Ruben Amorim spoke to Gary Neville as he prepares to take charge of his first game as Manchester United boss on Sunday when they travel to Ipswich in the Premier League; watch the game live on Sky Sports Premier League from 4pm; kick-off 4.30pm
Saturday 23 November 2024 11:31, UK
Ruben Amorim has told Manchester United fans not to confuse his happiness for naivety as he sat down with Sky Sports' Gary Neville for an in-depth interview ahead of his first game at Ipswich.
Amorim inherits a daunting task at United and admits he finds himself in a "different world" since leaving Sporting, but tells Neville he is convinced "we will succeed" despite the shortcomings of his predecessors.
United's head coach acknowledged the problems at Old Trafford and was open about needing his players to be "better athletes", but insists this is "the right club in the right moment".
Neville addressed his criticism of Marcus Rashford and Casemiro over their trips to the USA and Amorim defended the duo, later making clear he would rather lose his job than criticise players publicly.
Read below for the transcript, including Amorim discussing his desire to have dinner with Sir Alex Ferguson and Roy Keane, as he sits down with Sky Sports for the first time...
"The first impression is that it's so big, with a lot of departments. I came from a big club in a small country. Here is a different world.
"You have a lot to do. You are not just a coach. You have to be something more.
"So it's a little bit different, but I think I'm prepared for that. And it's Manchester United. It doesn't matter the last years.
"We will have really hard moments but in the end, I truly believe that we are going to succeed."
"I will not try to find out the right thing to do or try to find out what was missing with Erik ten Hag, with Jose Mourinho, with Louis van Gaal. I will not try that because I think it's a waste of time. They chose me because they saw something and I do something in a clear way.
"I really don't know what the [other managers] missed here but I know I will do my thing, my way and try to find out what is missing in my way of seeing football."
"First thing, I think we have to be better athletes. That is something that you can acknowledge when we are here and we see the data.
"When I say fitter, it's not being thinner or anything about that. It's the data. You have to understand the data to press high, what is the average metres that you have to run, the sprints.
"You have all this data and you have to cope with that. So you already know your goal is to reach that. You can run a lot but if you don't understand the game, it doesn't matter. But the first point to press high, you have to be very fit and you have to cope with the demands of pressing high.
"The problem is with the ball. I think we lose the ball too fast. We win the ball, we lose the ball. And you cannot press high all the time. With the ball, we can press better. So the focus this week also was in that part.
"If you don't lose the ball, you can push higher. If you are higher, you can press better. So it's like a snowball. Everything is connected."
"You can say the pretty things like hard work, be professional. You should be. This is Manchester United. In every club [you should be] but here, of course, you cannot run from that.
"The aim is to think first in the team. So I know that some guys will sometimes play in a different position, but they have to understand the position and they have to fight for the team. As a former player, I know every trick.
"I can understand the players. I can understand what they are doing, why they are doing it. If they are doing it for the team, I will defend them until the end.
"I can lose my job before throwing a player under the bus. But if he doesn't put the team in first place, I will be the first one to talk with the player."
"The first thing, it was five days off. The second thing, they received the information of five days off. They are big boys.
"Us as a club have to set the standards and have to manage that. It's my decision if they can have five days, or three days, or three days to rest and you cannot fly. This is something that us as a club have to decide.
"Would I set a different structure? Yes, for sure. But we cannot put this on the players. They told them they have five days off so they can fly anywhere. Because nobody in the club says you cannot fly.
"So they have to live their lives because they are grown men and they have to decide these things. But us, as a club, have to change these standards. You said that you, as a player, thought in a different way.
"For me, the big difference is your time. You had great leadership at the time, very, very strong. And the culture was already here when you started.
"So it's a long time with the same identity, the same way of seeing things. I'm just imagining but even your team-mates, if you do that, they will talk to you. So now it's a different point.
"And you have to acknowledge that. So this must be started in the club, with us and me being responsible in that area. So we cannot, this time, put that on Rash or Case."
"I know that at this moment our fans are with mixed feelings - 'I want to be excited, but I have been here so I'm a little bit afraid. It's the same story all the time. I can be disappointed.'
"So what I can say is that I'm really excited. I'm not afraid to show it. But I have a clear idea that this will take time.
"Don't confuse my happiness with naivety. It's not the same thing. I'm really happy.
"I know what to do. But I have an idea that we are going to suffer a little bit before improving in the way that you should improve."
"Dave Brailsford is known to create cultures. Of course, it's different sports, but he can prove that he can create cultures that win and strong cultures. We need that in the club. We don't need to hide that.
"Then we have Dan Ashworth. Dan is well known here in England. He has the same position of Sporting's Hugo Viana [future Manchester City director of football].
"One of the things to be practical to explain is that it's important when a coach says something, you have someone like Dan that says the same thing to the players. This connection is so important in the club.
"Then the player is going to talk with an agent, and the agent will talk with Dan and he will hear the same thing. This is so important because the players will feel that there is no place to run or there is no place to hide. So we have to be on the same page.
"Then you have Jason Wilcox, he's the technical director. It's so important because for me, we need to improve Carrington with the youth teams. So we need to create a profile for the type of players that you want in the first team. We have to improve. We have good players but we should be better from what I saw."
"Roy Keane was a massive player and I like players with character. I think they can improve. It was not just what Roy Keane did on the pitch, it was the way he influenced the others. I think that is very important in one player.
"You must have this kind of player in the big clubs. I hope we'll have in the future players like Roy Keane.
"Sir Alex Ferguson, you want to ask so many things. I think he will talk about horses. I don't understand anything about horses. But it will be amazing to meet that kind of character."
Ipswich (A) - Premier League - November 24, live on Sky Sports
Bodo/Glimt (H) - Europa League - November 28
Everton (H) - Premier League - December 1
Arsenal (A) - Premier League - December 4
Nottingham Forest (H) - Premier League - December 7, live on Sky Sports
Viktoria Plzen (A) - Europa League - December 12
Manchester City (A) - Premier League - December 15, live on Sky Sports
Tottenham (A) - Carabao Cup - December 19, live on Sky Sports
Bournemouth (H) - Premier League - December 22
Wolves (A) - Premier League - December 26
Newcastle (H) - Premier League - December 30, live on Sky Sports
