Manchester City’s number of international dropouts increased to five on Monday following the news that Jack Grealish and Phil Foden have pulled out of the England squad, along with Jeremy Doku’s withdrawal from Belgium duty.

It follows Manuel Akanji’s departure from the Switzerland squad, while Matheus Nunes was a surprise dropout from the Portugal team.

It’s a sign of just how widespread City’s injury issues are, with Ruben Dias and John Stones missing Saturday’s loss to Brighton & Hove Albion, along with Grealish and Doku, while Rodri and Oscar Bobb are long-term absentees.

Nathan Ake and Kevin De Bruyne have not been included in their respective international squads. The latter has only recently returned from a seven-week absence, while Ake was deemed not fit enough to come off the bench at the Amex.

In addition, Kyle Walker is yet to regain full fitness after sustaining an injury during the last international break. It means City squad really is threadbare on the back of a four-game losing streak, the worst run of Pep Guardiola’s time at the club.

However, the Catalan will be pleased to hear of Grealish’s withdrawal from the England squad. The former Aston Villa star has missed the last six City games due to injury and Guardiola was furious that he was called up by Lee Carsley.

“Seventeen days, didn’t train once. Today the first training and trained 20 minutes,” Guardiola said on Friday following the news of Grealish’s selection. “This is the reality. He was in the gym for a few minutes yes, the last two days. It’s a question for the [England] manager – I’m not involved. They can select who they want.”

Guardiola said after the Brighton game that he is hopeful several of the absentees will be back after the international break. City face Tottenham Hotspur on 23 November in their first match following the pause in club football, before games against Feyenoord and Liverpool.

Manchesterworld

Ruben Amorim is now Manchester United head coach having begun his reign on Monday.

The Reds boss has a near two week wait until his first match – at Ipswich Town on Sunday week – but there is plenty of work to do between now and then. His first few days will be spent familiarising himself with his new surroundings and staff before the players return from either international duty or a few days off.

United have markedly improved under the now departed Ruud van Nistelrooy but there is plenty of work to be done with the Reds still in the bottom half and with work to do in Europe. Amorim has three clear priorities.

Amorim will no doubt want to implement a style and put his own stamp on this misfiring United side but priority number one is results. The Reds are 14th in the Premier League following the weekend defeat to West Ham and are closer to the relegation zone than the top four.

The first task is to climb the table and maximise the potential of an immediate fixture list that includes several home matches and several fixtures against bottom half sides. United also need to find victories in the Europa League having managed just one in four outings. Going out at the first hurdle is unthinkable and Amorim must ensure United are at least involved in the play-offs come the new year.

Amorim’s Sporting hit seven in his first match in charge while he was able to lift the title within 18 months. He knows how to get results quickly.

United have struggled for goals this season and their two most recent striker acquisitions, Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund, have yet to fully convince. The latter has the potential to become a focal point of the attack while Zirkzee’s role remains uncertain given his lack of goalscoring prowess.

Amorim could use both’s tune-up to ensure United can turn chances into goals. It wasn’t too long ago that Marcus Rashford was enjoying the season of his career, yet he regressed last term—though the early signs this season have been promising. Restoring confidence up top feels like a big priority.

And United can look at Viktor Gyokeres for inspiration. Not so long ago he was in the Championship with Coventry, he’s exploded onto the world stage at Sporting with almost a goal a game and Amorim has played a role in helping the frontman take his game to the next level.

Old Trafford used to be a place of intimidation, where teams were beaten in the tunnel. Now it’s nothing more than a welcome mat.

United have lost the fortress that served them so well and if they can find a tempo, style and intensity to worry teams and lift the fans, they can begin rebuilding that Old Trafford fear factor. United’s support, particularly away, is superb and if Amorim can hit the ground running with the basic template expected of United – front-foot football, attacking intent, effort and intensity – then players and supporters can start to create a club with a clear identity.

Sporting’s final home match under Amorim showed how united the club was, with a thumping 4-1 win over Manchester City, where players, managers, and fans were all together. Amorim fostered that, with results and success helping, but it was only a little over 12 months before his arrival that the unrest was so patent at the club that fans stormed the training ground in protest.

Manchester United Evening

Ruud van Nistelrooy will not be part of Ruben Amorim’s coaching staff and has left Manchester United.

Van Nistelrooy was appointed as assistant manager in the summer and became interim head coach when former United boss Erik ten Hag was sacked last month.

He signed off in style by beating Leicester 3-0 at Old Trafford on Sunday to stay unbeaten in his four games in charge, but the club confirmed his departure on Monday as Amorim arrived to begin his time at the helm.

“Ruud is and always will be a Manchester United legend,” the club said. “We are grateful for his contribution and the way in which he approached his role throughout his time with the club. He will always be very welcome at Old Trafford.”

Assistant manager Rene Hake, goalkeeping coach Jelle ten Rouwelaar and analyst Pieter Morel have also left the club.

This was the first big call for Amorim to make as United boss and he acted decisively.

Van Nistelrooy made it clear he would like to continue helping at Old Trafford and had the backing of the players, but Amorim wasted no time in jettisoning a club legend.

The key issues for Amorim to address at Man Utd
It was always going to be difficult for Van Nistelrooy to be kept on after saying he would one day like the job that Amorim has just taken up.

We saw under Ten Hag that the presence of Van Nistelrooy in the dugout always felt ominous. This was the man in charge of PSV, one of Netherlands’ biggest clubs, as recently as last year. Van Nistelrooy feels like a head coach.

His impressive handling of the situation he inherited from Ten Hag had only added to his plausibility as such. Van Nistelrooy, particularly in his dealings with the media, almost did too well. Keeping him on may have brought added pressure for Amorim.

Amorim is also expected to bring a whole team of his own people from Sporting, leaving it unclear where Van Nistelrooy would have fitted had he stayed. The Dutchman wanted to help, but would he have been happy on the periphery?

There is, of course, the argument Van Nistelrooy knows the club well and has had a first-hand view of the squad since the summer, so could have been invaluable to Amorim, at the very least in the short-term.

But Darren Fletcher remains embedded in the set-up at United and serves a similar purpose without bringing the baggage of being a threat to his job if results go south.

Amorim’s first day at Carrington
Amorim arrived at Man Utd’s Carrington training complex on Monday afternoon.

The 39-year-old boarded a flight from Beja airport in Portugal to Manchester in the morning.

Amorim was greeted outside the men’s first-team building with a hug from chief executive Omar Berrada, and was also welcomed by sporting director Dan Ashworth and technical director Jason Wilcox.