Ruben Amorim already has five things on his Manchester United to-do list

It is a week until Ruben Amorim begins work as the new head coach of Manchester United.

The 39-year-old will take charge of Sporting twice more before he is due at Carrington on Monday 11 November, where he will begin preparations for the trip to face Ipswich Town on Sunday 24 November.

Amorim will only have a limited squad to work with during the international break, but will be looking at the bigger picture as he aims to implement his unique style on the club and turn their fortunes around.

With a week to go until his arrival, here is a look at the five biggest challenges awaiting Amorim at Old Trafford:

Change the formation and implement a clear style of play

A lot of focus has been on Amorim's preference for a 3-4-3 formation, though the precise tactical set-up doesn't really matter as long as there is a clear style of play.

Although he loved to speak about the 'game model', Ten Hag never really established a clear style during his time at the club, something that Amorim will be looking to address right from the start. United need to go in a completely different direction, and even if it takes a while to be implemented properly, there needs to be clear evidence of a distinguished style.

Bring the best out of underperforming players - like Manuel Ugarte

A key reason why United have been so poor this season is because so many of their star players have simply underperformed. Bruno Fernandes revealed he apologised to Erik ten Hag for failing to live up to his lofty expectations, something almost every player should be taking some accountability for.

Amorim will need to find a way to restore confidence at self-belief at Old Trafford, while there will also be plenty of focus on how he gets the best out of former Sporting star Manuel Ugarte. He is one of a number of high-profile players who simply hasn't got going at United, and given financial restrictions, Amorim will initially have to work with a squad moulded by Ten Hag.

Start scoring goals

Simple. Well, it sounds it. United have scored goals for fun in the Carabao Cup this season but are still the second-lowest scorers in the Premier League and relied upon a penalty to draw with Chelsea at the weekend.

Amorim might solve the attacking issues by changing formation and their tactical set-up, though a key part of his role will be to restore the confidence of the strikers as well. Viktor Gyökeres has score 63 goals in 66 appearances under Amorim at Sporting, so he clearly knows how to get the very best out of a striker.

Van Nistelrooy's role

Amorim is expected to bring five members of staff with him to Old Trafford, which complicates the future of current interim head coach Ruud van Nistelrooy.

The former Dutch forward has made no secret his desire to remain at United and says he is prepared to work with the new boss in any way if it is of benefit to the club he loves. There is certainly plenty of sentimental reason to keep him around, but the decision should ultimately fall to Amorim as he looks to kickstart a new era. Whatever he decides, a final verdict is needed quick.

Save the season

It is very easy to feel all doom and gloom, but a key reason why Ten Hag was sacked last week is because United wanted to take action while there was still time to save their season.

If you want to be positive, United are only six points behind Chelsea in fourth-place, should comfortably qualify for the knockout stages of the Europa League and are into the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup. Sure, performances and results have been far below the expectations, but they are still plenty of reasons why this campaign can be salvaged yet.