Ruben Amorim: Man Utd appointed Harry Marra, not me. (Image: GETTY)
has revealed that appointment of record-breaking track and field coach Harry Marra was the club’s decision rather than his. United are tapping into the 78-year-old American’s expertise on a temporary consultancy basis that’s expected to last a few weeks.
have grown a reputation for searching for marginal gains to provide the edge across their different sporting projects.
has attempted the same at United, welcoming Marra to Carrington, where he is lending guidance on different aspects of athletics, including the mechanics of running.
Amorim’s 3-4-3 system demands high-intensity running to cover vast ground, and Marra is lending his knowledge about speed and endurance to performance staff.
Ahead of Thursday’s Europa League clash at FCSB, Amorim was asked about his decision to welcome the world-renowned coach to the club.
However, the United boss admitted that it wasn’t up to him, suggesting club chiefs were responsible for the move and that it was a common practice.
“It was not me; it was the club,” Amorim explained on the eve of the league phase curtain-closer in Bucharest.
“We are always trying to bring experienced people to share the knowledge with the staff and to understand the body and how we can improve our players.
Harry Marra will spend a few weeks at Man Utd. (Image: Getty)
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“It was not me. It’s not something new; he’s not there to coach the team; it’s more to coach the staff about the running, etcetera. It’s a simple thing we are used to doing to improve as a club.”
According to , United’s interim performance director, Sam Erith, was a prominent driving force, having encountered Marra while working in the United States before arriving at Old Trafford.
He spent two years as senior vice-president for player performance and science lead at Madison Square Garden Sports Corp, working closely with the New York Knicks and New York Rangers.
Marra was spotted sitting near Sir Alex Ferguson in the directors’ box for United’s 2-1 victory against Rangers last Thursday.
Amorim will have no issues with the move after insisting his players needed to “run like mad dogs” if they were to succeed under his watch.
The report added that some stars have considered using personal coaches to help meet the demands of the and Amorim’s play style.
Marra’s track record is impressive, coaching two-time decathlon world record-holder Ashton Eaton and heptathlon world and Olympic medalist Brianne Theisen.
The 2016 World Athletics Coach of the Year also coached Lalu Muhammad Zohri to become the first Indonesian in history to win a medal at the World Junior Championships.