Manchester United new boss Ruben Amorim on his ambitions at joining the club, what he expects from the Premier League and facing Ipswich
Carrington, Manchester, UK
Carrington, Manchester, UK
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00:00Ruben, welcome to Manchester. You'll have had a perception of the club before joining.
00:06How does the reality differ? Is it bigger and better than you even had imagined?
00:12Yeah, it's bigger. There's a lot of departments. It's so much different than Sporting.
00:18Sporting is a big club, but it's in Portugal. You feel that it's a global club, so you have so much to do.
00:24It's not just coaching the team. But I have a lot of help, a lot of meetings.
00:32So I'm improving in that area, but I feel very happy, very comfortable, so I feel at home.
00:41Ruben, you're the sixth permanent manager of Manchester United since the club last won the Premier League title.
00:47What gives you the belief that you can be the one to restore the club to that level?
00:52I'm a little bit of a dreamer, and I believe in myself. I also believe in the club.
00:58I think we have the same idea, the same mindset, so that can help.
01:06But I truly believe in the players also. I know that you guys don't believe a lot in these players, but I believe a lot.
01:15I think we have room to improve, and I want to try new things.
01:21You guys think it's not possible. I think it's possible. We will see in the end.
01:29Ruben, what are your first impressions in these early days of your squad in training?
01:34How much time do you think you're going to need, realistically, to repair United?
01:41I don't know about repair, but like I said, we have space to grow as a team.
01:49I think we have to improve in a lot of areas, the understanding of the game.
01:55I know it's a different way of playing, and we are changing in the middle of the season.
02:02I think we have to improve the physical aspect of the team. It's something that we want to improve.
02:09And that's it. I don't know how long it will take.
02:14I know that when you are at Manchester United, you have to win games.
02:19I will not tell you that I need a lot of time.
02:24Of course, we need a lot of time because it's a great league.
02:29It's the strongest league in the world, and we have to improve a lot to try to win it.
02:38What can I say is that we have to win games, to win time, and then to win titles.
02:47You've obviously got belief in your players, and there's a lot been spoken about this system.
02:52Is it going to be a case of evolution or revolution?
02:55It's not revolution because football is not so different with five players in the back,
03:00three players in the back, four players in the back.
03:04I cannot say evolution because we have to wait and see, but we will play a different type of football.
03:11We have our ideas. I'm not saying it's the best ideas, but it's our way of seeing football.
03:20It's not evolution or revolution. It's a change in the way we play football.
03:26You famously came here six and a half years ago and met Jose Mourinho during that internship.
03:32What are your memories of that, and have you spoken to Jose since you took the job here?
03:37He sent me a message. He told me that it's a lovely club, a big club with lovely people,
03:43and that is correct. It still is.
03:48But a lot of things have changed. We are in a different building now.
03:53We are building a new one. I'm a different guy. I was learning at the time,
04:02and I hope to teach something here to my players.
04:07But the club is still big. It's still the best club in England, and we want to win again. That's all.
04:19Every manager looks for quick wins, quick gains when they turn up at a club.
04:26Where do you see those coming from Manchester United?
04:29What have you seen here that you think you can make an impact straight away with?
04:35In simple things, I think. If you want to speak about the team, the way we play,
04:43I think we lose the ball too often, and we have to keep the ball.
04:48We have to be better at running back. I think that is clear for everybody.
04:55And we have to be very good in the details. Sometimes we are hoping to change a lot of things,
05:01big things. I think it's the small things, and we have to improve on those small things.
05:06The way we see football, players as a team, understanding the game in one way,
05:11that is the focus. In the small things, I think I can help these players a lot.
05:20I'm old enough to have been at Jose Mourinho's first press conference in 2004 when he joined Chelsea.
05:25Did you recall that yourself? What did you make of it?
05:31What was the most significant influence he's had on you as a manager?
05:35First thing, not just in me, but all the Portuguese coaches. It shows that we can be the best in the world.
05:43This is something different in a small country. This can put a stamp on everybody.
05:51But I'm different from Mourinho. I'm a different person. But I remember that time.
05:57In that time, you look at Mourinho and you felt that he can win everywhere.
06:03It's not the same thing. He was a European champion. I'm not a European champion.
06:11But I'm a different guy in a different moment. Football nowadays is different.
06:17I think I'm the right person for this moment. Because I'm a young guy, I understand the players.
06:26So I try to use that to help my players, like Mourinho in that area did in Chelsea.
06:36If you remember, the young guys were like Lampard and these kind of players.
06:42Nowadays it's so much different. So I think I'm the right guy for this moment.
06:48The recruitment at Manchester United in the last decade has been quite mixed.
06:54To say the least, it's been very much like that.
06:57Do you expect to have an influence on the players that come into this football club?
07:01Or will that be left to other departments?
07:04I think it has to be all together.
07:06Because if you are a coach that came in here and already chose the players, it could be wrong.
07:13Because this is a football club that will be here for a long time.
07:17And you as a coach, you don't know that.
07:19So you have to work everybody together.
07:23And for that we have to improve the process of recruitment.
07:27The data, the profile of the players that we want.
07:30But I have to have a strong position on that.
07:35Because I'm the coach. I know how to play.
07:38So I think it's all together.
07:40But in the final word, as you can say, it should be the manager.
07:44Not just because it's your right, but it is your responsibility.
07:48Because in the end, the results, they will ask you about the results, is to me.
07:54So I think it's all together, improve the process of recruitment.
07:58I have to understand the league. That is important.
08:03And then, when everything is aligned, all the ideas, everybody is on the same page,
08:09we can buy and sell players.
08:11Has that been agreed that you have the final sign-off?
08:16I'm saying here the final. It's not the final, the final.
08:21But I have a great responsibility when we choose players.
08:24Because this is something that should be done in this way.
08:30I'm the manager, the head coach, so I have to choose the players.
08:36Manchester United has been described, certainly in the last 10 or 12 years,
08:40as the impossible job, given the calibre of managers that have come before you.
08:43The likes of Louis van Gaal and Jose.
08:46What's your perception of that view?
08:48And what do you see as your biggest challenge here?
08:51I really don't know the biggest challenge.
08:53I will find out during these months.
08:59You had here different types of coaches.
09:02So the guys that won everything, like van Gaal and Mourinho.
09:07You have new ones, like they knew the club inside out, like Solskjaer.
09:13Then you have one of the best that there will ever be,
09:19outside the five strongest leagues, who is Ten Hag.
09:23So I don't know. I think we have to improve as a club.
09:27We have to acknowledge that we are in the time, that we need time.
09:31Every coach that comes here needs time.
09:36But acknowledge also that we have to win games.
09:40And that's it. So I don't have answers for that.
09:45You have different types of coaches, the same result.
09:48We will try to do it our way, Ineos' way and my way.
09:53And try to win it.
09:56But here it's not an impossible job?
09:58No, of course not. I believe that.
10:01Call me naive, but I truly believe that I'm the right guy in the right moment.
10:07I could be wrong, but the earth still will turn.
10:12The sun will rise again, it doesn't matter.
10:15So I'm not worried about that.
10:17I truly believe that I'm the right guy for this job.
10:23You just said earlier that you believe in these players,
10:26and maybe some people here do not.
10:28But didn't these players get Ten Hag the sack?
10:30Isn't that the reason he's no longer at the club?
10:33Because the team was down in 13th or 14th, they couldn't win,
10:36they couldn't play, they couldn't keep hold of the ball,
10:38like you sort of just said then.
10:40Why do you think these players have failed so badly for the last gentlemen?
10:44It's a belief, like the word, you have to believe.
10:48I believe in them.
10:50Because when I started this week, you can say that it's one week, three trainings,
10:56they changed the coach, of course everybody is excited.
10:59But they are open to different things.
11:02It's the only thing that I ask.
11:04Hard work, and you have to believe in the new idea.
11:07And I felt that.
11:09Until they prove me wrong, I believe in the players.
11:16Is the average length for a manager here, since Sir Alex,
11:21has been about two and a half years.
11:24Is that long enough to really stamp your authority on a club
11:27and really get to where you want to be?
11:29Because Eric kept saying, he's brought young players through,
11:33and he kept saying have patience.
11:36Is two and a half years long enough?
11:38You've got to need more than that.
11:40I have two years and a half of contract.
11:44And you guys talk about that.
11:46I think two years, you can understand if I'm the right manager
11:50to go in this process.
11:53I think we will need more time.
11:57Because if you look to the other clubs that are winning this league,
12:04they are doing this process for a long time.
12:07But they are winning.
12:09That's why they have time to do this project.
12:14So I understand that we will need more than two and a half years.
12:18We have to win something, somewhere.
12:23But in two years, you can understand if you want to continue
12:26in this path, or you have to change.
12:29So we will see how long it will take.
12:35I know it might take time, Ruben,
12:37but players playing in different positions, potentially.
12:40Garnaccio, potential wing-back on number 10.
12:43Rashford up top, I think we saw in the footage.
12:45What have you made of the players, and do you think these players are open
12:48to actually playing in different positions in your system?
12:50I think they want to play.
12:52In this first moment, they just want to play.
12:55So it's easy.
12:57In the future, we will see.
12:59You can watch on TV, but you have to train with them
13:02to understand if he can cope with different positions.
13:05So we are in that phase.
13:07Everybody wants to play now.
13:09If they have the opportunity of playing as a goalkeeper,
13:13they will play in the moment.
13:14In the future, we will see.
13:16But they are open to change some positions.
13:20Rob?
13:21Hi, Ruben.
13:22A lot of players have said that one of your big qualities
13:25is the relationship that you have with them.
13:27You've already told us that you've got belief in these players.
13:30Do you think maybe the players have lost belief in themselves a little bit,
13:33given what's happened at the start of the season?
13:35That's for sure.
13:36But this is normal in every team.
13:38When you don't win games, you start being suspicious
13:46of the way of playing.
13:50I cannot control the ball with pressure.
13:53So these small things, you start feeling in the players.
13:56You can understand almost when they walk to the game or to the warm-up.
14:01You can feel if they are confident or not.
14:04So that is a normal thing.
14:07So I think I have to help them to feel that it will take time.
14:13But they are ready to cope with the demands of the games in the Premier League
14:17because they proved that.
14:21And you can see, even this year and last year,
14:24sometimes they have a bad first half.
14:27And then in the second half, without any tactical change,
14:32they will turn up and change things.
14:35So they have to find out that mindset to play this way throughout the game.
14:42Last question in this section.
14:44Andy Kerr.
14:45Hi, Ruben.
14:47Initially, is it possible to ask this group of players
14:51to play your style of football, your formation?
14:54Or do you perhaps need to pick a style of football,
14:57a philosophy that suits the players you already have here?
15:01As a coach, you have to choose one way or another.
15:06I choose always 100% our way.
15:10I prefer to risk a little bit, but to push in the first moment.
15:15If they feel that since first day,
15:18I believe so much in our way of playing,
15:21they will believe too.
15:23So there is no second doubt.
15:25No second way.
15:26It's one way and we are going to do it.
15:29We will adapt some players because you don't have the right profile.
15:33This team was built for a different system.
15:36But like I told you guys already,
15:39it's the same thing playing with five or four.
15:42The principles are the same.
15:43The positioning is a little bit different.
15:45But maybe on Sunday, you will see the list of players,
15:50the starting 11.
15:51You don't feel a lot of change,
15:53but you will feel it in the game during the positioning,
15:57in the way they receive the ball or to cover the ball.
16:01You will see some changes.