 years all but guaranteed that and the fact that his side will likely win it again this year only adds to his exceptional CV to date sporting recognized amar's Talent early on famously paying a huge release Clause to acquire him after his blistering start at SC Braga despite being relatively unproven at the tender age of 35 5 years old they had bet on his tactical mind man management skills and unwavering dedication as both a player and manager based on the job he's done so far to transform sporting amarim could just be the new special one who is he and why is he in such high demand this is the remarkable rise of Ruben amarim as a player amarim was part of a fine Benfica team winning three League titles between 2009 and 2015 he was even good enough to make Portugal's World Cup squads in 2010 and 2014 and is largely remembered as a hard worker in Midfield or at right back a James Milner type of player if you will forced to retire early in 2017 due to injury at the age of 32 he swiftly embarked On A New Path as a coach taking his first steps into Management in the 2018 to9 season with third division side kasap 6 months later however he resigned after the club was sanctioned for his failure to possess the required coaching license amarim then rejected the chance to manage benfica's B Team despite being a fan of the club as a boy instead he opted for braga's B Team where he believed he could exercise more control but in a rapid turn of events the fresh face amarim was handed his opportunity to manage the senior side after Braga had sacked Ricardo sapino in December 2019 following a poor run of form his appointment turned their season around completely between January and February 2020 his side played Porto twice sporting twice and Benfica once a run of games about as tough as you can get in Portugal but Braga won all five matches in a matter of months amarim took Braga from eighth to third place in the league remained undefeated domestically and secured his first trophy as a manager by winning the Portuguese league cup Tada Liga it was a sign of things to come for the burgeoning young manager leading to increasing comparisons between him and renowned fellow countrymen Jose Mourinho interestingly amarim himself credits Mourinho as an inspiration for his career even taking the opportunity to meet the so-called special one in Manchester back in 2018 to enhance his knowledge me he shares a similar tenacity and Underdog spirit with Mourinho qualities that have remained with him him throughout his subsequent managerial Endeavors sporting have come a long way since amar's appointment considering the challenging State the club was in when he first arrived to put the transformation into context sporting have won more points than any other side in Portugal since amar's appointment 4 years ago averaging 2. 38 points per game in 136 League games in the 136 games prior to his arrival they had averaged just 2. 13 under manager Marshall Kaiser sporting had started the 2019 to 20 season with a 5-n defeat in the super tasa the Portuguese Super cup which came at the hands of bitter Lisbon Rivals Ben F whom they hadn't finished above in the league for 11 consecutive Seasons after only two wins from five games Kaiser was dismissed and replaced by Leonel pontes Sporting's former under 23 coach soon after however he too was dismissed after zero wins from four League games jge Manuel rebello Fernandez also known as seelas stepped in next and also proved underwhelming in his 28 games in charge winning 17 but losing 10 by March 2020 sporting astonishingly were already searching for their fourth manager of the season and wasted no time snatching up Amarin Less Than 3 months after he had assumed control of Braga senor your team controversially sporting paid a huge 10 million EUR fee to bring him to Lisbon the third highest fee paid for a manager at the time and a staggering amount for a Portuguese club to dish out it was an even bigger risk given the strained relationship between the club's board and its fans many of whom saw the appointment as an example of the board's Reckless financial management however this time the board was right while he was unable to prevent sporting from falling outside the three by the end of his first half season ironically finishing just below the club he'd helped do so well earlier in the season his first full season in charge would Shake Portuguese football to its core sporting went into the 2020 to 21 season having not won the Premier Liga since 2002 Portuguese football has long been dominated by otres Grandes the big three so to have the third side in that Trio underperforming to such an extent was embarrassing to say the least and with sporting fans largely unhappy about appointing a manager with such close ties with their Rivals Benfica amarim also needed to get them on side fast having lost star player Bruno Fernandez to Manchester United just weeks prior to his arrival amarim reconfigured his team and trusting younger hungrier players and nurturing their potential with his strong man management Pedro parro now at Tottenham was loaned from Manchester City while Xiao Pala and Matas Nunes the latter being assigning from the prior season ran the Midfield important Squad players like Thiago Thomas and Nuno Mendes were also promoted from their Academy but above all it was the young Pedro gonalves who emerged as the face of amarim Revolution and a testament to his faith in the very youngsters whose performances would culminate in the club's first league title in 19 years the international Limelight was now on amarim but he had made the choice to continue at sporting citing that there was still unfinished work to be done with the club's ongoing project Amarin began his second full season at sporting by winning the Super tasa highlights of that season also included qualifying for the Champions League round of 16 for the first time since 2009 and Amarin becoming the fastest manager to win 50 games in the Premier Liga he had also LED his side to their first away Victory against Benfica in 6 years following a 3-1 win and then a month later won his third consecutive League Cup in a 2-1 win against the same opponents back in Europe his team were never expected to make it past City in the last 16 but in the tasa de Portugal Portugal's most prestigious domestic cup competition and the equivalent of England's FA Cup they were knocked out in the semi-finals by Porto as of now that competition is the only trophy in Portugal that amarim has yet to win by the end of the season sporting had matched their previous season's 85 point tally in the league but this time they finished as Runners up to an extraordinary Porto side whose record-breaking 91 points tally still stands as the highest in the history of Portuguese football the following 2022 to 23 season was amar's biggest disappointment yet as sporting finished outside the top three and failed to win a single trophy as with all overperforming teams outside Europe's top five leagues sporting had faced an exodus of talent during the preseason summer transfer window Mendes had already left for Paris San jaman the year before while palia and Nunes departed for the Premier League furthermore the club opted against making Pablo sarabia's loan deal permanent resulting in the departure of their top goal scorer and main goal threat from the previous season despite struggling in the league amarim still guided sporting to their third and his fourth consecutive League Cup Final even though they eventually lost that game in the Europa League sporting made it all the way to the quarterfinals following a memorable and surprise victory over favorites Arsenal on penalties but after falling short of the club's objectives for the season amarim took responsibility and offered to give up his position following a meeting with the club's president and sporting director despite this the club maintained their trust in him with their president openly acknowledging him as one of the best coaches in the world and attributing their failure to meet their goals to poor season planning specifically pointing out the departure of Nunes as a contributing factor to mount any sort of title challenge homim had to address a critical problem at the club Sporting's consistent struggle of being outscored by their big three Rivals last season sporting were outscored by other title contenders and again in the season before that even in their title winning campaign four years ago they had scored just 65 goals compared to Porto 74 and Benfica 69 since then sporting haven't seen many of its players reach 10 or more goals in a season either enter Victor goerish after a brilliant season in which he almost single-handedly fired Coventry City to Premier League promotion sporting splashed out a club record transfer fee of €20 million for the Swedish Ford last summer last season saw him score 21 times in 46 English second tier appearances at tally he's already surpassed this season in the Portuguese top flight from nearly half the number of games his 22 League goals to date have made sporting the leading scorers with 79 goals so far which is a warping 17 more than their closest Challengers their goals per game average of 2.
93 is also the highest it's been for the club since its title winning season in 1973 to 74 across all competitions gish's gold tally is already 36 within amar's favored 343 formation gueris plays as the number nine with the creative gon chalz and Marcus Edwards alongside him on the wings while trena is often another option while a lot of their buildup play comes centrally sporting strength is picking the right time to feed the ball into wide areas and causing damage with their pace and creativity in the front three having such a ruthless front line has helped them maximize their opportunities in front of gold converting from fewer expected goals per game compared to Benfica their main title Challengers this season as of March 2024 Sporting's non-penalty short conversion rate of 16. 6% was even the highest of all 172 clubs across Europe's top 10 leagues this season now compare that to last season when they were only able to convert 11.
