Vital statistics – a closer look at Man Utd’s headline-hitting goalkeeping coach

It is not often goalkeeping coaches hit the headlines, but Manchester United’s Jorge Vital has done precisely that.

United head coach Ruben Amorim indicated he would rather pick Vital, 63, in his squad than Marcus Rashford as he again questioned the striker’s commitment to the cause.

So who is the man at the centre of the latest United controversy?

Vital was born on July 13, 1961 in Tomar, Portugal and after starting out at his hometown club, enjoyed a 20-year playing career which included a four-year stint at Sporting, one of Portugal’s traditional big three clubs alongside Benfica and Porto.

He retired in 2001 and has spent the majority of his goalkeeper coaching career at Braga, starting in 2001 and leaving in August 2020, with a seven-month stint at Sporting during the 2011-12 season the only break in that long spell.

That final departure from Braga was alongside Amorim, who took Vital with him as part of his backroom team to Sporting.

Amorim’s success at Sporting attracted United’s attention and he was appointed the successor to Erik ten Hag, with Vital also making the move to Manchester last November.

Vital succeeded Jelle ten Rouwelaar as United’s goalkeeper coach, with the Dutchman joining compatriot Ruud van Nistelrooy at Leicester.

Vital’s coaching career has by its nature been relatively low-key but Amorim’s comments have changed all that.

“If you do the maximum and the right things then we can use every player,” the United head coach said after Sunday’s win at Fulham.

“Today on the bench we missed a bit of pace to change the game but I prefer it like this, I will put (in) Vital before I put (in) a player who doesn’t give the maximum every day, so I will not change in that department.”